Silicon Valley companies are racing to take mobile phones to the next level. Already on the way to becoming a mini computer, smartphones are also taking on the roles of street guide and restaurant critic.
Our reporter Li Dong has the details.
Reporter: You may see people holding their mobile phones up in front of them whilst wandering the streets. They're not texting or making a phone call, but experiencing what's called augmented reality.
Augmented reality uses smartphone software that overlays relevant information onto images seen through the mobile phone camera in real time.
Many companies, such as Yelp, are developing ways of putting tiny labels onto the camera image of the iPhone, so that people can simply aim their phones at a city street and gather information like the names and locations of nearby restaurants and bars.
After opening the iPhone application and tapping the Monocle icon, a camera opens. When the camera is pointed at one or more businesses that are in Yelp's listings, information appears on the screen. Eric Singley, product manager at Yelp, explains what happens next.
"I'm looking at restaurants that are near where we're standing right now. So we've got Ame right here, which is that building that's right across the street, across the intersection, and I've got Ayola, which is just down the block a little ways, Katz Bagels is over here. Say Ame, for example, I'm looking for a good place to eat tonight, tap Ame and I get information about price, I can read reviews about it, I can call them up to see if they have any tables available."
As you move the phone, the information changes based on what is visible to the camera. By tapping a business name you can find more information about it along with user reviews.
According to Singley, this could potentially mean endless possibilities for advertising—in addition to listings, businesses could show current sales and specials in real time to customers who are close enough to walk right in.
Benefits to the listed businesses and to customers are clear, but the business model is still being developed. In the meantime, Singley says their services are free.
"The economic model, so we don't monetize any of our mobile apps right now, so the iPhone application is advertising free. We're just focused right now on building a great product, a great experience."(www.hXen.com)
The creator of the 3D technology behind Google Earth, Professor Avideh Zakhor, says there's no doubt that augmented reality will revolutionize how we experience cities, but just how far it will go has yet to be seen.
"What information about your physical environment is most useful, that allows you to do things that you weren't able to do before? That's something that for everybody, social scientists, marketers, business people, entrepreneurs to figure out. Kind of like the, you know, email that was the killer app? It's the same thing here - what killer app will drive the business model for this application?"
