culture and entertainment

 It is powered by a solar panel that is attached to the backpack. Thanks to the GPS map application APE@MAP by Onyx Technologie OG, one can upload hiking maps with more than 30,000 suggestions of routes to one’s cell phone. In addition to measuring time, speed and altitude, the application offers the possibility to record and modify routes using the cell phone. Additionally, outdoor sports enthusiasts can mark where they found something particularly interesting on the route. The system is available for cell phones with the Android operating system.

This research will give insight in the individual visitor journeys and preferences, so museums can optimally adapt its (digital) experience to their visitor needs. Each year, we see museums investing more in visitor engagement. A significant part of these investments are directed towards mobile interpretation, a powerful tool to reach audiences and connect with them. But what do we really know about visitor behavior and how our stories affect them? After the reopening in 2012 and more than a million visitors since, it is time to take this further.

Wander the street of Old Montreal and discover the history of your city though Montreal en Histoire’s new free mobile app that will bring you through the techno-historic circuits of Montreal. Pre-download the application and embark on the Montreal en Histoires adventure as soon as you arrive in Old-Montreal. Explore the past through fifty points of interest and a dozen augmented realities. This fun, entertaining and surprising experience will teach you about important individuals and places that have forged Montreal.

A key element of the ‘bookshop for the future’ vision Foyles adopted for its new store on Charing Cross Road, Ariadne is the UK’s first ‘bricks and mortar’ digital book search. The Ariadne landing page appears when a smartphone connects to the store’s Wi-Fi network, and allows customers to search for title or author. Real-time search results not only tell the customer whether a book is in the store but will point them right to it – by way of a Google-style map of the seven-storey flagship with the route plotted on it.

American Express and New York-based design agency Hush teamed-up to create an interactive installation allowing shoppers to discover small local businesses. “Shop Small” consists in a large digital touchscreen on which users can browse “virtual storefronts” and discover items they could buy in nearby shops. This lets shoppers curate a wishlist featuring details about stores’ location and opening hours. This information can then be sent via SMS or directly printed on-site. A prototype of “Shop Small” was recently experimented in downtown Seattle.

If you are shopping on Regent Street and want to find out all there is to know about the Mile of Style, it's time to download the Regent Street App. Regent Street has become the first purpose built shopping street in Europe to pioneer this innovative mobile app, which delivers exclusive personalised content whilst you shop. The exciting app, which is available to download from the App Store and Google Play now, uses unique beacon technology which allows you to receive alerts from the stores you love via their Bluetooth connection.

At Walkonomics we believe the future will be Walkable. Over half the world's population currently live in cities and by 2050 this will rise to 70%. These densely populated mega-cities will have to be walkable just to function. Walkable cities and neighbourhoods also create many other benefits including reducing obesity and improving health, boosting the economy and reducing carbon emissions. Walkonomics exists to make this walkable future a reality. We are doing this by creating technology, tools and communities that make cities, neighbourhoods and streets where people want to walk.

Connecthings meets the challenge of giving cities the digital tool to support people’s mobility and cultural experience in offering real time information and contextual services in the areas of transport, cultural and touristic heritage and day-to-day life, through the implementation of contactless tags readable by any Smartphone (NFC & QR codes) Connecthings provides contactless mobile services through the implementation of tags (NFC/QR codes) on street furniture and public spaces, finally bridging physical and virtual worlds.

The pilot project, in anticipation of Expo 2015, has the intention of making the City of Milan decidedly smarter through elements like a brand new LED lighting system and free ultrafast Wi-Fi. The energy saving lighting system will give the street a completely new look – and name – Spiga Smart Street.  Other innovative services for both citizens and visitors include a multimedia touch screen dedicated to communication and travel information, sustainable mobility with stations for charging electric cars and bikes as well as SOS and video surveillance system for security.

The Zaragoza Citizen Card is about the active involvement of citizens in Zaragoza in addressing societal challenges in the city. The Zaragoza Citizen Card is a smart card offering citizens the opportunity to access and pay for 20 local public services (transport, parking, public libraries, swimming pools, etc.) To date, over 230,000 citizens (more than half of the city’s adult population) have applied for the card, which is helping to reinforce the sense of community. With payment processing services included, holders of the Citizen Card can even choose between prepaid and post-paid plans.