Granite City Go: Augmented reality scheme aims to revitalise Union Street fortunes

Union Street in Aberdeen is to become an “augmented reality” thanks to games such as Pokemon Go.

The scheme has been devised by Code the City and Our Union Street, a group committed to revitalising the major shopping street in Aberdeen.

The group will stage a Hack Weekend on September 23, where 100 volunteers will start to build digital models and look at how open data can be used to support regeneration efforts.

It is hoped the scheme will build a digitised world virtually accessible on the city shopping street.

It will work in the same way as Minecraft Earth and Pokemon Go do, in that people must visit the street in order to take part in a game online.

Many stores and units along the major thoroughfare through the city centre have shut up over the last few months.

This new project will aim to bring a new aspect for visitors to the Granite Mile, using gaming technology.

Code the City has already identified several potential projects which could be scaled up to create Union Street-based events.

It will also document the history of Union Street buildings over time, collecting photographs of every building on the mile-long stretch.

The scheme is just one of more than 10,000 business ideas provided to Our Union Street, which launched earlier this year.

Scheme will help revive Union  Street fortunes

Bosses note that other similar projects like Spectra and NuArt have been successful in drawing people back to the city centre.

Our Union Street chairman, Bob Keller said the group have been looking for new and innovative ideas and this one ticks the boxes.

He said: “We want to explore how we can add to that by combining good storytelling with technology and data.

“By placing digital assets in the city centre, we can give people an additional reason to visit, as well as creating fun family experiences, encouraging people to explore parts of the city centre they might not visit otherwise.”

Inspiration comes from successful games like Pokemon Go as it combines virtual gaming with real-world locations and environments.

Ian Watt, co-founder of Code the City, said: “Attendees come from all walks of life.

“These can include subject area experts in things like heritage, architecture, planning, culture and history, or those with specific technical skills such as coding, mapping, data science and data visualisation, 3D modelling, virtual or augmented reality, and so on.

“We also like to see citizens with a general interest in the subject who can bring a real-world experience and those with a passion for a subject.

“Whether you have technical skills, a knowledge or passion for the subject, can organise groups, help with transcription, or can make coffee and hand out sweets to keep teams energised, we need you.”