{"id":276029,"date":"2025-09-29T10:37:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/?p=276029"},"modified":"2025-09-29T10:37:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:37:31","slug":"built-by-gaming-veterans-this-dallas-ar-startup-is-reanimating-the-past-to-own-the-future-of-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/built-by-gaming-veterans-this-dallas-ar-startup-is-reanimating-the-past-to-own-the-future-of-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Built by Gaming Veterans, This Dallas AR Startup Is Reanimating the Past to Own the Future of Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Rome, then the world.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

On launch day, Kelly Hoerner watched his dashboard like a trader on Wall Street. But for him, the action was unfolding across ancient ruins. Tourists in Rome were downloading his company\u2019s augmented reality app in real time. And they were paying.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is the day we actually started taking money,\u201d said Hoerner, co-founder and COO of Dallas-based Histoury, in a late July interview.<\/p>\n

The commercial debut of Portyl, Histoury\u2019s immersive AR app, brought Rome’s ancient tourist sites to life with cinematic CGI on phones and tablets. And the name of the company? It says exactly what it delivers\u2014History, Story, Tourism\u2014blended with tech to reanimate the past.<\/p>\n

Founded by two gaming veterans\u2014Hoerner in Dallas and CEO Todd Porter in San Francisco\u2014the startup had emerged from stealth mode and beat its projections out of the gate with its first site.<\/p>\n

Real-time revenue and reanimated ruins<\/h3>\n

Tour operators at Roman ruins reported a 60% adoption rate among tourists, well above the 50% target. “They pull up the product,” Hoerner said, “and you can see the soldiers marching, the birds flying, the people going about their daily lives. That’s pretty compelling.”<\/p>\n

The app uses Hollywood-quality computer graphics to rebuild ancient structures and populate them with people from the past, he says. On phones and tablets, its geospatial technology locks the virtual world to a location, letting users walk through scenes that align with what they see on site.<\/p>\n

Even casual tourists can experience it in bite-sized form. In Rome, Histoury offers “Espresso” tours that let users watch the ancient world unfold around them while they sip coffee at a nearby caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

They’re experiencing living history, says Porter, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded the company with Hoerner. “You can see the magic in their eyes and hear it in their voices,” he said in an announcement. “Instead of looking at ruins and trying to imagine what they looked like, Portyl overlays the past over the present.”<\/p>\n

The early traction in Rome was validation, Hoerner says, and a strategic first step into a much larger market.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Portyl lets users see\u2014and walk through\u2014the four temples of Largo di Torre Argentina as they appeared between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. [Image: Histoury]<\/p><\/div>\n

Taking on a heritage travel market valued at $2 billion<\/h3>\n

Histoury said it targets a heritage travel market valued at $2 billion, with AR tourism expected to grow 30% annually over the next decade.<\/p>\n

“Heritage tourism is at a tipping point,” according to Porter. “Travelers don’t just want facts\u2014they want connection.”<\/p>\n

The founders call it “Theastoric”\u2014a mix of Theater and History. “Portyl delivers that in a way no tour book or signage ever could,” Porter said.<\/p>\n

The startup launched into a market ripe for disruption, according to Hoerner. A survey commissioned by Histoury revealed that nearly half of tourists say sites are too crowded, more than a third find traditional tours move too fast, and about one in five struggle to visualize what ruins originally looked like.<\/p>\n

But nearly three-quarters say they would be more likely to visit historical sites if technology made them more engaging, the study showed. And more than 40% of travelers said they would visit significantly more sites on a trip if those experiences were interactive and immersive, according to the company survey.<\/p>\n

The founders chose ancient Rome for the initial launch as a gateway to the market. The Roman Empire represents roughly half of the global heritage tourism market that AR can address, giving the company a foundation for rapid expansion across Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and beyond.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Histoury co-founders Todd Porter, left, and Kelly Hoerner at the Colosseum, the startup\u2019s first commercial site for Portyl, an immersive AR app that reanimates ancient history with CGI. [Photo: Histoury]<\/p><\/div>\n

What happens when two gaming veterans take on tourism<\/h3>\n

Histoury’s Dallas roots run deep, anchored by both investment capital and the city’s gaming heritage. <\/p>\n

Three-quarters of the company’s $2 million-plus seed funding comes from local Dallas investors, according to Hoerner, who handles business operations from the city, while co-founder Todd Porter focuses on product development from San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The founders’ shared history dates back to Dallas’ gaming golden age<\/a> in the 1990s, when Hoerner and Porter collaborated at prominent Dallas gaming companies, including Ion Storm, before they embarked on separate ventures including the creation of acquired consumer software products, such as DVD Create and Photo Match. They reunited while contracting for a TopGolf competitor in Las Vegas, when “the technology had finally caught up with the idea,” Hoerner says.<\/p>\n

“Read your email.”<\/h3>\n

The concept for Histoury crystallized for Hoerner during travels with his wife, whom he describes as a “huge travel person who traipses through ruins all around the world.” With their gaming backgrounds, the founders recognized the visual storytelling potential for these sites. “[They leave] something to be desired, because you can’t really see anything,” Hoerner recalled.<\/p>\n

Inspiration struck in November 2023. Porter discussed the core concept, and Hoerner couldn’t stop thinking about it. “I kept coming back to him, and he was busy on something else,” Hoerner said. “So I laid out a pitch deck and called him, saying, ‘Read your email. We need to do this.'” The company was officially formed a few months later in February 2024.<\/p>\n

Revenue-sharing model targets tour operators<\/h3>\n

“We wanted to be stealth,” Hoerner said. But that model was a challenge to building immediate revenue streams.<\/p>\n

Hoerner says a key operational breakthrough came from an unexpected connection: an Italian business development manager the co-founders discovered working a hotel front desk at a place they stayed at. “One of our wisest decisions was taking a chance on [him],” Hoerner said. “He just never stops. He’s got operators and businesses signed up already, just waiting to be brought on.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

Portyl reimagines ancient sites like Herculaneum Beach with cinematic CGI synced to real-world ruins. [Image: Histoury]<\/p><\/div>\n

\nRather than relying on direct consumer marketing during their stealth development phase, Histoury built a revenue-sharing network with tour operators, restaurants, and hotels. The company currently pays partners a commission on ticket sales generated through personalized QR codes tracked via backend systems that automatically pay out the operators, he says.<\/p>\n

“We have 27 tour operators and restaurant groups signed up in Rome and Herculaneum already,” Hoerner said, projecting that the partnerships would drive thousands of daily users.<\/p>\n

Technical innovation brings gaming power to mobile<\/h3>\n

Histoury’s core technical achievement involves real-time photorealistic 3D world rendering on mobile devices for performance that previously required “$5,000 gaming rigs,” according to Hoerner. The app, powered by the Unity game engine, supports devices as old as iPhone 14 and Android S21 for broad accessibility across four-generation-old hardware.<\/p>\n

The platform leverages partnerships with Niantic’s Visual Positioning System for geospatial precision, allowing users to walk freely through populated historical environments rather than static viewing experiences, he says.<\/p>\n

“The ruins match perfectly to your phone. That is really the key innovation,” Hoerner said.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tourists at the Colosseum can see soldiers march, birds fly, and crowds bustle.[Image: Histoury]<\/p><\/div>\n

For complex locations like the Colosseum district, the team developed “free range” virtual nodes that span entire areas\u2014the tech that lets tourists launch the app from nearby restaurants with only a few degrees of variance. The platform also supports more than 60 languages through AI-powered translation, with additional quality checks underway for certain languages to ensure accuracy.<\/p>\n

Other technical partnerships include Microsoft Azure, PlayFab, and Branch.io for backend infrastructure. <\/p>\n

The company’s 15-person, mostly remote, team blends the veterans from the gaming scene with global specialists in art, design, and engineering. Hoerner points to the group’s art director in Monterrey, Mexico\u2014whom he calls “probably the best I’ve ever worked with”\u2014as an example of the caliber of talent shaping Portyl’s look and feel.<\/p>\n

Joe Gabriel, head of customer & developer success at Niantic Spatial, called Histoury’s tech an example of “how spatial intelligence is reshaping the way people and digital systems understand and engage with our physical world.”<\/p>\n

“We believe Portyl has the potential to be a killer app for AR tourism,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Immersive experiences across iconic Roman sites\u2014and beyond<\/h3>\n
\"\"

Histoury animates senators and countrymen on the palazzo of the Forum of Trajan. [Image: Histoury]<\/p><\/div>\n

At launch, Portyl offers immersive experiences at iconic Roman landmarks, such as the Pantheon, Largo di Torre Argentina, Colosseum district, Forum of Trajan, Theatre of Marcellus, and Temple of Hadrian. <\/p>\n

Histoury describes scenes users can see, such as standing before the Pantheon as it was nearly 2,000 years ago, full of citizens, merchants, and priests. They can see the four temples of the sacred area of Largo di Torre Argentina not as ancient ruins, but as they were between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. They can watch a triumphant march of Roman soldiers as they parade through the Arch of Constantine in front of the Colosseum, or stand on the crosswalk at the Forum of Trajan, seeing the palazzo buzzing with senators and countrymen.<\/p>\n

Picking Rome as the first launch location delayed development by about six months due to the scale and complexity of its ancient sites. But Hoerner says the work now provides a library of assets and in-house expertise that can be reused at other destinations.<\/p>\n

The company plans a Series A funding round of $25-30 million post-launch to support four dedicated location teams for simultaneous site development, he said.<\/p>\n

Platform expansion targets event-based recreations\u2014and the Alamo<\/h3>\n

Near-term targets include expansion to the Acropolis for its massive visitor numbers and Pompeii in partnership with Pompeii Archaeological Park, which is providing LIDAR scans to accelerate development. “We’re working with the Pompeii archaeological park itself. They actually have LIDAR scans of the entire site,” Hoerner said.<\/p>\n

Hoerner notes the company faces little direct competition, since most alternatives are one-off solutions built for individual sites rather than a scalable platform. The company positions itself as a high-tech competitor to app-based audio guides that supports human tour operators rather than replacing them.<\/p>\n

The company also anticipates event-based recreations at sites like Normandy and Pearl Harbor. Closer to home in Texas, Histoury’s expansion plans could include the Alamo, which attracts around 2.5 million annual visitors, Hoerner says.<\/p>\n

“The beautiful thing about the business model is that the full serviceable market is over 200 million users a year, and there are new ones every year at new sites,” Hoerner said. “They keep coming.”<\/p>\n

Lance Murray contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fresh out of stealth, Histoury launched its cinematic AR app for tourists in Rome\u2014and beat its launch-day goals. Now the Dallas startup is targeting a $2B heritage travel market, one landmark and tour operator at a 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Preston launched the Dallas Innovates' media platform to tell the story of innovation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It was official in 2016 when the Dallas skyline turned purple for innovation. Since then, Dallas Innovates has become a must-read among business leaders and forward thinkers in North Texas. \\\"Our partners call us 'the tip of the spear for innovation news in North Texas,'\\\" she says. \\\"Now it's our tagline.\\\" The media-with-a-mission brand covers what's new and next in North Texas business. \\\"Our lens is lift,\\\" Preston says. \\\"We want to inspire ideas and opportunity. We're a catalyst for connections, here and beyond.\\\" Covering the Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Economy \\\"Dallas-Fort Worth has all of the core assets that drive an innovation economy,\\\" Preston told D CEO about the launch. \\\"We felt Dallas Innovates could be the center of innovation in business in DFW, from startup to enterprise, and include all the great impact work happening here.\\\" One of our superpowers is our diverse economy: \\\"A lot of places want one thing to hang their hat on, but DFW has many centers of innovation,\\\" she noted. \\\"And the fact that small businesses can work with very large companies here as a Fortune 50 market is a huge advantage.\\\" Preston founded media company Dallas Next in 2021 and publishes Dallas Innovates in a collaboration with the Dallas Regional Chamber. DRC innovation and research chief Duane Dankesreiter and Dallas Innovates co-founder says it's \\\"the drumbeat\\\" for the innovation economy in the region. Dallas Next also publishes the DALLAS\u00ae publications in partnership with the DRC. Dallas Innovates' sister publications include the DALLAS\u00ae Regional Economic Development Guide, the DALLAS\u00ae Relocation + Newcomers Guide, and the\u00a0DALLAS\u00ae Commercial Real Estate, which is a partnership with the DRC and The Real Estate Council. \\\"It's hard to say no to Quincy Preston when she believes in something,\\\" wrote D CEO Editor Christine Perez in the magazine. \\\"She won't stop until she makes it happen.\\\" In a previous role at D Magazine Partners, Preston incubated Dallas Innovates and published the DRC's brand publications. There, she also led the launch of D Healthcare Daily at D CEO and the launch of D TV. Preston developed data solutions to provide insights and measurement for growth across D Magazine Partners brands. Preston has worn many hats in her media career, including stints as a writer, photographer, and award-winning designer. During her long tenure at the Dallas Business Journal, Preston managed budgets, project schedules, resources, and talent; she also developed several cost-saving and income-producing initiatives that were adopted across the ACBJ chain of more than 40 newspapers. Preston's first editorial job was working for a fashion magazine at the Dallas Apparel Mart with an office a few doors down from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of legendary real estate developer Trammell Crow. At the time, Billingsley was running the market center where she led three expansions and a ~7 million-square-foot development. It was good company to be in. Later, when Preston launched an agency that she ran through the early nineties, Billingsley helped her with tough-but-kind advice\u2014and some pivotal connections. Today, Preston helms Dallas Innovates and the DALLAS\u00ae publications group, published by Dallas Next for the Dallas Regional Chamber. The growing DALLAS\u00ae platform includes sister publication Dallas Innovates. Together they focus on Dallas-Fort Worth business, including real estate, relocation, economic development, and innovation. 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Preston launched the Dallas Innovates' media platform to tell the story of innovation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It was official in 2016 when the Dallas skyline turned purple for innovation. Since then, Dallas Innovates has become a must-read among business leaders and forward thinkers in North Texas. \"Our partners call us 'the tip of the spear for innovation news in North Texas,'\" she says. \"Now it's our tagline.\" The media-with-a-mission brand covers what's new and next in North Texas business. \"Our lens is lift,\" Preston says. \"We want to inspire ideas and opportunity. We're a catalyst for connections, here and beyond.\" Covering the Dallas-Fort Worth Innovation Economy \"Dallas-Fort Worth has all of the core assets that drive an innovation economy,\" Preston told D CEO about the launch. \"We felt Dallas Innovates could be the center of innovation in business in DFW, from startup to enterprise, and include all the great impact work happening here.\" One of our superpowers is our diverse economy: \"A lot of places want one thing to hang their hat on, but DFW has many centers of innovation,\" she noted. \"And the fact that small businesses can work with very large companies here as a Fortune 50 market is a huge advantage.\" Preston founded media company Dallas Next in 2021 and publishes Dallas Innovates in a collaboration with the Dallas Regional Chamber. DRC innovation and research chief Duane Dankesreiter and Dallas Innovates co-founder says it's \"the drumbeat\" for the innovation economy in the region. Dallas Next also publishes the DALLAS\u00ae publications in partnership with the DRC. Dallas Innovates' sister publications include the DALLAS\u00ae Regional Economic Development Guide, the DALLAS\u00ae Relocation + Newcomers Guide, and the\u00a0DALLAS\u00ae Commercial Real Estate, which is a partnership with the DRC and The Real Estate Council. \"It's hard to say no to Quincy Preston when she believes in something,\" wrote D CEO Editor Christine Perez in the magazine. \"She won't stop until she makes it happen.\" In a previous role at D Magazine Partners, Preston incubated Dallas Innovates and published the DRC's brand publications. There, she also led the launch of D Healthcare Daily at D CEO and the launch of D TV. Preston developed data solutions to provide insights and measurement for growth across D Magazine Partners brands. Preston has worn many hats in her media career, including stints as a writer, photographer, and award-winning designer. During her long tenure at the Dallas Business Journal, Preston managed budgets, project schedules, resources, and talent; she also developed several cost-saving and income-producing initiatives that were adopted across the ACBJ chain of more than 40 newspapers. Preston's first editorial job was working for a fashion magazine at the Dallas Apparel Mart with an office a few doors down from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of legendary real estate developer Trammell Crow. At the time, Billingsley was running the market center where she led three expansions and a ~7 million-square-foot development. It was good company to be in. Later, when Preston launched an agency that she ran through the early nineties, Billingsley helped her with tough-but-kind advice\u2014and some pivotal connections. Today, Preston helms Dallas Innovates and the DALLAS\u00ae publications group, published by Dallas Next for the Dallas Regional Chamber. The growing DALLAS\u00ae platform includes sister publication Dallas Innovates. Together they focus on Dallas-Fort Worth business, including real estate, relocation, economic development, and innovation. Connect on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter\u00a0 Send news and tips here.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.dallasinnovates.com","https:\/\/x.com\/quincypreston"],"url":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/author\/quincy-preston\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dallasinnovates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}