shARed spaces is a research project of the University of Saskatchewan Art Galleries & Collection looking at how art and digital tools can bring people and experiences together. Employing user-centred and service design methodologies, we are learning from partner communities across Saskatchewan who would like to share their stories and their artwork directly from where they are rather than having to travel to urban centres to view and display creative outputs. In response we are leveraging our relationships with multiple departments at the University of Saskatchewan to design a new digital service using augmented reality, one that foregrounds Indigenous voices and creates space for voices that are often excluded. The shARed spaces augmented reality app continues to evolve and respond to the complexities of this burgeoning field and the ongoing discourse that surrounds it.
This website provides a digital process book for shARed spaces. It is intended to serve as both an archive, chronicling and sharing some of the knowledge we have gained consulting with artists and audiences across the province, and as a resource describing our design process including app testing and development. Our website includes descriptions of our design methodology, the user research we have conducted employing this methodology, and the development process we have undertaken in response. It also includes a guide for IP and copyright to support artists when sharing their work digitally, and a series of tutorials on AR technologies and methods. Our project pages highlight artworks and collaborative projects undertaken as part of shARed spaces. Artworks and projects are also hosted on our shARed spaces mobile app, which can be downloaded here.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of Canada's Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations program.