3D Virtual Tour of the Royal Armouries Museum

Can’t make it to the museum because a) it’s midnight b) you live in Japan c) it’s raining? Well, fear not… we have a 3D virtual tour of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.

Launch full screen mode

We realised that not everyone can visit visit our awesome museum in person so we created this virtual tour with help from our friends at Apollo 3D. Now, no matter where you are or why you can’t physically visit, you can explore our museum 24/7. For the best experience use a VR headset or launch the tour in full screen mode.

An accessible video version of the tour is available on YouTube

Getting started on your 3D Virtual Tour

Navigate using a mouse or keyboard arrows; or use the menu or highlights gallery to jump directly to key museum areas or objects, you can also use a VR headset for a truly immersive experience. Look out for yellow information icons throughout the galleries. Selecting them opens a video about each featured iconic object.

To start the tour and enter the museum select the Start your Experience button.

Key to icons

This icon can be found at the top right of the tour window.

select this to reveal a navigation menu

The following icons can be found along the bottom of the tour window.

select this to reveal a visual list of museum highlights
select this to play/pause and navigate through guided tour
select this to reveal a dollhouse style view of the museum
select this to reveal the museum floor plan
select this to choose which floor to visit
select this to view in full screen

This icon can be found throughout the tour placed next to some interesting objects and indicates that more information about that object is available.

hold your mouse over these icons for more information

A help link is located at the bottom right of the 3D Tour screen for more detailed help.

Navigating the tour

Using the mouse

Using a mouse you can click and drag to look around the virtual space or use the arrows to turn left and right
Click on the rings throughout the virtual tour to move around or use the arrows to move forward and back
Use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out or use the plus and minus keys to zoom in and out

Using the keyboard

A comprehensive guide to keyboard navigation is available on the Matterport website.

The basic keys are listed below:

The arrow keys move forwards and backwards and look left and right
A moves left
D moves right
R moves up one floor
F moves down one floor

Let us know what you think

We really want to know what you think of our 3D Virtual Tour. 3D virtual technology is new to the Royal Armouries and we hope you like what we have done so far. Our intention is to continue adding more information about our collection and facilities. But we created the tour for you, so let us know what you think or share your ideas on how we can improve it.