The James McBey Trail mobile app is ready to go live, with Newburgh & Ythan Community Trust holding an official launch at Newburgh Village Hall at lunchtime on December 5.
The app will help visitors explore the trail in Newburgh, bringing the life and work of renowned Scottish artist James McBey to life through stories, artwork and audio linked to locations along the route.
Following earlier updates on the student designs and plans for development, Alfie Ford, Zoe Affleck and Mateusz Siwiec, from Robert Gordon University’s School of Computing, Engineering and Technology, have now turned their concept into a working web app celebrating the artist’s connection to the village.
For the team, reaching this stage represents months of work beyond their original university brief. Their Real World Project module required a design, but the students chose to continue, working with the Trust to build an application for public use.
Newburgh and the Ythan Esturary.
Dev4 Online Ltd and its owner, Gail Henderson, have supported the team throughout development, providing guidance as the students worked through the practical decisions involved in preparing the app for launch.
Gail said: “The team has exceeded our expectations. They have given real consideration to the user experience, the platform and performance, and all the details that go into making an app work well. It’s been a pleasure to support them and see the project reach this stage.”
Built using React and NodeJS, the app will be hosted on Alfie’s Aberhosting infrastructure. Reflecting on the achievement, Alfie said: “It’s really satisfying to see a project taken from an idea to production.”
The launch will include a talk by Alasdair Soussi, author of Shadows & Light: The Extraordinary Life of James McBey, alongside a guided tour of the trail. The event will give the community an opportunity to celebrate the students’ achievement and discover more about the artist whose life and work inspired the project.