Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else
— Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
Memory City is a travel app that provides a city-wide audio tour to travelers, allowing users to explore urban spaces and access a city's memory in a new way.
Background
Aside from being a designer, I love to travel. I read the book, “Invisible City”,in the summer of 2014 while I was traveling to the west coast. It inspired me to create a project that develops a conversation between the city and its people.
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“When I’m in a foreign country, it’s hard for me to find out what’s going on, and I find it hard to build an emotional connection. I wish there was a way for me to get to know a city’s the story in depth in my own language.”
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“If you are traveling to a new city, unless you really familiar with the history of the neighborhood, you’d never know this building had been a home to way more than lobster rolls.”
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“In a city like New York, there are so many unassuming buildings and neighborhoods with fascinating backstories behind them; unless I lived here or had a local friend, I would never find them.”
Proposed Solution:
1. Users can consume stories of a city created by the local community
2. Users get a chance to explore secrets like locals
3. The platform brings the museum experience to urban spaces
4. Bring content creators like museum docents, copy writers, and curators to a wider audience
Storyboard
Choose a story
Swipe the card to choose a different story in the same neighborhood.
02. Intergrated Multimedia Narrative
Every audio tour is carefully designed based on a personal story.
In our 1st tour, “Invisible Chinatown”, the story is designed based on a Chinatown-born architect, detailing where he was born, the buildings he designed, and his vision for Chinatown.
When users walk through the path we designed, they walk through the life of this architect and experience an Invisible Chinatown.
03. Listening Mode
Listening Mode is designed to let users enjoy a hands-free travel experience, allowing them to walk or drive safely while listening and see more details of the city with their own eyes.
04. Reading Mode - Encourage Exploration
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
