InSite

Spaces inevitably change over time. Physical features like structures, sculptures, murals, flora, and fauna come into existence at the whims of political, social, and cultural forces that govern a given space. When these features are removed, destroyed, or replaced, the stories associated with them often disappear as well. Visitors thereafter have no way of knowing that these stories exist.

InSite is a mobile app platform that allows people listen to personal audio stories connected to places. InSite walks users through curated tours of interesting landmarks and enables free exploration near users’ current location. Stories are audio narratives from communities and individuals who have been traditionally denied a voice. Story content comes from organizations such as community-based organizations, historical societies, local governments, and researchers.

While InSite is the full-fledged platform that we are proposing and designing, our team will implement and build a functioning app for only the Albany Bulb, using curated content from the UC Berkeley Global Urban Humanities Initiative.