We’re delighted to be one of the few companies to be taken on by the European Space Agency in their 2020 cohort of the ESA BIC programme.
Sadly, we won’t be going into outer space any time soon, so we can’t play Buzz Aldrin just yet, but we will be testing out ESA satellite navigation systems, here on earth. It’s part of our latest R&D GPS trigger project, an AR storyquest around Manchester.
It means that we will be connected to some of the most exciting, innovative space tech companies in Europe, working with GPS specialists, as well as getting valuable support from STFC, to guide us and nuture us on our journey.
At the moment, geolocated AR is in its infancy – users can experience glitches, freezes and slow performance. We want to improve the AR experience triggered by GPS signals. So we will be working with space scientists to find ways to improve speed, latency, and accuracy. Currently there can be a 30 metre drift (as players of PokemonGo will know!) We want to get it down to sub-metrer accuracy – and that’s what this project aims to do. And this is important not just for customer experience (which is important) but also for health and safety.
So, our plan is to get an exciting project, working with Manchester City Football Club, to create a storygame quest for fans, which encourages them to walk to the stadium.
Areas of Manchester will be getting AR 3D content where it has never appeared before – stories, characters, information, news, history…all brought to life and triggered by European Space Agency technology.
The sky’s the limit…well actually, no, even the sky isn’t the limit any more….
