About the App
The USB navigation app is designed to navigate guests, prospective students and even current students around the flagship building in the new £350 million Helix development.
Opened in 2017, the £58 million Urban Science Building is the flagship in a landmark development and home to the Computing Science Department of Newcastle University. The buildings provide a bright and vibrant environment for innovation and education to take place side by side. The new building provides a perfect platform for the navigation app to be based on.
The app allows users to navigate the building through an easy to use interface providing guidance around the building, alongside details regarding the architecture, technology and innovation that has gained the Urban Science Building several awards.
The app is also versatile with the base app having the ability to be applied to any other building, given that the urban science building is part of a large development made up of several new buildings, this could be expanded to the entire Helix project should the need arise.
The app takes into account users needs and requirements, at a simple tap. Users can select to use only lifts to navigate through the various floors of the building whilst avoiding the need to use stairs, enabling those with mobility issues, as not to deprive them of this facility. The app can also be used in conjunction with user aids on all devices, in order that users are not limited in their use of the app.
Tour Guide Features
Take a tour of the USB
- Click the video or the button to start a video tour of the Urban Sciences Building.
- Click on the options button in the top right to see the written version of this instead.
- Having a written format of the tour removes the requirement of sound to get the same information.
Building Navigation
Navigate between rooms in 3 steps*
1
Either from the floor screen (pictured) or by the room search (see below) click the room you want to navigate to.
2
Then search for your current location (eg: entrance / cafe or room number).
3
Finally, click "START NAVIGATION" and you will have the route drawn on the floor maps.
*The floors page is accessed through the hamburger menu.
Room/Person Search
Search available anywhere
From this page, you can:
- See a list of the registered staff for the selected floor.
- See a list of the rooms for the selected floor.
- Quickly filter results by floors using the dropdown at the top. Can also set this to "All Floors" to search the whole building.
- Search for specific people or rooms using the icon in the top right.
- As part of our 3-click policy, this page will be available throughout the app. It can be accessed by clicking the search icon. This will help reduce the number of interactions to navigate around the app.
Download App
App Details:
- Our app is available for Android devices running Lollipop (5.1) or later.
- This version allows us to target over 85% of Android users.
- Click the button below to download the APK file.
Admin Panel
Panel Features
- Add, modify or remove:
- Staff members
- Rooms, offices, meeting areas, etc
- Lifts, stairs, corridors, etc
- Edit App Information:
- Update contact information
- Change floor colour scheme
Access
- Click the button below to go to the panel login page.
Documentation
User Guide
- To learn more about how to use the app, click the button below.
Specification
- To view the app specification document, click the button below.