FAB App project
Building an app with screens that show:
- A welcome to the FAB, the Arts Faculty, and advice on using the building.
- A wayfinding tool - tell it the space you seek and it will give you easy-to-follow directions.
- Enable deep linking, so for example an event organiser can add a hperlink to QR code to the instructions they give to attendees, and clicking on the link opens the app, provides directions, and helps the user to get to the event location.
- A list of upcoming events that are open to students, staff, and the public.
- A list of the latest podcasts, videos, articles from Arts Faculty staff and students (using the FABggretatorLink opens in a new window).
We hope to have this live for Welcome Week 2026.
Substack articles about this project.Link opens in a new window
May 26th 2026
The project and the methods used to build the app were presented as part of a DAHL workshop on building mobile apps with Flutter and AI (slidesLink opens in a new window). This included a live demo showing how AI can be used to add a new view, fix code, and discover how to add more complicated features. Unfortunately the AI failed to correctly add a YourTube video to the About the FAB page, but I did that manually with no problems.
Live podcast feeds have now been added to the News & Views page (a selection of podcasts from Faculty members).
A page has been added through which users will specify their role (e.g. undergrad, pgt, pgr, staff).
Initial work has begun on a page that will present short videos showing how to use various aspects of the FAB.
Planning has been done to work out the best way to give directions in the FAB wayfinding feature. Voice input has been tested and works well to identify the location the user is after.
May 1st 2026
The project has been created using the Flutter software development kit (SDK) from Google, and the Dart programming language. Development set up for iPhone and Android.
The initial design and workflows have been created and demonstrated in the Android and iPhone simulators, and on a physical iPhone. Demo events are loaded as a JSON feed from this calendarLink opens in a new window. We will need to improve the current workflow for getting events into the Faculty central calendar.
Next steps
Create the social media content aggregator as a separate web service, and integrate that into the app. See the FABggregator projectLink opens in a new window.
Design a wayfinding system for generating usable directions for getting to spaces in the FAB. We have tested voice integration. Flutter provides a plugin that we can use for this. Users can type or speak a location, and it will be recognised by the app. This has been initiated as a separate projectLink opens in a new window.
Articles about this project.Link opens in a new window
Feedback and inquiries to Robert O'Toole.
Want to join the project? Ask Robert.