Our Work

Blue Raster helps you tell your story through interactive
mapping technology. Make your message clear, exciting,
and user-friendly for both mobile and web platforms.

Mobile

Expanding Nutritious Food Access with the Healthy Corners Mobile App

What if you lived in a neighborhood where you didn’t have a local supermarket with affordable and nutritious food offerings? This is a very realistic scenario for many low-income communities in Washington, DC, but a local nonprofit—DC Central Kitchen (DCCK)—is aiming to solve this issue.

The organization provides culinary job training for individuals facing barriers to employment while simultaneously bringing nourishing foods and meals to communities that lack fairly-priced and wholesome options. Partnering with DC schools, community agencies, and corner stores, DCCK is continuing to find inventive and impactful ways to combat hunger and create healthy food access—and Blue Raster had the opportunity to be part of this mission.

Introducing the Free Healthy Corners Shopper App

In 2022, DCCK came to Blue Raster with the Healthy Corners Shopper app—originally developed by students at the University of California, Berkley—with the goal to display corner stores in DC neighborhoods that offer fresh, affordable produce to residents through the Healthy Corners program.

DCCK wanted a user-friendly application that would clearly show customers product availability by location and offer free recipes, resources, and more to inspire better eating. In addition to showing the location of inexpensive produce, the app also notes which stores in the Healthy Corners program offer a “SNAP Match” coupon program for SNAP/EBT customers and/or serve as DC WIC-approved vendors.

An App that Serves Up Real Change

Working off the original application structure, Blue Raster made the Healthy Corners Shopper app production-ready using the cross-platform framework React Native with an innovating backend in Airtable—a low-code platform for building applications.

Since 2020, DCCK’s Healthy Corners program has assisted in selling over 1.2 million units of healthy food options in DC corner stores (Source: https://dccentralkitchen.org/healthy-corners), and the Healthy Corners Shopper app is only helping that number rise. Interested individuals can download the app for free on their Android or iOS device—with exciting, new features coming soon thanks to the continued collaboration of DCCK and Blue Raster.

Strengthening Food Security in DC

Learn more and explore DCCK’s Healthy Corners Shopper app here, or contact Blue Raster today to discuss our hands-on process for creating custom mobile applications.

TrailsMV Mobile Application: Explore Martha’s Vineyard’s Nature Trails

TrailsMV mobile app is the modern day treasure map   

The TrailsMV mobile application is an immersive experience developed by Blue Raster in collaboration with the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (SMF) and their conservation partners. Designed to cater to hiking enthusiasts, residents, and visitors of Martha's Vineyard, MA, TrailsMV offers an interactive guide to over 220 miles of public trails spread across one hundred protected properties. 

This easy-to-use app allows users to: 

  • browse places to explore through the interactive map 
  • explore Martha's Vineyard trails with confidence through in depth property details 
  • get important alerts about trail closings and guided hikes    
  • learn about the island's rich natural history 
TrailsMV Mobile

TrailsMV provides a comprehensive resource for adventurers through detailed maps, property descriptions, and upcoming event listings. Moreover, users can access curated excursions, informative seasonal articles, and stay informed about upcoming events.

Featured in The New York Times, TrailsMV is an interactive guide to 220+ miles of public trails on more than 100 protected properties across the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

One key feature of the project is the seamless integration of ArcGIS Online data and maps with relevant contextual information, such as photos, text, and directions. Blue Raster developed flexible and repeatable backend workflows to consume dynamic content in the application. Leveraging Survey123 allows the team at Sheriff's Meadow Foundation the power to update, add, or remove content from the app without need for a developer to manually make modifications.

TrailsMV was built using AppStudio for ArcGIS and the ArcGIS Runtime API for Qt (Runtime). With Esri’s recent retirement announcement of ArcGIS AppStudio, Blue Raster will work with Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation on migration options to a new framework.

Incorporating the power of ArcGIS Online, Survey123, and thoughtful design, TrailsMV Mobile Application brings the beauty of Martha's Vineyard's trails to the fingertips of users, empowering them to explore, connect with nature and others, and discover what the island has to offer.

Featured in The New York Times, is an interactive guide to 220+ miles of public trails on more than 100 protected properties across the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Download TrailsMV Today

Available in the Apple AppStore and the Google Play Store!

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AppStudio Retirement: Esri Announces Major Update

Esri has announced version 5.5 of their low and no-code mobile development framework, AppStudio, will be a Long-Term Support (LTS) release for the product. Version 5.5 of AppStudio will be its last major release with the product being retired in February of 2025. Blue Raster has developed and maintained AppStudio applications for clients such as the U.S. National Arboretum, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and more.

Migrate Your Legacy Platforms

As the digital landscape shifts, the phasing out of AppStudio necessitates a seamless transition for your applications. Our seasoned team can expertly migrate your legacy systems to robust native iOS and Android platforms, utilizing cutting-edge languages like Swift and Kotlin. Ensure your mapping applications remain at the forefront of technological advancements, delivering unparalleled performance and user experience.

AppStudio 1

Transitioning from AppStudio

While AppStudio will be fully supported for the next two years, it is important to become familiar with the ArcGIS mobile application roadmap for the development of new applications or the migration of existing applications to a new framework.

Our team of designers and developers at Blue Raster are well versed in the suggested roadmap outlined by Esri for mobile application development—and we’re ready to support your vision. If needed, we can also assist your organization with migrating existing applications using the recommended frameworks or transitioning to the most efficient technologies for your current or future mobile applications. Our expertise includes:

Mobile application pathways for development or migration
Mobile application pathways for development or migration

Top-Tier Support for Your Mobile Application Needs

Our team is ready to help you with your mobile application development and migration needs--contact us today to learn more!

For more information about Version 5.5 of AppStudio and the product’s long-term future, visit the Esri ArcGIS Blog announcement.

Disposal of Debris after Disaster: Blue Raster partners with CDR Maguire to quantify and monitor disposal of debris material

Following a catastrophic event, the assessment and removal of debris and clean-up efforts of those impacted can create a ripple effect of challenges that communities are forced to overcome. To aid in an efficient approach, crews need assistance quantifying the damages incurred and coordination of how best to begin to confront the disposal of debris. After a referral from ROK Tech, CDR Maguire GIS Manager Deepali Datre reached out to Blue Raster to begin work on deploying the Esri Debris Management Solution with a custom enhancement to support online and offline use.

Debris Management

In this data collection phase of disaster response, Blue Raster and CDR Maguire:

  • Customized and extended the Esri Emergency Debris Management Solution to work offline
  • Configured complex and innovative Survey123 forms
  • Authored and deployed custom Python and JavaScript scripts
  • Recorded information including vehicles in operation, field monitors, type of debris accumulated, method of disposal, and total weight removed per truck load
  • Calculated total weight removed using the truck’s empty and full weight measurements obtained from the weight scales at the final dump location
  • Isolated categorical information including truck certifications, loading tickets by address or parcel, and the amount and type of material removed from each designated site

To manage and visualize the data for CDR Maguire, Blue Raster configured an ArcGIS Experience Builder Reviewer Tool. Utilizing this tool, field contractors can submit field survey forms to develop initial damage reports. The Experience Builder Dashboard provides real-time data to increase oversight and efficiency. These methods provide CDR Maguire with accurate data collection for FEMA reimbursement requirements. Throughout this project, the CDR Maguire team was knowledgeable and a collaborative partner to ensure that a workable solution was created.

Example of ArcGIS Emergency Debris Management Solution, courtesy Esri

While this solution was initially developed to assist in the removal of debris from the Boulder County Marshall Fire, this technology has already been employed to address a similar situation following a wildfire in Texas. The applications of this solution translate to a multitude of circumstances in which the efficiency of response can allow for a swift reaction to any type of natural or man-made catalyst.

 

Mekong Monitor – Providing Vital Insight for River-dependent Communities

The Mekong River runs through six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, and Vietnam. It provides a livelihood and natural resources for over 60 million people. New upstream dams in China are changing the waterflow, creating a huge impact on the countries and people that depend on the river. Using the Mekong Dam Monitor as a tool, the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program and Eyes on Earth, Inc committed to working with countries to gain more visibility into the flow of the river and better plan for water availability.

Mekong MonitorBlue Raster developed the Mekong Dam Monitor to provide unprecedented transparency of the flow of water and conditions of dams and reservoirs along the Mekong River. Using satellite data as well as weather and water gauge data, the monitor provides visibility into what is happening upstream, giving a comprehensive near-real time view of the current state of the Mekong basin along with historic conditions. This allows people all along the river and those advocating for more equitable and sustainable use of the river to understand and plan for changes in the levels of the river.

Mekong Monitor

In late 2021, Blue Raster integrated WordPress into the application, making it easier for the project administrators to make updates to the site themselves. The site also received an update to the UI, making it more mobile friendly to support growing field use. Finally, the team also coordinated making the site available in six local languages, increasing the access to this valuable data on water levels and projected water flow.

Mekong Monitor

Blue Raster is proud to continue to support this project, providing real time visibility and reporting on impacts of up river decisions on the various communities that rely on the Mekong.


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