A Princeton High School student has developed and perfected an app to help 40,000 people navigate during the Communiversity ArtsFest.
Communiversity is an arts festival that will take place this spring on April 28 at Palmer Square, Nassau Street, Witherspoon Street and the Princeton University campus from 1-6 p.m. The Arts Council of Princeton is the host to this lively event that attracts huge crowds each year.
The user-friendly app was created by junior Caleb Dubow, who is the president of the iLaunch app development club at the high school.
“I began building the app towards the end of February,” he said. “As we were coming up with the blueprint of the app, the Arts Council of Princeton and I decided that a map would be extremely important for the app. There are so many times when I was walking around Communiversity not knowing where to go. I just think this map will be a huge help in the whole Communiversity experience.”
He said he intended to make the map more interactive, where people could see the actual booths pop-up and get the information from there, but with the limited amount of time Dubow just filled out the map.
“It just won’t be as interactive,” he said.
The app is designed for easy information access to booths, performers, and activities.
One of Caleb’s top priorities was making the app user friendly.
“The demographic for those who would be using the app are adults, children, people with extensive knowledge of maps and those with limited knowledge of maps,” he said.
Caleb said not only will the app help people navigate to different booths throughout Communiversity, it will also have the location information of public transportation, parking, and bathrooms.
“We have a sidebar include in the app that has a tab for restrooms, we have one for transportation, as well as, parking and children activities. We jus have a lot of special features that I think will be very helpful,” he said.
Caleb said right now his adding his finishing touches to the app.
“We have the app finished. We just want to make certain that the app looks great and there are no mistakes in the lineup. The app will be released on April 25,” he said.
He said the app will be available in the app store and he and the Arts Council will put up links to the app store, where people can search for Communiversity and download it onto their phones.
“Caleb has taken sole responsibility for this app and it is important because most people have smart phones. This app will definitely help them throughout the day,” said Graciela Elia, who is the club advisor and a Math and Science teacher at PHS.
Caleb and the Arts Council will be advertising about the app so people can easily know about it and get it on their phone, according to Caleb.
Elia said Caleb’s performance with the app is terrific.
“A lot of students will look up to him as their role model and what he has done with this app and the iLaunch club is what we like to promote here at the high school. He has definitely delivered,” she said.
According to Caleb, the app has been developed as a template so that it can continue for years.
“In the future, take next year’s Communiversity it will be really easy for us to change the lineup and information. We will be able to put in the new performers and activities for each future year. The app will continue to work even after Communiversity,” he said.
According to Elia, to build an app like this takes training and she chose Caleb for this project because he has been doing app development for awhile.
Caleb said if people using the app want to look for more information on what is happening throughout the day, the app will direct them to the Arts Council information booth.
“I am personally happy with this app,” he said. “I have made certain it will be available for every device. I have spent an hour and a half each day during the week and on the weekends since I received this project. I worked really hard on this. I hope that this app will show that.”
He said he is also just happy to develop an app that can be helpful for people and such a great event.
For more information about the app, contact the Arts Council of Princeton at 609-924-8777 or email: [email protected].