Millions of visitors flocking to the聽Great Exhibition of the North this summer are set to get an upgraded experience with the new ‘wayfinder’ app.
Taking place in聽Newcastle and Gateshead this summer, the exhibition runs from 22nd June to 9th September and is set to attract a whopping three million visitors.
Designed by Shout Digital in partnership with Ubisoft Reflections and Accenture, the app will reflect the way Google Maps operates, guiding tourists around the exhibition and helping them interact with exhibits through games and digital characters.
Supporting the app is cutting-edge聽gamification,聽which aims to engage younger visitors in everything the event has to offer.
鈥淭he Great Exhibition of the North will be packed with amazing exhibits, performances and new artworks,鈥� said Shout head of client services Michelle Hewison.
鈥淲e are proud to have designed a platform that allows families to build their own unique experience, play games and interact with the installations in new ways, ultimately having the most valuable experience of the Great Exhibition of the North.
鈥淎s well as traditional city maps and exhibition information, the app gets to know your family, combining details on the size of your group, age of any children and interests, with real-time data from the Great Exhibition of the North team to create a bespoke trail.
鈥淵our trail will include how much time you are likely to spend in each location, timings of activities and what you can enjoy while on-site. This means that families can navigate and enjoy the huge exhibition space confidently and concentrate on having fun.鈥�
Gary Boon, chief executive of Shout Digital, added: 鈥淭his project has been such a unique thing for us to develop and a fantastic way for us to showcase our expertise and the scope of what we can do.
鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 just another project to us, most of the team have been involved in the project in some way and we are proud to have designed an engaging, informative platform to allow families from across the UK to experience the Great Exhibition of the North in a completely bespoke way.
鈥淭his is an exciting time to be involved in the North East tech scene. You can鈥檛 just see what is happening, you can feel it.
鈥淎s a region, we often talk about the industrial heritage of the North East, but our story isn鈥檛 over and we need to be better at celebrating our future.鈥�