For many tourists, being able to know where one wants to go and how to get there is important. As a result, many travelers end up spending much of their time staring into a paper map or the screen of a smartphone, following the blue line of the GPS-calculated route and missing the energy of the environment around her en route to the final destination. GoSticker! removes from the phone’s screen the personalized directions, and places the information in the landscape around the individual, adjusting in real time for the person’s current location, in a contextual and visually quiet way.

The Sudtirol-Alto Adige region, as well as the city of Bolzano, has spent lots of money in producing printed material, websites, and even smartphone applications, the average tourist doesn’t have the ability to sift through or carry all this information to make it worthwhile or even relevant. The use of two languages—German and Italian—and the lack of prominence of any other languages add further complexities to tourist comprehension. In the fairytale Sleeping Beauty, the Magic Mirror serves as the Queen’s enchanted advisor and transform to truthfully inform his master of what is happening in the town around the Queen, namely who is most fair in her kingdom. For Bolzano, there is an opportunity for the environment around the tourist, through smart, connected signage throughout the region, to serve as the means to guide the tourist in a relevant, unobtrusive and exciting way.

In Collaboration with:
MIT Senseable City Lab