By Lucia van der Drift

In the Autumn of 2025, a self-portrait by Rembrandt left its home in Devon for a year-long journey to meet thousands of National Trust visitors. Travelling along is a trail-blazing multi-layered audio guide.

The portrait is displayed in a dedicated space where visitors can sit and take time to experience the work. They can tune in to curators discussing the history of the painting, its discovery, and restoration. They can listen to an actor voicing Rembrandt van Rijn talking about his life and his studio.

They can also access a slow-looking layer. Slow looking is simply taking time to pay attention to more than you see at first glance: to observe more carefully and with intention.

National Trust curator Amy Orrock was closely involved with the project and the development of audio content. She explains that the starting point was to provide more access to this Rembrandt masterpiece, as not everyone is able to visit Buckland Abbey in Devon.

This was literally achieved by sending the portrait on tour to other National Trust properties, but the audio guide was a natural next step to making the visitor experience as rich and fulfilling as possible.

Amy Orrock says:

“We can forget that not everybody feels comfortable in these environments or confident navigating pictures. There's often a tendency to rush through and feel you have to see everything. Some of the feedback shows that people really appreciate being given permission to sit down and spend time with the portrait. It enhances their visit.”

She adds that the slow-looking guidance is helping people to feel better equipped to look at other artworks and portraits during their visit, and perhaps also after their visit.

There is often far more to share with visitors than can fit on a 60-word label, and the slow looking approach gives heritage organisations more time and space to tell the fuller stories behind their pictures.

Feedback collected so far suggests that visitors find the experience immersive. This is exactly the outcome the National Trust team envisaged.

Orrock explains:

“Having the audio guide really helps, because there are various soundtracks blended into the audio to enhance the storytelling. The room is relatively dark, and the picture itself is beautifully lit, so people can shut out distractions and feel drawn into this magnetic painting.”

The audio-guide app also asks people how they feel after encountering Rembrandt, and many answer that they feel relaxed and that this approach helped them appreciate the details more.

Orrock notes that the team have been surprised by the number of people who opt to use the audio guide. This suggests that people welcome additional layers of interpretation when these are offered.

Here are Amy’s top tips for selecting an artwork to create a slow-looking experience within your collection:

• Choose a larger work that allows multiple people to look at it at the same time.
• Ensure the subject of the artwork connects with emotions.
• Select a strong picture that invites imaginative engagement.

She adds:

“There are so many incredible pictures out there, so I think there's enormous potential for this way of engaging with art.”

Technical Implementation by ATS

To bring this multi-layered vision to life, the National Trust collaborated with ATS to deliver the experience on Focus 3 devices. While the National Trust curated and created the rich narrative and audio layers, ATS provided the technical framework and device integration, ensuring the "slow-looking" journey was seamless, intuitive and immersive for every visitor.

Ready to bring your next project to life? Get in touch with ATS today.

Photo by James Dobson