People visiting the National Mall can now carry a tour guide in the palm of their hand. Recently, the National Park Service released the “National Mall App” which allows users to take virtual tours, view maps, send postcarrds and get news updates on more than 70 sites on and around the National Mall. Two highlights of the app according to the NPS:
Park Lens – Find out what is around you with augmented reality. Just hold up your device and look through the camera. Labels will appear identifying all sites on the National Mall.
Tours – Follow a recommended tour depending on how much time you have or your special interest—from memorials to presidents to military monuments to destinations off the beaten path. You can even create personal tours with the “My Tour” feature—just tap the “+” at the bottom right of a site page. The app maps the route for you.
Currently, the National Mall App is only available on the iPhone and iPad platforms. You can view more mobile products like this one in the USA.gov Apps Gallery.
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**reposted from the Mobile Gov Blog from the Office of Citizen Services & Innovative Technologies at GSA**
I head this about this app a while ago, and I was pretty excited. I always thought we needed something exactly like this (using augmented reality) to help people (myself included) get around and learn a few extra things down on the mall. If only it were on android as well…