App of the Week - Wikitude
Since flights, trains and other methods of getting in new and exciting places are nowadays only a click away and because I am one of those people that just love travelling, I thought maybe you would enjoy a review on an app that is useful in such circumstances.
Wikitude is the name and augmented reality’s its game. It has been voted “Best Augumented Reality browser” for the passed 3 years in a row!
Wikitude is an app that uses augmented reality to help you find points of interest based on your location. The main screen (a.k.a. The Favourites screen) takes you to a number of shortcuts that usually are interesting for tourists, showing you Sights, Restaurants, Cafes, Pubs, Events, ATMs, Tweets and Accommodations.
By clicking on any of these and holding up your phone towards the direction you are walking, you will see the marked points of interest that you previously selected. If this type of view gets confusing to you though (it does at least for me, just because often many of the pin points are stacked one over the other), you can also choose to see the pin points on a map, which is again very effective. You also have the option of seeing all the surrounding places in a list where you get more detailed information on the sights you are looking for, such as the distance and the address and phone number of restaurants near you.
With a simple swipe of your finger you pass from the Favorites screen to screen called Tools. On this screen you are able to see overviews of different types of content in your surroundings through a mash-up service
called All Worlds, but also the environment near you through different twitter feeds from people around you. The mash-up service offer numerous types of content such as Bus stop locations, Gas stations, YouTube videos, Mountain peaks, Irish Pubs, Banks, Hotels, Pharmacies and the list goes on and on and on!
Now, though, for the down sides… from my personal experience with the app I have noticed the compass calibration has to be done every time, and the worst thing is that it takes so long! If by any chance you start up the app while you are on the street you’ll be there, waving your arms around in the air like a chicken that wishes it could fly! Except that, on my LG-E900 the app works at good speed but I have heard that it is quite slow and there are problems of compass calibration on the Samsung Focus.
All in all the app has a great idea behind it and if it will improve the little glitches it has, in the future, it could be an important asset to any person often on-the-go, whether it’s for business or for just plain pleasure.
To get it just go to the WP7 Marketplace: https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/ff54ce89-9a93-4d18-98f3-868268964c71?cmpid=TWP_Wikitude_MKTPL
Have a great week!
Andreia David
Lead Student Partner Ticino