Immersive sacred heritage: enchantment through authenticity at Glastonbury Abbey

This paper reflects on how immersive approaches can be designed to respect the spiritual ethos of sacred heritage. Glastonbury Abbey (Somerset, UK) provides a case study of ‘mixed reality’ immersive interpretation, including gamification, at an open-air sacred heritage site which attracts a diverse range of spiritual seekers (Christian, ‘New Age’ and Neo-Pagan). A cross-disciplinary team collaborated to design for authenticity, mediating ethical challenges by integrating spiritual heritage in embodied, playful approaches. Immersive methods offer unique opportunities for sacred heritage sites to engage imaginatively and inclusively with their spiritual heritage, connecting visitors with intangible heritage and drawing on embodied spiritual practices such as pilgrimage. Authenticity and biography emerge in this research as powerful conceptual tools to reconcile potential tensions between immersive storytelling and the spiritual values of place. Authentic objects, materials, spaces and stories are valued by visitors and host communities because they confirm the chain of proximity to the sacred, a direct connection to the life history of the saint, deity or mythical persona that is commemorated by the sacred place.