Individual Premium
Your own window into the past.
Running Reality's premium features are a living window into the past, the closest thing to a time machine you can have on your phone.
- WALK on the ground
- TALK to interactive people
- Ad free
Explore at your own pace
Every place has a story.
When you visit a historic site, you’re standing in the middle of a story. Running Reality helps you experience that story as it happened—bringing the past into the present through immersive, interactive technology. As you explore, you can uncover layers of history that aren’t visible to the eye, turning a simple visit into something far more meaningful.
Using your mobile device, you can see historic scenes appear around you, follow events as they unfold, and interact with the people who once lived and worked in these spaces. Whether you’re walking through a battlefield, a town, or a landmark, history becomes something you can explore at your own pace, guided by your curiosity.
Your time machine
Individual Premium
Unlock immersive features.
TALK to interactive people
WALK on the ground- Ad free
Examples from Northern Virginia
See familiar places in a different time.
Here are some examples from Northern Virginia that bring the history of both battlefield and historic sites to life. If you can not visit these sites yourself, these show what the experience is like.
Waterfront of Alexandria, Virginia
General Stonewall Jackson surveys advancing troops.
Freedman "Gentleman Jim" Robinson's house
The location of the Maplewood manor is now an elevated metro station.
A rail line used to serve the docks on Union Street.
The original Henry House on fire during the battle.
TALK to interactive people
Follow your curiosity, one conversation at a time.
Imagine meeting the people of the past and hearing their stories in their own words. Just like a living historian or reenactor, interactive people bring history to life— sharing experiences, answering questions, and helping you see events through their eyes.
With Running Reality, these encounters are available anytime. You can talk with historical figures, site guides, and even everyday people from the past. Ask questions, explore their perspectives, and follow your curiosity in real time. Whether you want a quick explanation or a deeper conversation, each interaction adapts to you.
History isn’t just something you read about—it’s something you can experience, one conversation at a time.
WALK in augmented reality
See history where it happened.
Our augmented reality "WALK" view lets you see history where it actually happened. As you explore a site, your phone can reveal buildings, landscapes, and people from the past—layered directly onto the world around you. Stand in one place and watch history unfold all around you.
Instead of imagining what a location looked like, you can experience it. See long-gone structures rise again, watch troop movements across the terrain, or discover how everyday life once filled the space you’re standing in. It turns a walk through a historic site into a journey through time.
The practical details.
A little more about what you can discover and how to explore.
Cardboard viewers are optional, inexpensive, and helpful for shading a phone screen in bright sunlight. See the benefits and setup instructions for using cardboard viewers with AR or VR.
Everything you see is built from carefully researched historical data, bringing together maps, images, and firsthand accounts to create a rich and accurate picture of the past. You can explore at your own pace—zooming in on details, stepping back for a wider view, or moving through different moments in time.
Some locations may also include fun, interactive challenges—like discovering hidden stories or unlocking playful moments as you explore. These experiences make it easy to stay engaged, especially for younger visitors, while still learning more about the history all around you.
This experience is constantly evolving. Running Reality is an active, growing platform, with new stories, locations, and interactive features added regularly. Each visit can reveal something new, as more of the past is reconstructed and brought to life over time.
And this is just the beginning. As new technology continues to improve, even more of the past becomes visible—more people, more places, and more stories—making each visit a deeper and more immersive experience.
Take your curiosity somewhere new.
See the places, meet the people, and explore at your own pace.