The Zubr team travelled stateside earlier this month to take our AR & VR Binoculars to San Francisco Tech Week on 7 October 2026, followed by a second showcase in Los Angeles the following week. Across both events, we demonstrated how augmented and virtual reality can transform familiar views into immersive experiences, bringing destinations, landmarks and hidden stories to life.
Our time in San Francisco
Our Bristol-based digital innovation studio joined more than 60 UK technology companies at San Francisco Tech Week, connecting with founders, investors and innovation organisations as part of a wider UK presence at the festival. With the first-ever British Tech Street Festival and UK House providing a platform for UK businesses to connect with US counterparts, the programme celebrated British innovation and strengthened transatlantic technology partnerships.
We demonstrated our AR & VR Binoculars, giving attendees the opportunity to explore panoramic views of destinations across the UK through an innovative take on the traditional viewing telescope. Designed and made in the UK, our binoculars offer a new way to experience places, combining the immediacy of a traditional telescope experience with the possibilities of immersive technology.
For our demonstration, we showcased immersive content developed in collaboration with VisitBritain and Misha Photography, transporting users to spectacular British destinations through panoramic imagery. Attendees included the Mayor of San Francisco and the British Ambassador, who both had the opportunity to experience the binoculars first-hand.
We were hosted in San Francisco by the British Consulate-General San Francisco, with our participation forming part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign, which celebrates British brilliance and innovation across a range of sectors.
Taking our binoculars to Los Angeles
The following week, we brought our AR Binoculars to the W Hollywood Hotel, whose balcony provided an impressive vantage point overlooking the Hollywood Hills. With support from Arnie Berghoff & Associates, we welcomed professionals from across the Los Angeles visitor attraction and media industries to experience the technology first-hand.
This time, our demonstrations focused on two applications particularly suited to the setting: augmented reality landmark labels and an interactive panoramic night-sky viewer.
Our AR landmark label demo showed how digital information can add context to the real-world landscape. As users looked across Los Angeles, on-screen labels highlighted notable landmarks, with quick pop-ups providing additional information and imagery about the places in view – from the iconic Hollywood Sign to the Capitol Records Building to Griffith Observatory.
We also showcased our own panoramic night-sky viewer, which displays real-time stars as they move across the skyline. Los Angeles is an especially interesting setting for this experience as light pollution can make stars difficult to see across the city, even from well-known viewpoints such as Griffith Observatory. Our night-sky viewer offers a way to reconnect people with the night sky, revealing celestial objects and their movement even when the real-world view makes them difficult to spot.
Beyond the spectacle, this technology also has potential as an educational resource. Visitor attractions, science centres and observatories could use it to introduce audiences to astronomy, explain the movement of stars and make the night sky more accessible to people who might otherwise struggle to observe it.
Our time in Los Angeles also highlighted the practical considerations involved in installing immersive technology outdoors. Our AR Binoculars are equipped to handle the city’s warm climate with an onboard heat mitigation system designed to support operation in high temperatures. Contactless payment compatibility also opens up opportunities for visitor attractions to offer paid experiences, while panoramic views provide a natural starting point for location-specific content.
Could our binoculars work at your destination?
From bringing panoramic views of the UK to San Francisco to revealing new perspectives on the Los Angeles skyline, our showcases demonstrated how immersive technology can help audiences connect with places in new ways.
Our demonstration unit is now staying in California so we can continue showcasing the technology to potential partners.
Are you a California visitor attraction, museum or experiential agency? We’re looking to connect with organisations interested in exploring the potential of AR & VR Binoculars, with heavily subsidised trials available for suitable locations. Get in touchs with Zubr to discuss a demonstration and explore what immersive technology could bring to your destination.