From famous skyscrapers to the dozens of art installations by world-renowned artists at CTA stations all across the city, Chicago is practically overflowing with art and history to be explored and admired.
Arguably, part of the reason we don’t notice this stuff is that we’re too busy messing around with our phones. But what if our phones could be guides to — rather than distractions from — our surroundings?
That’s the promise of
, a Chicago-based digital storytelling startup. Its eponymous app uses geolocation data, text and multimedia to help its users connect more deeply with the stories that surround them every day.
The company’s name derives from the French words for “go” and “world,” respectively.
“At our office we joke that it means ‘get off your ass and see the world,’” said founder Anijo Mathew, a professor at IIT Institute of Design.
The app’s online marketplace lets would-be explorers download a number of “adventures” centered around art, history, design and culture. After downloading an adventure, you can navigate to points of interest using a built-in map. You can also explore passively, by receiving notifications when walking by a point of interest.
“It’s about storytelling,” said Mathew. “We have had so many ways of telling stories in our lives — books, movies, radio, blogs — but one of the things we haven’t seen is the ability for people to connect digital stories to physical space. Vamonde is about that.”
Currently available adventures include a collection of Chicago craft breweries made by Good Beer Hunting, and walking tours of everything from public art installations throughout the city to purportedly haunted buildings.
Initially conceived of as a platform for museums and nonprofits to show off their content in a new and exciting way, Vamonde has partnerships with the Terra Foundation for American Art and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. Right now, the startup is releasing one new adventure a week.
Last week, the company released its adventure creation tool to a number of Chicago-based bloggers and content creators, with a planned public launch slated for later this year.
Since its founding in November 2015, Vamonde has already attracted $1.2 million in funding and attention from cities around the world, including London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York and Bombay. According to Mathew, a mobile version of the company’s adventure creation tool is slated to be released to the public this summer.
Images via Vamonde and Built In Chicago.
Got a tip for us? Shoot us an email or follow us on Twitter@BuiltInChicago.
