Muse Art Tour app (codenamed “VanGo”) was a project that had been initiated as an Open Data Initiative community project with the City of Vancouver by Microsoft Canada’s Excellence Centre. Intergalactic was brought in to partner on the project to streamline the feature set and co-develop the code so that the team could launch the app. With multiple stakeholders, our team was able to bring everyone together and build a MVP version that brought public art to your fingertips. Our team reworked the branding and UX / UI of the app to bring new life to the previous work of the student initiative so that the minimal core functions of the project were able to built in the short time frame required. We supplemented the photography of the public data set and implemented tours and contextual information to help improve the experience.

This guide features over 500 free, publicly accessible artworks in the city of Vancouver that we encourage you to get out and see.

Vancouver becomes your own open air museum as you discover the city's hidden, and not so hidden, cultural treasures. Discover, Explore, Capture, and Share your way to becoming a Vancouver art aficionado. Stroll through the streets of Vancouver and immerse yourself in the city’s beautiful scenic vistas and urban cityscapes - all rich in public art. Artwork is located in city streets, on rooftops, outside public plazas, in building lobbies, and along the waterfronts in a wide variety of formats and media that showcase the rich cultural landscape of our city and create a robust forum for artistic dialogue.

The public realm showcases excellence across a variety of public art installations; by emerging and established artists, in new and traditional media, and through award-winning commissions and artist collaborations. You will find murals, sculptures, memorials, mosaics, tapestries, paintings and a range of site-specific works that will enhance your visit to each of Vancouver's 24 neighbourhoods.

Initially based on the City's of Vancouver's open data initiative, the information is freely accessible, when your app is connected to wifi and GPS enabled, and is an innovative way for community members to get engaged with their city. Images are populated realtime from the city's API. The app is a collaboration from Microsoft, Intergalactic Agency, Burrard Arts Foundation, and Centre for Digital Media to bring this dataset to life.

Explore your city with the added fun of finding out more about the culture of its artwork. The City of Vancouver is working hard to collect and classify art pieces so feel free to contact them with feedback. As an open source app, we hope to be bringing this same functionality and experience to other additional cities in the future so they can get the most of their neighbourhoods as well. See the City's online dataset.

Enjoy!

Project: Muse Public Art App
Client: Microsoft Excellence Centre Vancouver
Role: UX and UI Design, Front End, Back End Development
Links/Credits: Microsoft, Burrard Arts Foundation, Centre for Digital Media students
Completion: October 2017