Download

stedr is available for Android (2.2 and newer versions).

Keep in mind that stedr is a prototype. Everything does not work perfectly. Give us feedback. To report errors, or to suggest new features and changes to existing features: send email to Jacqueline Floch.

Download stedr

Installation hints:

• You can retrieve the downloaded app in your device notification list. Pull down the notification bar to retrieve the download notification and click on it to install stedr.
• After download, the installation process will start automatically only if your device to allow installation from unknown sources. You can change your installation settings to avoid blocking installation. Change the user option Unknown sources in Settings > Security.

Known bugs and issues:

• Places are not displayed on the map. stedr asks you to "refresh" the map. Our server may be in a sleep mode and needs to wake up. If the places are still not displayed after a couple "refresh", check your Internet connection. If the network capacity is low, stedr won't work well.
• The map is not uploaded. Places are displayed on an empty background. Your Internet connection is too poor. Close the app (e.g., use back button). Connect to a better network and launch stedr again.

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About stedr

sted (plural steder) is the Norwegian word for place. stedr is a prototype mobile application for discovering digital stories related to places around you. Anyone can create and share new places and new stories.
stedr is developed in connection to the EU/FP7 IST research project TAG CLOUD. The aim is to engage a wider public in culture heritage. Both digital storytelling and social media are topics addressed by the project, hence the idea of developing an application that combines cultural and social stories.
The idea about stedr was first elaborated by SINTEF ICT. It was then refined and the application was developed through the guidance of students at the Department of Computer and Information Science at NTNU.
Two student groups have contributed to the development of stedr:

• (from left on the picture) Knut Nergård, Odd-Fredrik Mørch Rogstad, Simon Stastny and Christian Frøystad worked with the initial implementation in the autumn 2013. The students participated to the “Customer Driven Project” course.

• (from left on the picture) Øyvind Hellenes, Jørgen Rugelsjøen Wikdahl, Hallvard Jore Christensen, Tor Økland Barstad, Jon-André Brurberg and Vegard Storm have further developed the application in the spring 2014. The students participated to the “Informatics project” course.

The code of stedr is available open source on github.

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A brief tour of stedr

stedr is about sharing cultural stories related to places.There are many ways to tell stories. stedr combines narratives, pictures and sound tracks. 

Anyone can create new places and stories. This tutorial focuses on discovery. For creation, look at guidelines under Help.

Main view

The main view is a map view. 

Navigating in the map

Pins on the map represent places. You can navigate in the map in the same way as when using Google Maps.

Retrieving stories about place

Click on pins to retrieve names and thumbnails for places. Click on the pop-up window to retrieve stories related to the selected place.

Switch between narratives, pictures and sounds by selecting a tab.

About stories (narratives)

Stories may consist of different media types: text, photos, videos and audios. The stories are retrieved from Digitalt museum. 

About pictures

The pictures are retrieved from Instagram.

About sounds

The sound tracks are retrieved from SoundCloud.

About collections

A collection is group of related stories, e.g., stories related to a theme. To get the list of available collections, select the Collections tab in the Menu. 

Then select to a collection in the list to retrieve the stories in the collection.

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Creating stories for stedr

The cultural stories presented in stedr were earlier created using the Norwegian digital storytelling platform Digitalt fortalt. Digitalt fortalt was a service provided by Arts Council Norway. Both cultural institutions and individuals can create and add stories related to cultural heritage in Digitalt fortalt.

From January 2016, Digitalt fortalt is no longer supported. The stories created earlier than January 2016 are however still available through the Norwegian digital museum platform Digitalt museum. The stories presented by stedr are retrieved from that platform.

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Sharing pictures in stedr

There are many ways to tell a story. For instance, through a picture. stedr lets you share pictures about a place with other users. It might simply be a way to tell “I’ve been there”. It might also be a way to share a situation or an event you have been witness of.

The pictures shared in stedr are retrieved from Instagram. To share your pictures in stedr, you need a user account on Instagram. Simply add the hashtag #stedr_<name of the place> to your picture in Instagram where <name of the place> is the name of the place without any space.

We recommend you to add a meaningful description of the picture: What cultural event is the picture about? When was it taken?
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Sharing sounds in stedr

There are many ways to tell a story. For instance, through a sound track. stedr lets you share sound tracks about a place with other users. It might also be a way to share a story told by a person or a sound in the environment.

The pictures shared in stedr are retrieved from SoundCloud. To share your sound track in stedr, you need a user account on SoundCloud. Then follow these steps:

• If you are using Android: Open the SoundCloud application on your mobile phone. If you are using iPhone: SoundCloud recommends you to use the AudioCopy application.
• Record, clip and save a sound.
• Save the sound.
• Use the keyword "stedr" and the name of the place in the title of your track. You can compose any title you wish, but it should contain the keyword "stedr" and place name to be retrieved in stedr.

Note that it is possible to change any information associated to a sound track through the web interface to SoundCloud on a PC afterwards. We recommend you to add a description to the track: What cultural event is the track about? When was it recorded? This cannot yet be done from the mobile application.

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Creating places for stedr

The places presented in stedr are retrieved from the Flickr group @StedR. Places are defined by photos and their geo-location. Anyone can create a new place. Before creating a place, make sure it is not already defined!

To create a new place in stedr, you need a user account on Flickr. Note that your photos will not appear in searches or groups before you add at least 5 public photos to Flickr. Read more on Flickr Help/FAQ.

Then become a member of the group @StedR. To join:

• Search for the group "@StedR" in Flickr, and select the group among the results.
• Click on "+ Join Group".
• Read the group rules. The rules relate to requirements on the pictures to be shared (see below).
• Agree with the rules to become a group member.

Before uploading places to stedr, make sure that other people to see your pictures on a map. Check your settings:

• Open your settings and select "Privacy & Permissions".
• Under "Defaults for new uploads", check that the answer to "Who will be able to see your stuff on a map" is set to "Anyone". If not, change the setting. In the case you change the setting, log ut and log in again to apply the new setting.

You can now add places to stedr. Follow these steps:

• Upload a photo of the place to your photostream on Flickr. For better rendering in stedr, we recommend photos in a landscape format.
• Select a license under Creative Commons. The license can be specified as part of "owner settings" in Flickr.
• After upload, add a location for the place. Specify a correct and precise location for the photo. To augment precision, use a detailed zoom level on the map
• Provide a short description of the place. This will be shown in stedr.

Added pictures to the group first go into a queue for review. The photos will not be shared in the group before acknowledgement by the group administrator. Note that the group administrator has the right to remove a photo at any time. The administrator can also remove or ban a member.

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