by Robert van Alstyne
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Location-based social networking receives an augmented reality boost courtesy of Tagwhat, which dubs itself “the world’s first augmented reality creation and distribution system.”
- Tagwhat users can create their own location-based content (including embedding multimedia content) from within the Tagwhat app. The content is then viewable on Tagwhat’s site via Google Maps or as overlaid data on top of a smartphone’s camera view. Users dictate their own AR overlay by deciding what friends and services they’re interested in following within Tagwhat.
- Tagwhat features opt-in subscription channels for integration with Foursquare and Wikipedia, and is pursuing “smart advertising” partnerships with restaurants and bars.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Consumers afoot! Augmented reality experiences so far have primarily consisted of one-way communication from brand to customer. Business will have to get hip to the brave new world of consumer-crafted AR content — and fast.
RESOURCES
- The free Tagwhat application is currently available for Android and the iPhone
