Boston North End Public Art
Turned an iconic Boston neighbourhood into an open-air AR museum, telling the stories of 20th century immigrants.
The Concept
Boston's North End is one of the city's most historic neighbourhoods — home to generations of 20th century immigrants whose stories are embedded in its streets and buildings. I designed an AR app that turns the neighbourhood into an open-air museum, letting visitors point their phone at locations and discover the stories behind them. The most critical design challenge was permission priming: the app needs both camera and geolocation access to function. Getting users past that gate without breaking trust determined whether the experience worked at all.
North Square
North Square is the neighbourhood's central gathering point, recently restored with a bronze plaque map installed in the ground. I designed an AR feature that interacts with this physical map — point your phone at the bronze cast and see story markers appear over their real-world locations. Clickable prototype delivered in one week from kickoff.
