It’s all about collaboration. Telling tales of the city, peeling back layers of history to create interactive audio tours means working with all kinds of people in real life. The list of Walking Heads partners and collaborators, friends and supporters is almost as long as those credits at the end of a film.

We know the Walking Heads story inside out of course but it still gives us a kick to see this AmbITion video of the presentation at the Interactive Scotland conference Digital 2012 by Cliff Waddell, WH operations director, and Anny Deery communications manager of Inner Ear, the production company who played a vital role not just producing the audio but pulling together a creative partnership of skills and knowledge to bring the tours to life. With loads of enthusiasm as you can see from the video…

Producing Glasgow Music Tour and Edinburgh Comedy Tour involved everything from highly skilled tecky stuff in the studio to chatting with musicians and comedians over a pint in the local. Not to mention walking miles through Glasgow and Edinburgh, plotting routes, checking maps, researching stories and then the challenge of recording interviews and on location in hidden lanes and busy streets.

We’ve come a long way since 2009 when Dougal Perman of Inner Ear and a few
friends first dreamed up the idea (quite possibly in a pub) of interactive storytelling guides to cities. “Collaboration enriched the project and made it a far better proposition than it was when it was first conceived,” Cliff told the packed audience at the SECC.

What next? Well, Cliff listed the potential for future tours through museums and whisky as well as extending Glasgow Music Tour to add a West Route including the new Hydro. But interactive tours are shaped by online audiences. So what happens next could be down to you…