About

Each year, more than 200,000 people make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Some do it only for recreation, but most have something personal to process. The communal hardship of the walk sets the conditions for a particular kind of openness between complete strangers. They listen to each other’s stories and put their own thoughts in order.

Making innovative use of augmented reality, Pilgrim is a phone application which lets you accompany a diverse group of walkers. If you adjust to one walker’s tempo, you’ll hear him talk about a relationship breakdown. Another person is searching for a new goal in life. Other people are less willing to share their personal feelings. They just want to be part of the group—and the group isn’t talking continuously anyway. You’ll hear ambient noise and the occasional singing from a church service. Pilgrim is a journey with multiple meanings that can be traveled at various tempos.

Interactivity

Using the app the user can interact with the Pilgrims' audio stories through walking.

For example, if the user just stands still, then the pilgrims, who we hear through the stories they tell, just walk by us. Just as if we’d stand still on the trail and pilgrims just walk by us.

As soon as the user decides to start walking, we start to walk WITH the Pilgrims, so we hear the Pilgrim walking next to us, telling us his or her story.

And once we decide to stop walking, the Pilgrim of course continues on his/her path without us, and we hear him or her walk away. If we decide to walk longer with the Pilgrim, they open up more intimately in their stories. 

So, are you ready to walk alongside the Pilgrims? Who will you walk with?

Or will you choose to walk alone?

Pilgrim is about keeping up and letting go...

It is about listening and moving...

Credits

Created and Co-Directed by Lauren Hutchinson

Co-Directed by Saschka Unseld

Creative Producer Gabo Arora

Producer Tom Lofthouse

Developers DotDot

Editor Lauren Hutchinson

Assistant Editor Irene Carter

Field Reporter Rhea Chedid

Line Producer Cara Potts

Sound Design Q Department

Executive Producer Nathan Brown