TAILING REBUS:
FOLLOW IAN RANKIN'S SET IN DARKNESS AND SEE EDINBURGH THROUGH REBUS'S EYES
Welcome to the mobile audio version of Ian Rankin’s Set in Darkness, the world’s first adaption of an entire detective novel for location-based media. Prepare to tail Inspector Rebus through the streets of Edinburgh as he hunts down suspects and clues to solve the murders, and become part of an entirely new interactive, immersive literary experience.
This is a totally free web-based app – made available through the generosity of Ian Rankin, Orion Publishing and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and created/built by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast and Carleton University, Canada. The experience is powered by the StoryTrek platform.
Using your smartphone, you can follow an abridged version of Orion Publishing’s Set in Darkness audiobook as you move through the actual spaces of Edinburgh where the story takes place.
See Edinburgh come to life before your eyes as one of its greatest chroniclers, Ian Rankin, reveals the city’s public grandeur, hidden histories and dark recesses. Listen to the wonderfully rich narration – by James MacPherson – unfold as you confront the city’s past, present and future.
The immersive, interactive walk, powered by the ground-breaking StoryTrek platform, takes you to every part of this beautiful city – the Old and New Towns, the Financial District, the West End, the Meadows and Carlton Hill – as you follow Rebus’s unfolding investigation into Edinburgh’s murky past and present. Follow the clues and lose yourself in this unique coming together of story and the setting.
The trek begins at the entrance to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood – a building site at the time of the story where the city’s clandestine past is being excavated before Rebus’s eyes. Past, present and future collide as you can detect what is still stranding from the recent and distant past and see for yourself what the ‘biggest construction site in Scotland’s history’ in 1999 has become in the present. The trek is free of charge.
-
KEY FEATURES
Edinburgh is a hilly city but you can take plenty of breaks and some of these have been built into the trek so you can listen to certain extracts from the comfort of a café or a free bench! Feel free to stop wherever you want to. You can pause the sound extracts for as long as you need to.
The story is divided into three sections, each of which takes approximately 90-120 minutes to complete.
Part 1: 1.5 hours (3.4 km)
Part 2: 2 hours (4.7 km)
Part 3: 2 hours (4 km)
Total: 5.5 hours (12.1km)You can complete the trek in a single day or over two or three days. One option would be to start the trek at midday and complete Part 1 &2 and then leave Part 3 until the next day.
You can even enjoy a pint in the Oxford Bar and the Royal Oak along with Rebus as part of the experience but please bear in mind current opening hours. Oxford Bar (Mon-Wed 1-8pm; Thurs-Sat 1-10pm; closed Sundays) and the Royal Oak (current opening hours (2-9pm; closed Sundays). To time your trek to coincide with these hours, try to begin no earlier than 11.30am and remember that, currently, neither bar is open on Sundays.
Select "Play" from your Case Dossier to follow the trail of clues in the streets of Edinburgh. Advancing to the nearest coloured zone on the map will advance the story, which is best experienced using headphones.
You trigger the brief audio clips simply by walking into the coloured zones on your mobile map. Follow the directions and proceed to the next zone while you listen to the story unfold.
When you have cleared all required zones in a sequence, the story map will reset with new clues to discover.
To pause the story at any time, select "Quit to Case Dossier" from the top right of your screen. Your progress through the mystery will be saved, so you can return to your place at any time.
For those not in Edinburgh, all three episodes of the story can also be experienced from a web browser by selecting "Remote Play" from your Case Dossier.
The trek works with current or legacy Android and iOS devices, desktop computers, and most web browsers (e.g. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Dolphin, etc.).
- WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- A fully charged smartphone or tablet with a web browser and internet access.
- Earphones (it’s almost impossible to follow the story without earphones due to the noise of traffic etc.).
- As any gumshoe will tell you, a comfortable pair of walking shoes or trainers is essential. And given the location, a raincoat is advisable.
- Make sure you have the Google Maps app already downloaded on your phone. This is essentially for helping to locate you precisely at all junctures of the trek.
- A phone charger lead (in case your battery runs low and you need to recharge on route – most cafes and bars are happy to let you do this, if you buy a drink or snack).
You can do the Tailing Rebus trek at any time of the day – or over two or three days – or at any time of the year but it’s best enjoyed if the weather is bright and clear. The trek is rewarding and different in all seasons and shouldn’t just be left to the spring, summer and autumn.
- WHAT TO DO NEXT
If you want to do the Tailing Rebus trek, you will need to register first, by sending an email to Andrew Pepper – a.pepper@qub.ac.uk. He will send you the weblink and login and password details and you can access more detailed instructions here.
And remember…
This is the first time the Tailing Rebus app has been tested by you – Rankin’s fans and members of the public. It may take a little while to get the hang of things and there may be technical and logistical glitches along the way. This is a university research project rather than a commercial endeavour so please bear with us if glitches do occur. We are keen to hear your feedback, good and bad, at the end of your efforts, as this will help us refine and improve the user experience in the future.
This project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in conjunction with Orion Publishing.