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Lavaux by bus, with history to boot!
VMCV launches new CityTourPlayer audio guide on route 218
Published by NexSwissPosted on 15/04/2025
Lavaux can now be discovered at the pace of an immersive audio guide aboard public transportation. The VMCV line 218, connecting Vevey to Chexbres, offers a unique experience: a GPS-synchronized audio guide, directly accessible on smartphones without an app, available in five languages. Developed by the Swiss company NexSwiss, this project combines cutting-edge technology with the enhancement of heritage.
This spectacular journey from Vevey to Chexbres crosses one of the most beautiful landscapes in Switzerland: the Lavaux terraced vineyards, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Artificial intelligence at the service of local culture
This new audioguide marks a technological first with the integration of voices generated by artificial intelligence for the Italian and Chinese versions. A neural voice synthesis, offering a natural and fluid rendering, makes the audioguide accessible to a wider audience. The French version, on the other hand, benefits from exceptional dubbing by the famous YouTuber Bob Lennon (2 million subscribers), in partnership with the association Romandub, a collective of enthusiasts from French-speaking Switzerland who actively work to promote the art of dubbing in Switzerland. This alliance between human and artificial voices paves the way for more accessible and innovative cultural experiences.
An immersive experience, without downloading
Travelers can embark on an auditory and visual journey, simply by scanning a QR code on the bus or by visiting ligne218.ch. The audioguide is synchronized in real time with the journey thanks to the smartphone's GPS, while displaying images, historical anecdotes, and panoramas of the Lavaux vineyard.
"Our ambition with CityTourPlayer is simple: to make culture alive, visible, and accessible to everyone, directly from public transport. Technological innovation truly comes into its own here, thanks to the connections it allows us to make with the territories we pass through."
— Joël Iunius, co-founder of NexSwiss / CityTourPlayer
A participatory and educational dynamic
This project is part of a broader approach, already initiated with other lines in the canton (MBC 724, VMCV 201, TL 24). In 2024, NexSwiss also supported a class from the Gymnase d’Yverdon in creating an audioguide for line 601, in partnership with Travys. This educational project allowed students to design the texts, images, and even lend their voices to an audioguide that traces the history of the stops between Yverdon station and their school. Available on ligne601.ch, this community project demonstrates the full potential of CityTourPlayer as a participatory, educational, and local tool.
Future projects
New audioguided lines are already in preparation for 2025. This momentum demonstrates a growing interest in enriching, accessible, and sustainable travel experiences. For NexSwiss, it is a strong lever for innovation in the service of our regions and a great opportunity to attract new travelers by highlighting the history and local culture through our public transport.
Links
Audioguide for line 218: https://ligne218.ch/
VMCV: https://www.vmcv.ch/page/audioguide-l218
Montreux Riviera: https://www.montreuxriviera.com/fr/P190523/lavaux-en-bus-l-histoire-en-plus-audioguide-vmcv-218
Lavaux, terraced vineyard: https://www.lavaux-unesco.ch/actualites/audioguide-ligne-vmcv-218
Project of the Gymnasium students: https://ligne601.ch/
Romandub: https://romandub.ch/
Contact
NexSwiss Sàrl
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CityTourPlayer wins the People's Choice Award and the "Resources and Services for Operations" category at the EUMO 2024 Smart Move Challenge. 9 winners selected by this competition, organized during the European Mobility Expo 2024.
NexSwiss Sàrl, a startup founded by students from Vaud, launched the CityTourPlayer in 2020, a platform that allows public transport companies to create their own GPS-synchronized audio guides on smartphones. Travelers can thus visit the region directly while seated in public transport. It is thanks to this innovation that the NexSwiss team managed to stand out among the juries and co-win the Innovation Generator 2.0 contest as well as the Innosuisse Business Concept Training.
Posted on 03/10/2024
About Us
CityTourPlayer is a project from NexSwiss Sàrl, a company based in Switzerland.
The idea for this platform arose during a visit to London on bus 11. Indeed, this bus offered very beautiful views of the best places in the British city but did not provide any real-time information about these places. We came up with the idea of creating a platform that would allow public transport companies and cities around the world to produce customized audioguides on existing public transport networks. In this way, both small towns and large cities could offer tourists, as well as their locals, the opportunity to freely discover their landscape without using private buses routes and to take advantage of existing urban networks.
By NexSwiss Sàrl, for more information about us and our IT products, visit our main website: NexSwiss.ch
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