New hi-tech experience at Famous Grouse distillery

Jul 3 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Strathearn Herald

THE award-winning Famous Grouse Experience – Scotland’s most popular distillery – is shunning the recession to create a £500,000 world first for the Big County.

A brand new interactive 3-D show unveiled yesterday at Glenturret in Crieff uses pioneering technology to take visitors into their world of whisky.

The exciting new show follows on from the first, hugely successfully project which opened seven years ago and was awarded a coveted BAFTA for Best Interactive Entertainment in 2002.

Using cutting edge “gesture technology” the 2009 show provides a higher level of interaction than before, with the much-loved grouse directly responding to movements and gestures made by the guide and show participants.

It’s the first time this type of technology has been used in this way anywhere in the world.

On entering the show, visitors are introduced to The Famous Grouse before embarking on a spectacular flight across Scotland, taking in some of the country’s most famous landmarks, including Eilean Donan and the Forth Bridge, and landing on the set of The Famous Grouse’s iconic TV adverts.

Finally, visitors are taught how to fly the grouse themselves, and by mimicking the grouse in flight they can direct the bird.

They are invited to guide the grouse through a glen, picking up musical notes along the way to create the popular grouse tune.

Tracy McCafferty, general manager of The Famous Grouse Experience commented: “We are particularly proud of our track record in delivering an outstanding visitor experience and, despite the current economic climate, we feel it is important to continually invest in our visitor centre to ensure we maintain this record.

“The interactive show is one of the most popular parts of the distillery tour and with a greater number of people expected to holiday at home this year we hope this gives people another reason to visit the home of Scotland’s favourite whisky.”

The distillery team turned to German specialists Art+com to create an interactive project that harnesses the very latest digital technology.

Most scenes contain high-resolution satellite images of famous landmarks in Scotland.

The Famous Grouse Experience, operating from the country’s oldest working distillery – it dates back to 1775 – lures more than 100,000 visitors a year.