Hidden

Ian Brodie is proud to be a co-founder with Pal Rørby of Hidden, an innovative development that will see the rich mythology and heritage of Norway brought to life in a new and innovative way.

The following is reproduced from a Norwegian newspaper.

These entrepreneurs have been a well hidden secret in the mountains - until they appeared at Hack4Norden, one of the world's largest tech conferences.

They solve perhaps not the greatest social problems, but they will clearly make boulders and ravines in Norwegian nature considerably more exciting. In a kind of mountain 'Pokemon Go they will use "augmented reality" to tell myths and legends about different formations you may come across. Founder Paul Rørby and his team from Nice View Studio Hemsedal have chosen to lie low so far. Admittedly, they won the Norwegian final, but it was only during the national finals in the pitch competition they chose to go high on the track with the new AR app.

We have worked extensively with research, concept and project, before we go out with this. We know the job we have made and we are confident that it is hard for others to catch us, says Rørby after AR-start-up won 125,000 kroner Hack4Norden Thursday.

Lord of the Rings

The App-founders have worked on the project for two and a half years. The idea came after a trip to a cabin in Hemsedal with New Zealander Ian Brodie, responsible for locations in the filming of Lord of the Rings. Brodie has sold 1.5 million copies of a guidebook for locations from the movies.

He's been a friend of mine and was at my cottage for six days, and we got into the stories of folklore. It was when we got the idea, telling Rørby.

Since then Brodie been on board the project.

For the many who have played Pokemon Go, it is quite easy to understand what this is about. Hidden map it is marked by a number of natural landmarks in the terrain, which is similar dragons, trolls and other creatures. Clicking on these "stops" will bring up animations of how according to folklore began.

It's got a lot Jotul cut where "troll" has smashed things, or other places where they have thrown large stones. Elsewhere, the "sea serpents" that have ravaged. You have places like "Dragehøla in hestejuvnatten", where a dragon guarding a treasure. We use "augmented reality" to recreate this, says Rørby. 

The jury at Hack4Norden emphasized that the idea should be scalable internationally. The entrepreneur from Hemsedal has global plans. He points out that there are strong beliefs in many places in the world. And the Norwegians will be associated with the environments that are keen to bring these stories on. Rørby sees potential in myths about everything from underground in Siberia for kites in China.

Important victory

The founders have a budget of three million to finish a fully operational version of Hidden in Hallingdal next summer. They now wish to collect 150.000 Euro to be matched up against funding from Innovation Norway, and regional and local schemes.

(Translated from Norwegian)

 

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