AR app experience
Bringing Ibsen Back to Life
Project type
App
Year
2021
Client
Visit Oslo
My role
Design Director
Henrik Ibsen is one of the world’s most performed playwrights, yet in Oslo, he is surprisingly absent. At the same time, Visit Oslo wanted to create stronger cultural experiences for the city. The opportunity was simple: bring Ibsen out of institutions and into the streets where people already are. Since its launch in 2021, the experience has remained relevant for visitors and was featured in The Times’ 2026 guide to the best things to do in Oslo.
My Role
I led the UX and UI design of the experience, defining how users discover, navigate, and interact with Ibsen in the city.
In addition, I developed the visual style of the product and designed the opening scene on Karl Johan, where Ibsen is introduced as part of the city environment.
The core challenge was balancing simplicity with depth, making the experience instantly accessible while still delivering meaningful storytelling.
Problem
The challenge was not awareness, but access.
Interest in Ibsen was already high, yet the ways of experiencing him were limited and required effort. For many visitors, the threshold to engage with culture was too high.
Insight
People do not actively seek out culture. They encounter it while moving through a place.
The opportunity was not to bring people to Ibsen, but to place Ibsen directly in their path.
Reframing
The question shifted from how to get people to visit Ibsen, to how Ibsen could become part of the city experience itself.
System Design
Instead of creating a single destination, we designed a distributed experience across the city.
Locations connected to Ibsen’s life became entry points for storytelling, and movement became the interaction model. Each stop revealed a new part of the narrative.
The city itself became the interface.
Solution
Oslo Spex is a free AR app that brings Ibsen back into the streets where he once walked.
As users move through the city, they encounter Ibsen appearing in real locations, speaking through monologues based on his original texts. The experience unfolds across multiple stops and encourages exploration.
User Experience
Users open the app, follow the map, and arrive at a location. There, Ibsen appears in their surroundings.
No preparation is required. The experience is immediate and intuitive, and feels less like consuming culture and more like discovering it.
Impact
The app launched during the pandemic and quickly gained traction, with over 1000 downloads in the first ten days, strong media coverage, and high engagement on social platforms.
It has also been used in education, extending its relevance beyond tourism, and received Bronze at Gulltaggen.
Key Insight
When culture becomes part of the environment, it no longer needs to be sought out. It becomes something people naturally experience.
