Directory service Yell has added Augmented Reality (AR) to its iPhone App. The free Augmented Reality iPhone Beta App has been designed by Yell Labs. It enables iPhone 3GS users to see local shops, offices, restaurants and other useful services through the iPhones camera viewer.
As the user moves the iPhone around, yellow boxes are displayed over the live feed of the world directly in front of the user. When one of these boxes is touched, information is overlayed on the business, including the address, phone number, opening hours and website. The information is taken from Yells database of 2 million businesses.
If the user swipes their finger to the right, a display with popular searches appears. When the user swipes their finger to the left, they can set the distance they want to see, enabling them to reduce the amount of information on the screen.
Were pleased with the result of our first experiment with Augmented Reality and are now working on fully integrating AR with our mobile service later in the year, says Yell Director of New Media Product Marketing, Matthew Bottomley.