Shital Ganeriwal, who resides in Kolkata, takes pleasure in exploring the history and culture of her city.

She satisfies her thirst for knowledge by listening to an audio app and immersing herself in the captivating stories and places that come to life through it. Currently, the 31-year-old is using Wnder, an audio app launched by Immersive Trails, a heritage walks company, to discover some of the oldest monuments and localities in her hometown of Kolkata, located in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Ms. Ganeriwal is just one of the many history enthusiasts in India who are utilizing audio apps to gain a deeper understanding of the country's past. Apps like Wnder, Augtraveler, HopOn India, and Storytrails offer multimedia tours of historical places, complemented by audio narration, providing an immersive experience.

Wnder, a product created by Kolkata-based archaeologist Tathagata Neogi and linguistic anthropologist Chelsea McGill, presents a selection of five well-planned heritage walks in the city. The walks are accompanied by a recording, voiced by professional actors, which enlightens participants about the history of the area. Furthermore, beginning in May, visitors will have the opportunity to embark on an augmented reality tour that features 360-degree photographs.

Mr. Neogi states that the inspiration for the project was an app called Detour, which was based in the US but is no longer accessible. He adds that they had planned to develop an app similar to it for the Indian market as early as 2017. However, it took them six years to plan and gather funds before they could bring their vision to fruition.

Augtraveler provides virtual multimedia tours of India's World Heritage sites, complete with audio narration, 360 degree imagery, augmented reality based models, and onscreen text.

With 116 tours across 14 cities, HopOn India's app can guide users through physical walks using GPS tracking and onscreen prompts. The app also offers virtual tours with audio narration and pop-up images of various locations.

The founders of both apps aimed to provide accurate representations of India's history at tourist spots, as many guides in the country have limited knowledge, charge high prices, and face language barriers when communicating information.

Pankaj Manchanda, founder of Augtraveler, explains that many visitors to Humayun's Tomb in Delhi are unable to climb the stairs to see the monument's interiors, but their app experiences can provide a solution. According to him, the self-guidance devices currently available at monuments are often expensive, limited in number, or not scalable.

Similarly, Mr. Neogi aimed to reduce the cost of accessing tourist destinations with the Wnder app, offering walks for 199 rupees ($2.5; £2) for a year's access and a free app download.

However, launching these apps in a new market like India poses challenges, and the founders report low user numbers.
Shalini Bansal, co-founder of HopOn, explains that their stories did not attract enough interest and they lacked the budget to promote them. As a result, they shifted their focus to spaces where people have the intention of listening.

Several apps are collaborating with museums and art galleries to assist them in digitizing their exhibitions and walking tours.
Wnder and HopOn have developed software solutions that enable museums and art galleries to digitize their visitor experiences. This involves leasing their technology to create apps and websites that offer audio-visual information about exhibits. Visitors can access this information for free by scanning a QR code.

HopOn's services are available at the National Museum in Delhi, as well as the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Meanwhile, Augtraveler has partnered with knowledge partners and government departments to create exclusive tours of India's World Heritage Sites on their own platform.

To ensure the accuracy of the historical information shared on these apps, they either employ or collaborate with domain experts to conduct research.

According to Mr. Neogi, the walk leaders for Wnder perform research to personalize the experience as much as possible. This involves incorporating primary sources of information, such as digitized materials from the British libraries, including documents from the East India Company and newspaper archives. They also work with communities to learn about oral histories and record memories.

Users report that these apps are enabling them to discover new and interesting facets of the cities they reside in.