Viseu Mobile: a location based Augmented Reality tour guide for mobile devices.

Abstract

This article reports on the project "Viseu na Palma da Mão", which is based on a Augmented Reality app for mobile devices, whose main purpose is to maximise the tourists’ experience when visiting the town of Viseu. The paper starts by presenting a reflection on Augmented Reality and its potential and applications, with a special emphasis on the tourism industry. The increasing possibility to access the Internet anytime, anywhere, together with the unprecedented growth of mobile device penetration has boosted the development of specific applications that seek to respond to the increasing demands of tourists. It is on this premise that the app Viseu Mobile emerges, seeking to enhance the constant use of mobile devices, and making them act as a personal tour guide, based on location based information. The different stages of development and different features of the application are also explained.