Misteri a Vulpera – The secret of Vulpera

Hotel guest Henry Wells has gone in search of the secret of the mineral water and has not turned up since. The hotel manager Josef Berger is beside himself with worry and asks for your help in the search for the missing guest Henry. You set off on the trail of the mineral water and immerse yourself in the history of spa tourism in Vulpera in 1908.

• App: To solve the puzzle, you need the free app ‘The Secret of Vulpera’. Thanks to AR (augmented reality) technology, the Hotel Waldhaus and the characters appear on the smartphone screen through the camera.
  • Download for Android (Link follows)
  • Download for Apple (Link follows)

• Markers: On the way you will find signs with objects on them. These markers must be scanned with your mobile phone to solve further puzzles and find clues. The clues from the people will help you track down the disappearance of Henry Wells. 

• Mistery fun: You can talk to the people working around the forest house. They appear on the screen when you look around after you have scanned a marker. You can have natural conversations with them using the keyboard or the voice function. Information from the characters will lead you further on the trail of Henry Wells.

• Duration: The experience lasts between 45 - 90 minutes. You will cover a distance of 1.7 - 2 km to the finish.

• Starting point: The puzzle starts at the former location of the Hotel Waldhaus. (Note: With the guest card you can travel comfortably and free of charge by post bus).

You will need the following tools to solve the mistery:

• Smartphone: An internet-enabled smartphone with a working camera for the puzzle fun. (The smartphone will be used intensively during the puzzle fun, a full battery is an advantage). 
  • Supported device models
• Good footwear: Good footwear is recommended, with which you can walk well for 45 - 90 minutes on different paths.

Augmented reality (AR) is a computer- or technology-supported extension of real perception - a kind of interplay between digital and analogue life.

This can work simply via the camera of a smartphone. Additional information about the surroundings is shown on the display. The form of AR in which the live image is often overlaid with lines or additional information is well known. In our example, the environment is enhanced with the Hotel Waldhaus and the people working around the hotel, as well as some objects.

In principle, an AR extension can appeal to several human senses, but it is normally a visual representation.

(techbold, 2022)