Łódź is the first European city with a virtual tour guide available on a mobile phone. At the first stage of the development of the “Decode Lodz” Tourist Information System, 70 monuments of Lodz will be accurately described and made accesible for mobile phone owners.
The program has been developed by young people from MobileMS, a company operating in Łódź Regional Park Of Science And Technology. It was created at the request of Łódź City Council. The project takes advantage of the newest technologies already used commonly in Japan. Howewer, at the Old Continent, they are still a novelty.
It’s all about smartcodes, which are nothing more than Internet links but used “at real”. They resemble “frayed squares”. After scanning them with a mobile phone equipped with a camera, all information “saved” in a particular smartcode, concretely a specially prepared website, will be streamed to your mobile phone.
This way, more than 70 most magnificent monuments of Lodz will be described in each of the following languages: Polish, German and English. Moreover, each description will have its audio version, read by an electronic voice-over.
At the beginning, most interesting monuments were chosen. Except description, the reader will find curiosities, maps and recommended walk routes. In the future there will be a possibility to buy an entrance ticket this way.
Łódź City Council and MobileMS want to convince citizens of Łódź that smartcodes are easy and comfortable in use. At the beginning we propose a competition, in which everybody who has has a mobile phone with a camera, is free to participate. After scanning the smartcode, you will get a survey on your mobile phone. The survey has a question “Łódź has no proper city centre; what, in your opinion, serves as the centre?” and suggested locations you can vote for whith one click. Iphones will be distributed by lot among those who will participate, but that’s not all. After starting the system, MobileMS and Łódź City Council will organize special urban games that make use of Smartcodes. Everyone can participate – provided that one has a mobile phone with a camera. Obviously prarticipation will be also rewarded.
