Hidden Florence revealed? Critical insights from the operation of an augmented reality app in a World Heritage City

Figures & data

Figure 1. Film still from promotional film created for the Hidden Florence app showing the historic map interface on the iPhone display, 2014 [© Freshground films and University of Exeter (Fabrizio Nevola)].

Figure 2. Screenshot of the current Hidden Florence app showing the ‘Neighbourhood’ itinerary on the historic map screen, 2019 [© University of Exeter (Fabrizio Nevola)]

Table 1. Stops on the original Hidden Florence walking tours.

Stop	Location	Theme/added content
Central Walk
1	Ponte Vecchio	Bridging the Arno
2	Piazza Signoria	Politics and piazza
3	Canto del Bargello	Crime and punishment
4	San Martino	Performance and patronage
5	Orsanmichele	Merchants and workers
6	Viccolo del Giglio	Sex and the city
7	The Opera Workshop	Craft work
8	Piazza della Republica	Women in the streets
9	Palazzo Strozzi	Palaces and pavements
San Ambrogio Walk
1	San Ambrogio Church	King for a day/relics on parade
2	Via dei Macci	The worker’s home
3	Via dei Pilastri	Street ecologies
4	Canto al Monteloro	Neighbourhood Madonna
5	Piazza San Piero Maggiore/Volta di San Piero	A slice of piazza/Tavern tales
6	Canto alle Rondini	The apothecary’s shop

Table 2. Audience participation in the Hidden Florence YouTube channel.

	Video length (minutes)	Watch time (minutes)	Views	Average view duration (minutes)	Average percentage of item viewed
Project Documentary	5.27	4761	1901	2.5	47.6
Promotional Film	3.12	1462	845	1.7	55.5
30-second edit	0.52	66	170	0.4	75.0

Figure 3. Monthly downloads on iTunes and Google Play.

Table 3. Installation of Hidden Florence app by platform.

	iTunes	Google Play
Installs	595	2897
Total sessions	2436	7408
Average sessions per install	4.1	2.6
Number of unique users	665	1569
% of those who triggered app	29.8	70.2

Table 4. Geography of audiences and installations (2015–17).

	Google Play		iTunes
Country	Installs	% installs	Installs	% installs
United Kingdom	698	24.1	255	42.8
Italy	524	18.1	191	32.1
United States	423	14.6	37	1.0
Germany	183	6.5	22	3.7
France	166	5.7	13	2.2
Others^a	900	31.1	77	12.9
Total	2894	100	595	100

Source: iTunes and Google Play.

^a All other countries which were individually responsible for less than 6% and 2% share of Googe Play and iTunes installs, respectively.

Table 5. App usage data in 2017 for Google Play users.

User type. In:	Florence	Elsewhere
Users	681	1598
% of users	29.9	70.1
Number of events	2177	5001
Events per user	3.2	3.1
Number of users attempting downloads	499	1127
% of users	73.7	70.5
Number who completed downloads	189	431
% of all users attempting downloads who succeeded	37.9	38.2
% of all users who completed downloads	27.8	27.0
Number who shared app contents via social media	36	74
% of users who shared via social media	5.3	4.6

Table 6. Engagement with the Central Walk, Hidden Florence.

		POI Events			Extra Content Events
		Florence	Outside	Total	Florence	Outside	Total
1	Ponte Vecchio	204	463	667	123	286	409
2	Piazza Signoria	146	366	512	85	225	310
3	Canto del Bargello	99	221	320	65	159	224
4	San Martino	79	170	249	57	123	180
5	Orsanmichele	86	198	284	56	122	178
6	Viccolo del Giglio	69	67	136	42	105	147
7	The Opera Workshop	63	138	201	43	94	137
8	Piazza della Republica	67	145	212	43	61	104
9	Palazzo Strozzi	62	139	201	46	91	137
	Total	875	1907	2782	560	1266	1826

n.b. reference numbers refer to Figure 4 and Table 1.

Table 7. Engagement with the San Ambriogio Walk, Hidden Florence.

		POI Events			Extra Content Events
		Florence	Outside	Total	Florence	Outside	Total
1	San Ambrogio Church	59	130	189	24	60	84
2	Via dei Macci	21	17	38	14	27	41
3	Via dei Pilastri	15	19	34	0	0	0
4	Canto al Monteloro	16	43	59	12	28	40
5	Piazza San Piero	33	60	93	14	40	54
6	Canto alle Rondini	13	45	58	9	29	38
	Total	157	314	471	73	184	257

n.b. reference numbers refer to Figure 5 and Table 1.

Figure 4. User engagement, Central Walk.

Figure 5. User engagement, San Ambrigio Walk.

Data availability statement

The data on which this paper is based are available in aggregate form in an unpublished report compiled by Cristina Mosconi entitled Hidden Florence Analytics Report, 2017–18 which is deposited at https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/125232n.