Audio-described tour of the Nîmes Arena: a sensory immersion designed for visually impaired visitors

Thanks to a collaboration between Sycomore and Edeis, the company that manages the Nîmes Arena, a unique audio-described version has been created to offer visually impaired visitors an experience combining technology, immersive storytelling and sensitivity.

Accessibility: a major challenge for the Nîmes Arena

Built in the 1st century AD, the Nîmes Arena is an impressive testament to Roman architecture and attracts visitors from all over the world. But with its narrow passageways, stone staircases and complex architecture, it poses a real challenge for visually impaired visitors. While the standard tours were already enhanced with interactive audio guides, these did not fully meet the specific needs of people with visual impairments.

The arena's management, in collaboration with Sycomore, therefore decided to create an inclusive solution designed specifically for this audience, as part of a broader vision: making culture and heritage accessible to everyone, whatever a visitor's sensory abilities.

The Audiopass+: an audio guide serving visually impaired visitors

To meet these needs, Sycomore proposed the Audiopass+, a device designed with adapted features. Its raised keys allow easy tactile navigation, while markers such as raised dots around the number 5 help users find their bearings. Its immersive stereo sound delivers optimal audio quality, essential for guiding visitors through a complex sound environment while deepening their immersion in the history of the site.

A tailor-made audio-described tour

• An immersive description of the site: the tour does not merely describe the arena as it stands today. It plunges visitors into history, recreating the vibrant atmosphere of Roman spectacles, from the echo of footsteps in the corridors to the roar of the crowd.
• Immersive storytelling: inspired by the adult tour, the audio-described route features fictional dialogues. The character of Aptus, a Roman gladiator, converses with a present-day journalist, offering a playful contrast between past and present that makes the arena's history easier to grasp.
• A soundscape that paces the tour: cheering crowds, the clash of weapons, orders from the masters of ceremony… These effects also play a key role in orientation by providing precise auditory landmarks. Two dedicated jingles mark the transitions between sections of the visit and make spatial and temporal orientation easier.
• A redesigned route: the circuit has been adjusted to smooth the flow of movement and avoid hard-to-access areas. Some commentaries have been relocated or reworded to ensure a coherent experience, with no loss of narrative content.
• Rest stops and interactive points of interest: rest areas are built in at regular intervals, and a tactile model depicting the arena in the 2nd century AD helps visitors understand the layout of the now-vanished tiers of seating and the complexity of the circulation corridors.

An inclusive and immersive visit

By creating this dedicated tour, Sycomore and Edeis are enabling a new audience to discover the Nîmes Arena from a fresh perspective. Far more than a technical adaptation, it is a sensory and narrative experience that brings a historic monument back to life while respecting the specific needs of visually impaired visitors. Thanks to the Audiopass+ and carefully crafted storytelling, the arena becomes a place where history can be discovered in a whole new way.