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TOUR GUIDE SYSTEM
A tour guide system with live translation, on every visitor’s phone.
ViuTour is a tour guide system with live translation. The guide talks into their phone with a microphone, and each visitor follows the tour on their own phone, with headphones: the original voice or a translation into their language, out of 60. Visitors join by scanning a QR code, without installing an app or creating an account. There are no receivers to hand out, charge or collect.
How the system works, step by step
- The guide opens the tour on their phone and connects the microphone. They choose the language they’ll speak: Catalan or Spanish.
- They show the QR code to the group, printed on a card or on the phone screen.
- Each visitor scans the QR code, picks the original audio or a translation into their language and puts on their headphones. On an iPhone, they tap the screen once to turn the sound on.
- The guide talks as usual. Each visitor hears the live voice or the translation in their language.
- Visitors can type questions in their language on their phone. The guide receives them translated, answers out loud and the whole group hears the answer in their own language.
- At the end, the guide closes the tour. There’s nothing to hand back or count.
What artificial intelligence does on a guided tour
The translation is done by artificial intelligence, in three steps:
- It recognises what the guide says.
- It translates it into each language the visitors are listening to.
- It reads it out with a synthetic voice in that language.
The original voice doesn’t go through translation: anyone who understands the guide’s language hears it as it is, live.
AI translates ordinary sentences well and gets things wrong mostly with what is local: the name of a village, a chapel, a nickname or a local dish. That’s why the system doesn’t stop at AI.
Each company’s vocabulary: your local names, said right
Each company has its own vocabulary in ViuTour: the list of names in its area and, for each one, whether it’s said as it is or how it translates into each language. That way the AI knows in advance which names it will hear and how to say them. We prepare it with you when you start, and you can add to it from your dashboard whenever a new term comes up.
On our October test tours in the Terres de l’Ebre, the names that weren’t in the vocabulary were the ones that came out worst. What improves the translation most isn’t the technology but a well-prepared vocabulary.
What each person needs
| The guide | Each visitor | |
|---|---|---|
| Device | Their phone and a microphone | Their own phone |
| Audio | — | Headphones (you can keep a few simple pairs to hand out) |
| Connection | Mobile data or wifi | Mobile data or wifi |
| Installation | None: they use the web browser | None: they scan the QR code |
| Account | Your company’s | Not needed |
The system works over the internet. Before your first tour, walk the route with your phone and check where there’s signal. In a stretch with no coverage (a cave, a basement), give that part of the explanation before going in.
What the system includes
- Live original audio, untranslated, in every plan and without using hours.
- Live translation into 60 languages, chosen by each visitor.
- The guide can speak Catalan or Spanish and switch between them during the tour.
- Visitors’ questions, translated.
- The company’s own vocabulary.
- Unlimited guides on the same account.
- Any number of listeners: the number of visitors doesn’t change the price.
What it costs
You pay for language hours, not per visitor or per device. A language hour is one translated language listened to for one hour. Original audio doesn’t count.
| Plan | Language hours a month | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | 15 | €49/month |
| Active | 40 | €99/month |
| Intensive | 100 | €199/month |
| 10-hour pack | 10, valid for 12 months | €69, no subscription |
Prices exclude VAT; no minimum term. If you run out of hours, the tour carries on: extra hours cost €5/h and we apply whichever is cheaper, the extra hours or the next plan up.
Example: a 2-hour tour with a group listening in English and French uses 4 language hours. If part of the group listens to the original, that part doesn’t count.
A phone-based system or a receiver system
Group guiding systems with a transmitter and receivers, often called whisper systems, send the voice over radio. They don’t depend on coverage, but the devices have to be handed out, charged, disinfected and collected, and they don’t translate by themselves. A phone-based system like ViuTour saves the devices and adds translation, but it needs a connection and each visitor needs a phone.
We compare costs, logistics and use cases in the guide Audio guide system alternative. If you’re choosing between several translation systems, see the System comparison.
Who it’s for
- Tour companies that host groups with visitors who speak different languages and don’t want to split the group or pay a second guide.
- Freelance guides who want to take visitors who speak other languages without repeating every explanation.
- Tourist offices, museums and wineries that run live guided tours.
It isn’t for recorded routes visitors follow on their own: ViuTour is for tours with a live guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is a tour guide system with live translation?
It’s a system that carries the guide’s voice to each visitor and translates it while they talk. With ViuTour, the voice reaches each visitor’s phone, and they choose the original or a translation into their language.
Do visitors need to download an app?
No. Visitors join from their phone’s browser by scanning a QR code. The guide doesn’t install anything either.
Is the translation done by a person or by AI?
By AI. That’s why each company has its own vocabulary with the names in its area, which improves how local terms are translated. If you need human translation for an official event or a conference, what you need is an interpreter.
How many visitors can listen at the same time?
Each visitor listens on their own phone, and the number of listeners doesn’t change the price.
What happens if the connection drops?
The visitor stops hearing while they have no signal. When it returns, the phone reconnects on its own and, if they’ve fallen behind, the app offers to jump back to live.
Can I try it before signing up?
Yes. The trial is free: you have 48 hours to run up to 30 minutes of tours, with up to two translated languages at a time, once per company. You can run it at home with two phones and a pair of headphones, or straight away with a group. We don’t ask for a credit card.