Virtualne pešpoti

Virtual Trails as a Bridge Between Landscape and Accessibility

The Burger.si project stands as one of the earliest and most ambitious efforts to transfer the experience of walking through the natural world into a digital environment. Its origins date back to 1993, when the project’s author began developing the concept of City View—a pioneering approach to visually documenting urban spaces. Even then, the idea was clear: technology should not serve merely as a tool for display, but as a medium for accessibility, education, and empathy.

The core idea behind virtual trails was simple yet revolutionary: to document landscapes and the experience of walking in the real world, and to translate that into the virtual realm of the internet—especially for individuals with limited mobility. It was a form of positive online discrimination, where technology was used to remove physical barriers and enable experiences that would otherwise remain inaccessible.

This approach was based on immersive 360° spatial photography, which doesn’t just present static images but creates a sense of presence. One of the first major projects was the documentation of the walking route from Litija to Čatež, following the literary path described by Fran Levstik. This established a synthesis between cultural heritage, natural landscape, and modern technology.

But the project didn’t stop at domestic trails. Over the years, the MojaSlovenija team—with their cameras and vision—walked and documented nearly a thousand kilometers across the Pyrenees via the GR10 trail, which connects the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This was followed by the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland, where the virtual walking experience stretches across icy landscapes and tundra, and even a climb to Mount Ararat, the highest peak in Turkey—one of the most symbolically and historically powerful locations.

Each of these trails is not merely a geographic record, but a narrative experience that allows users to immerse themselves in places they may never physically visit. Burger.si is thus more than a collection of photographs—it is a digital topography of human experience, connecting technology, nature, culture, and accessibility into a unified, deeply humanistic framework.

In an age when the digital world often drifts away from reality, this project proves that it is possible to build a bridge between the real and the virtual—one that serves not only aesthetics, but also inclusion and compassion.