New app brings Ghent's history to life with augmented reality

The city of Ghent has, together with telecom provider Proximus, developed the free app ‘Lens on Ghent’. The app, which was launched today, allows visitors and tourists to relive the city's history through augmented reality.

The application allows people to travel back in time at three iconic locations in Ghent. If users get close enough to these landmarks, they receive a notification for an augmented reality experience.

Along the Graslei and Korenlei, two of Ghent's most famous tourist attractions, users can see the docked ships which bear witness to a thriving port activity. Thanks to its strategic location at the confluence of the Schelde and Leie rivers, Ghent became the centre of Flanders' grain supply for centuries.

Anyone wandering around the Bijloke site can have a ‘digital peek’ inside the century-old concert hall, which is usually only accessible during music events. Numerous patients were cared for in the former hospital between the 13th and 20th centuries. The ‘Lens On Ghent’ app lets users experience the evolution from medieval hospital to contemporary music centre.

At the Prinsenhof, the app shows the grandeur of the monumental Hof ten Walle, a fully walled palace with courtyard garden that was inhabited by counts, dukes and wealthy patricians over the centuries until it fell into disrepair in the 17th century. It was the birthplace of Emperor Charles V.

‘Lens on Ghent’ offers an interactive city walk of 13 kilometres, with an audio guide that shares interesting facts from Ghent’s history. Users can customise the route to their liking with different walking loops, also outside the city centre, for example in the Arts Quarter and Portus Ganda area as well.

The high-tech experience is possible in Ghent thanks to Proximus' 5G network in Ghent’s city centre. The app will be available in Dutch, French and English. It will be available for free download on the Google Play Store and the App Store in a few days.

​_{#FlandersNewsService | View of the Graslei in Ghent © BELGA PHOTO ALBUM ARCHIVO}