Help us build a new augmented reality service

Interested in geo tagging your content and developing an augmented reality service?

Helping people find information about the place around them is at the heart of Destination Local. Nesta wanted to find a way for public service content producers to use the new augmented reality technologies now appearing on smartphones.

Augmented reality and geolocated content are at the cutting edge of mobile search and information. You may have seen adverts for sofa companies and estate agents promoting apps where users can see what a sofa would look like in their lounge, or look down a street and see what properties were currently for sale. We wanted to get beyond sofas and estate agents and help public service innovators with this new technology.

We partnered with local web innovators Talk About Local and Nominet Trust to develop a simple service so that you can easily geotag your blog and see what your posts would look like in augmented reality.   

With the augmented reality service you can look down a street and view content attached to buildings and places; the latest blog post about anti-social behaviour pinned to the local park, a post about the closure of a library pinned to the library building or the write-up of a council meeting pinned to the town hall. The online information appears as floating blobs on your smartphone or tablet, superimposed onto the camera view. Tap a blob on the screen and you are taken to the relevant web page.

Talk About Local have used geolocated content and dropped it to an Augmented Reality app called Layar. They have included 12,500 bits of geolocated content from across the UK and have an unfiltered mix of local blog posts, planning applications, food safety ratings, latest reports from Fix My Street and some Blue Plaques. You can have a look at the experimental test Layar on your phone by downloading the app: http://www.layar.com/layers/hyparlocal/ 

If you're interested in putting your own content into the AR environment, it's a simple process (thanks to Talk About Local).

All you need to do is tell them where to find your geolocated content by filling out this simple form http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk/apollo-signup/ and posting your GeoRSS feed. Talk About Local will do the rest - pulling your content into the HypARlocalLayar app.

If you have content that isn't yet geolocated, but would like to include your content within the augmented reality environment, then you can create a GeoRSS feed very simply by using WordPress. Talk About Local are able to work with both hosted & self-hosted WordPress users.

For self-hosted WordPress users go here: WordPress.org how to geolocate your posts to get instructions and details of the plugin you will need to install.

For users of hosted WordPress (wordpress.com) sites then you can start geolocating your content very easily by following the instructions here: WordPress.com how to geolocate your posts

Once you have added locations to some of your content you can check it's all working correctly by following the simple steps outlined here: http://hyparlocal.talkaboutlocal.org.uk/2012/05/03/how-to-check-your-site-is-publishing-geo-locations/

This new service developed by Talk About Local allows you to see local content based on your location. It's still in the early development stages and they hope to increase the amount of content and further develop the technology with your help. If you are a content creator or curator they would love to work with you to expand their testing.



To read more about the project go to: http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk/ar/