1.1 What the AR City Is (and Is Not)

The Downtown Aurora AR City is a living digital layer mapped onto real streets, murals, historic buildings, plazas, and storefronts across the East Colfax corridor and the Aurora Cultural Arts District. Visitors use a standard smartphone to unlock place-based stories, historic reconstructions, youth-created art, and business discovery experiences at the physical locations where those stories belong.

• A place-based, community-authored layer (not a separate virtual world).
• A revitalization and cultural infrastructure tool (not a one-off installation).
• An accessible public experience (free to explore with a smartphone and connectivity).
• A scalable framework that can replicate into other corridors as partnerships grow.

1.2 Stewardship Over Technology

This program does not treat AR as a novelty. It treats AR as a stewardship practice: a disciplined way to publish stories, services, and opportunities into the public realm without exploiting people, places, or attention.

• Place first: Technology serves the street—not the other way around.
• Co-authored narrative: residents, artists, youth, and businesses own the story.
• Consent and dignity: prioritize privacy, opt-in capture, and respectful representation.
• Accessibility by design: readable, hearable, navigable, and device-appropriate.
• Sustainability: content is maintained through seasons, not abandoned after launch.

1.3 Outcomes the AR City Is Designed to Produce

• Cultural storytelling: historic overlays and oral histories anchored to real sites.
• Economic discovery: business showcases and time-limited offers that drive foot traffic.
• Youth voice and civic learning: student-made digital murals and future visions.
• Wayfinding and tours: themed routes that increase dwell time and safe exploration.
• Community feedback loops: visitor reporting and story submissions for iteration.

1.4 Governance and Accountability Model

The AR City is best operated as shared civic infrastructure. A multi-partner stewardship model protects community trust while allowing creative expansion.

• Coordination team: manages roadmap, releases, onboarding, and technical operations.
• Advisory group: vets content, reviews safety/privacy policy, selects seasonal themes.
• Content moderation workflow: intake → review → revise → publish → monitor → retire.
• Clear escalation pathways: safety issues, harassment, IP disputes, and misinformation.

2.1 Experience Modalities Used in the AR City

• Image/marker-driven AR: murals, storefront decals, posters, window markers, sidewalk markers.
• Location-driven AR: GPS anchors for trails, tours, scavenger/treasure hunts, and event overlays.
• Hybrid anchors: GPS for coarse positioning + visual feature detection for alignment precision.
• Media layers: 3D models, animated scenes, archival photo overlays, spatial audio, and 2D media.

2.2 Core Platform Components

• Mobile apps (iOS + Android): integrated AR viewer for tours and free exploration.
• Spatial anchoring layer: GPS + visual feature detection + cloud anchors for stable placement.
• Creator dashboard: web tools for artists, youth teams, and businesses to submit scenes.
• Analytics and safety tooling: privacy-respecting measurement and moderation controls.

2.3 On-the-Street User Journey (Baseline)

• Visitor sees an AR City marker (window decal, lamppost, sidewalk sign, mural prompt).
• Visitor opens the AR City app and selects a tour or nearby experience.
• Camera points at the marker/building; the AR layer appears aligned to the environment.
• Visitor taps hotspots to hear narrated history, view reconstructions, or unlock offers.
• Visitor saves favorites, shares clips, and submits feedback or a story contribution.

2.4 Implementation Phases (City-Scale Rollout)

• Phase 1 — Discovery & mapping: site surveys, scanning, and photo reference capture; document lighting and conditions across the day.
• Phase 2 — Prototyping & pilots: deploy early scenes at a small set of anchor points; test interaction, wayfinding, and accessibility with residents and youth groups.
• Phase 3 — District rollout: expand to additional blocks; onboard businesses; install AR markers/QR/signage to guide participation.
• Phase 4 — Continuous evolution: release quarterly content seasons; open calls for creators; add new sites and live event layers.

3.1 Program Roles

• Program Director (Stewardship Lead): mission alignment, partner agreements, content ethics, escalation decisions.
• Technical Lead: app releases, anchoring accuracy, performance, bug triage, asset pipeline enforcement.
• Field Ops Lead: mapping walks, signage placement, maintenance rounds, safety checks, venue coordination.
• Creator Producer: creator onboarding, briefs, asset reviews, narrative coaching, production scheduling.
• Business Liaison: business enrollment, offer design, storefront marker deployment, co-marketing planning.
• Facilitator / Trainer: runs workshops, supports learners, manages reflection and assessment, protects learning environment.
• Content Moderator: review queue, policy enforcement, response to reports, archiving/retirement decisions.

3.2 Minimum Viable Staffing for a Pilot Corridor

• 1 Program Director (can also serve as Business Liaison for small pilots).
• 1 Technical Lead (full-time during build/release windows; on-call during operations).
• 1 Field Ops Lead (part-time acceptable for routine maintenance rounds).
• 1 Creator Producer / Facilitator (supports youth labs, artists, and small businesses).

3.3 Partner Types and the Value They Provide

• City arts/culture entities: legitimacy, placemaking alignment, programming coordination.
• Historic preservation/history organizations: archival sources, fact-checking, community trust.
• Merchant associations + small businesses: storefront anchors, offers, and foot traffic loops.
• Youth programs and schools: co-created content, civic learning, future workforce pipeline.
• XR studios/technologists: build, optimization, anchors, tooling, and long-term maintenance.

4.1 Content Lanes (Recommended Portfolio Mix)

• Historic Aurora: 3D reconstructions, archival overlays, narrated timelines.
• Colfax Corridor Stories: oral histories, business histories, community leader interviews.
• Youth Futures Walk: speculative AR murals and animations imagining Aurora’s future.
• Everyday AR moments: short-form posters, micro-interactions, playful discovery nodes.
• Live event overlays: festival prompts, performance wayfinding, time-limited experiences.

4.2 Narrative Design Framework (Place → Person → Purpose)

• Place: Why is this location an anchor point? What do you see, hear, feel here today?
• Person: Whose voice is centered? Who benefits? Who could be harmed or excluded?
• Purpose: What should a visitor learn, feel, or do after the experience (impact objective)?
• Proof: What sources support the claims (archives, interviews, citations in production notes)?
• Feedback: How will you collect responses (in-app prompt, QR survey, story submission)?

4.3 Content Season Planning (Quarterly Cadence)

• Season theme: a unifying civic/cultural question (e.g., “Then & Now,” “Hidden Histories”).
• Anchor set: 8–15 priority sites refreshed per season (balance across blocks and audiences).
• New creator calls: youth, local artists, businesses—published 6–8 weeks before release.
• Review + QA window: lock content 10–14 days before release for testing and performance.
• Launch moment: guided walk + press kit + partner social assets + in-district signage push.

4.4 Experience Acceptance Criteria (Publish/No-Publish)

• Stewardship alignment: respectful representation, no exploitation, no hate/harassment.
• Safety: does not encourage unsafe movement, trespassing, or distraction near traffic.
• Accessibility: captions for spoken words; readable text size; contrast; alternate formats.
• Technical performance: loads within target latency; no crashes; asset budgets honored.
• Anchoring reliability: passes multi-device tests across typical daylight conditions.

5.1 Anchor Site Selection and Mapping

Anchor sites should be chosen through community input and field validation. A site becomes an anchor point when it is meaningful, safe to visit, and technically viable for stable AR alignment.

• Community selection: story circles, mapping sessions, youth design labs, walking tours.
• Field validation: lighting variability, scanability/feature richness, foot traffic, safety.
• Site metadata: GPS coordinate, address, photos (AM/PM), access notes, owner contact.
• Anchor type decision: image marker vs. natural feature tracking vs. GPS-only node.

5.2 Field Capture Standards (Phase 1)

• Photo reference: wide + medium + close shots; capture from multiple approach angles.
• Lighting survey: document best/worst times; note glare, reflective windows, shadows.
• Scan capture (if used): follow platform-specific scanning guidance; store versioned outputs.
• Sound capture: if spatial audio is used, record ambient baseline and note noise constraints.
• Safety audit: sidewalk width, curb cuts, crosswalk proximity, crowding, trip hazards.

5.3 Asset Specifications (Operational Defaults)

• 2D: PNG/JPG; optimize for mobile; avoid small text baked into images.
• Audio: compressed formats suitable for streaming; include transcript for captions.
• Video: mobile-friendly encoding; use shorter clips for cellular reliability; include captions.
• 3D: mobile-optimized meshes; LODs when necessary; texture budgets enforced; baked lighting where possible.
• Interaction: tap targets sized for one-handed use; keep UI minimal in outdoor settings.

5.4 Marker / Decal / Signage Standards

• High-contrast, non-gloss finish to reduce glare; weather-resistant laminates if outdoors.
• Sufficient feature complexity for image tracking (avoid large flat color fields).
• Placement: eye-level when possible; avoid reflective glass without matte backing.
• Include fallback: QR code to download/open app + short instructions + accessibility note.
• Version control: each printed marker has an ID that maps to the scene version in the dashboard.

5.5 App + Dashboard Operations

• Release management: staged rollouts, release notes, and rollback procedures.
• Content pipeline: intake forms → asset upload → validation → moderation → publish.
• Analytics: collect anonymized visit counts/dwell time; avoid storing camera imagery.
• Feedback capture: in-app prompt, story submission page, business onboarding request forms.
• Incident response: triage queue for reported content or field safety issues.

5.6 Testing Matrix (Phase 2 and Every Release)

• Devices: iOS + Android; prioritize last 3–4 years as baseline; include at least one low-end device.
• Conditions: full sun, overcast, dusk; test glare-heavy storefronts.
• Network: strong Wi‑Fi, weak Wi‑Fi, cellular; test offline fallbacks if provided.
• Anchors: approach from multiple angles; repeat 5+ times to assess stability.
• Accessibility: captions toggles, text scaling, audio-on/off, navigation clarity.

5.7 Performance Budgets (Practical Targets)

• First meaningful content: fast, progressive loading; show a lightweight “hook” first.
• Asset weight: keep experiences as small as feasible; defer heavy assets until requested.
• Battery/heat: avoid long sessions of high GPU load; minimize background processing.
• Outdoor UX: reduce fine motor interactions; prioritize big buttons and short steps.

6.1 Training Philosophy: Guide, Not Expert

Facilitators create the learning container, model curiosity, and guide discovery. The goal is to empower creators and partners to steward AR responsibly, not to produce dependency on technical gatekeepers.

• Hold space for reflection and ethics in every module.
• Balance technical competency with narrative and community accountability.
• Teach repeatable workflows, not one-off tricks.
• Use feedback loops: iterate the training based on participant needs.

6.2 Cohort Structure (Recommended)

• Duration: 4–6 sessions (2–3 hours each) plus optional field practicum.
• Participants: artists, youth teams, educators, business reps, community historians.
• Capstone: publish a pilot-ready scene to a sandbox environment; field test at an anchor site.
• Certification: requires ethics + safety pass, technical pass, and narrative readiness.

6.3 Module 0: Orientation & Immersion

• Welcome and program overview; define the AR City as civic infrastructure.
• Live demo at an anchor site (or simulated marker demo indoors).
• Community agreements: consent, respectful storytelling, safe street behavior.
• Collect participant goals, contexts, and accessibility needs.

6.4 Module 1: Foundations of AR in the City

• Modalities: image tracking, GPS/location anchors, and hybrid approaches.
• Strengths/trade-offs for outdoor environments (glare, occlusion, drift).
• Hands-on: view sample scenes; practice scanning markers and using tours.
• Introduce the “On-the-Street User Journey” and friction points.

6.5 Module 2: Place-Based Storytelling & Legacy

• Story-first approach: clarify message before media selection.
• Ethical interview basics: consent, respectful context, avoiding extraction.
• Narrative flow: hook → discovery → reflection → action (what happens next).
• Hands-on: write a 60-second site script + storyboard a hotspot sequence.

6.6 Module 3: Asset Prep & Production Pipeline

• Asset formats and optimization for mobile (2D, audio, video, 3D).
• Naming conventions, versioning, and rights management (licenses and releases).
• Dashboard submission workflow: upload → validate → moderation → publish.
• Hands-on: prepare a media kit for one anchor site (text, audio, 2D overlay).

6.7 Module 4: Field Ops, Safety, and Accessibility

• Marker placement best practices; signage readability; glare mitigation.
• Street safety protocols for guided walks; group management and boundaries.
• Accessibility: captions, alt text, high-contrast assets, clear navigation cues.
• Hands-on: run a mini field test and log issues using the testing checklist.

6.8 Module 5: Business + Community Onboarding

• Designing business scenes that add value (not spam): staff intro, origin story, offers.
• Time-limited offers aligned with events/festivals; avoid dark patterns.
• Co-branding with nonprofits: services, resources, and community announcements.
• Onboarding workflow: intake → site selection → marker deployment → launch plan.

6.9 Module 6: Culmination, Showcase, and Certification

• Participant showcase walk-through (or indoor demo) with structured peer feedback.
• Certification rubric review: stewardship, technical readiness, narrative quality.
• Publish to pilot/sandbox; schedule the public release window if approved.
• Capture learnings; plan the next content season contribution.

7.1 Routine Maintenance Cadence

• Weekly: check top 10 sites for anchor drift, broken signage, and load failures.
• Monthly: rotate through all sites; verify business offers; archive expired content.
• Quarterly: release season update; run advisory review; refresh signage where worn.
• After major weather/events: inspect outdoor markers and update safety notes.

7.2 Content Lifecycle Management

• Draft: creator develops in sandbox with clear sources and permissions.
• Review: moderation + factual review for history claims; accessibility pass.
• Publish: staged rollout with monitoring for crash rates and complaints.
• Monitor: respond to reports; adjust anchors; retire content when outdated.
• Archive: maintain a record of scenes, versions, and rights for auditability.

7.3 Metrics That Matter (Privacy-Respecting)

• Visit counts per site (aggregate).
• Dwell time (aggregate) by tour/experience.
• Completion rates for trails/hunts (aggregate).
• Business conversions (optional, opt-in; avoid individual tracking).
• Qualitative feedback: story submissions, survey comments, partner interviews.

7.4 Community Feedback Mechanisms

• In-app “Report/Feedback” button for issues and suggestions.
• Public “Share Your Story” intake for residents and visitors.
• Seasonal community review session before each quarterly release.
• Youth advisory involvement for future-focused content lanes.

8.1 Street Safety Protocols (Facilitated Walks)

• Start with a safety briefing: stay aware of traffic, keep phones down while walking.
• Use “stop points”: content is viewed only when the group is stationary and safe.
• Assign a rear guide for groups; enforce crosswalk-only movement.
• Avoid blocking sidewalks; maintain respectful distance from business entrances.

8.2 Privacy and Data Minimization

• Do not store personal images from camera feeds; treat the camera as a live sensor only.
• Use anonymized analytics to improve experiences and demonstrate impact.
• Collect participant info only when necessary (e.g., story submission forms).
• Publish clear privacy language at app install, in-app, and on signage/QR pages.

8.3 Consent, Representation, and Cultural Respect

• Written consent for interviews/recordings; document release forms for minors.
• Avoid re-traumatization: provide opt-outs for emotionally heavy content.
• Do not tokenize: ensure communities represented have authorship and review rights.
• Respect IP: verify music, images, and archival materials are licensed/cleared.

8.4 Content Boundaries and Prohibited Content (Baseline)

• Hate/harassment, sexual content involving minors, and violent extremism are prohibited.
• Deceptive offers, misinformation, or political manipulation are prohibited.
• No content that encourages unsafe behavior (traffic stunts, trespass, risky dares).
• No content that exploits sensitive locations or personal data.

9.1 Common On-Site Issues and Fixes

• Marker not recognized: reduce glare, change angle/distance, check print quality and contrast.
• Drift/misalignment: move to better feature-rich view, recalibrate, re-open scene; consider hybrid anchor tuning.
• Lag/jitter: close background apps, reduce thermal load, switch to lower-fidelity scene variant.
• No content load: confirm network; verify correct marker/URL; retry with cached assets if available.

9.2 Platform and App Problems

• Update app; force quit and relaunch; re-login if applicable.
• Check permissions: camera, location, storage, network.
• Clear cache/storage (when supported); reboot device.
• Escalate with logs: device model, OS version, site ID, timestamp, steps to reproduce.

9.3 Device-Specific Notes

• iOS: verify camera + location permissions; disable low-power mode for extended tours.
• Android: disable battery optimization for the AR app; ensure AR services are present and updated.
• Older devices: use lightweight scenes; reduce 3D complexity and texture sizes.

9.4 Emergency Protocol (When Tech Fails)

• Switch to video fallback or printed story panels; continue the tour without AR.
• Log the issue immediately with site ID and photos; schedule a maintenance round.
• Communicate transparently to participants; reinforce stewardship and learning goals.

10.1 Pre-Launch Readiness Checklist (District Rollout)

• All pilot sites validated in at least 3 lighting conditions and 2 device classes.
• Signage installed with correct site IDs; QR codes tested; instructions readable.
• Accessibility review completed: captions, transcripts, text readability, contrast.
• Privacy language published in-app and on web; story submission form tested.
• Partner comms pack ready: map, tour instructions, safety guidance, launch schedule.

10.2 Facilitator Session Checklist

• Confirm devices, network/hotspots, and any backup markers.
• Print participant handouts: safety agreements, reflection prompts, asset specs.
• Run a “smoke test” of at least 2 scenes and 1 tour mode.
• Prepare a debrief structure: quick pulse + exit ticket + next steps.

10.3 Site Log Template (Copy/Paste)

Site ID | Address | Anchor Type | Marker Condition | Lighting Notes | Alignment Notes | Load Time | Issues Found | Action Taken | Follow-up Owner | Follow-up Date

10.4 Content Review Rubric (Quick)

• Stewardship: respectful, consented, non-extractive, community-reviewed where appropriate.
• Accuracy: claims supported; historical context reviewed by a qualified source.
• Accessibility: captions/transcripts; readable UI; non-audio alternative is available.
• Safety: no risky movement prompts; clear “stop points” in guided formats.
• Performance: asset budgets honored; stable anchoring; graceful loading behavior.