Edinburgh Cityscope is an ambitious project to create a hub to act both as a repository, and as a source of open data related to Edinburgh. A central point for app developers to access and create apps, which will visualise the raw data and open up the city to us in new ways. This data can then be used by app developers to create geocoded apps such as Curious Edinburgh, one of the apps linked to the Edinburgh Cityscope project. It is a guide to buildings in Edinburgh that are linked to the city’s scientific heritage, such as Robert Knox's Anatomy School and the Oyster Club. Rather than having the knowledge acquired by a student or researcher's project leave the University with them when they end their studies, Cityscope would allow the data to remain available for others who might want to use and build upon it. It is still in the development stage, and the software developers are currently working on the interface. User-centred design techniques will be incorporated such as usability testing and user personas. By personalising members of their target audience, this allows the developers to get a better understanding of a typical user's needs. Ultimately this helps ensure the creation of products that target groups can effectively engage with. All of this means that when Edinburgh Cityscope is ready for release in 2017, it will be a more user-friendly tool. http://www.edinburghcityscope.org/ Publication date 22 Jul, 2016
