Tampere and Microsoft test new city guidance tool

Tampere is working with Microsoft and local partners on a new AI-driven guidance service designed to improve how residents and eventgoers move through the city.

The City Venue Assistant VIP Tampere, showcased at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, will begin piloting at the Nokia Arena this winter and forms part of the city’s broader push toward data-driven, real-time services.

Speaking to Cities Today, Teppo Rantanen, Executive Director of Economic Policy, Competitiveness and Innovation at the City of Tampere, said the initiative is fully aligned with the municipality’s long-term digital transformation agenda.

“The Venue Assistant is not only linked to our city’s smart city strategy, but is also part of our broader strategic direction, exemplified by the City of Tampere’s Digital Vision 2035. The Venue Assistant is also connected to our citiverse development work,” he said.

The assistant will eventually offer personalised suggestions through users’ phones and headphones, combining artificial intelligence with location data and digital twins. The initial focus is visitor mobility at major events, where congestion and orientation remain persistent challenges. Rantanen said the team is starting with the most common user pain points.

“With the Venue Assistant, we aim to address the typical logistical challenges of major events from the visitor’s perspective, such as arriving at the venue. ‘If a city could talk’ – through the Venue Assistant, the city can tell its story to the visitor. In addition, we can enrich the event experience itself with immersive technologies.”

Unlike traditional procurement models, the project is being developed through co-creation with Microsoft, Nokia Arena and local firm Younite Oy, which has contributed 3D visualisation work. Rantanen said this collaborative approach is deliberate.

“Tampere has always approached its smart city and citiverse work in an ecosystem-driven way, with our partners we co-develop solutions that do not yet exist. Together, we aim to create entirely new innovations to meet emerging challenges. Our partners are committed to contributing their own resources so that we can jointly develop these future solutions.”

Looking beyond the Nokia Arena pilot, the city sees potential to scale the assistant into wider predictive and personalised services.

“The potential for new applications and use cases is virtually limitless; the key question is how to prioritise and implement them,” he said.

As Tampere advances its digital vision, Rantanen said the Venue Assistant is part of a wider effort to rethink how people experience the city, both during major events and in everyday life. He noted that experiments such as the full-scale Moomin house VR experience show how the city is already blending physical and digital layers in practical ways.

Main image: City of Tampere