I love UrbanSpoon. It was one of the first iPhone apps I ever installed and I often submit restaurant reviews from my wine blog. There’s even a rivalry between two food-related bloggers in my city to see who can be ranked #1 on UrbanSpoon for Cincinnati. So it’s a popular app, both on the iPhone and online.
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that UrbanSpoon is adding augmented reality to the iPhone app. According to the New York Times, augmented reality is “a feature that superimposes data or information over the live feed from the phone’s camera.” Think about that for a minute. Your phone interprets the data taken from the camera and uses that, with the GPS, to determine where you are located at any given point in time. It’s either fascinating or frightening, depending on your worldview.
UrbanSpoon’s implementation, called Scope, allows you to aim your camera in any given direction. The app then displays a map with nearby restaurants, including their distance and UrbanSpoon rating. You can drill down to more details by selecting any one restaurant. If the technology is slightly off, then you can adjust your position on the map.
There is a catch, of course. Scope (and other apps with augmented reality) only work with the latest and greatest iPhone – the 3GS. Scope was released to the world on Wednesday morning. If you’ve got a 3GS, it might be time to update your apps.
__
Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.