by Louisa Coward on 16/06/2010 11:42:00 in CorpComms Online | share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet
IBM augments its augmented reality Wimbledon app

Louisa Coward is the editorial intern at CorpComms Magazine

Information technology company IBM has launched an application in conjunction with the All England Lawn Tennis Club to get more visitors to Wimbledon into the heart of the action this summer.
The gadget, called IBM Seer, will enable iPhone and Android users to 'see through walls'. Holding up their phones outside the main show courts, they will receive live video streamed footage of the matches within.
This is a further enhancement of the award-winning Seer application developed for Wimbledon 2009. The tool continues to offer real-time updates about who's playing each match, live information from the courts, the word on the ground about the length of queues, seat availability, the location of taxi ranks and travel information to and from the event.
The application will enable pleasure seekers to locate the nearest cash machine, track down the strawberries and cream and assess from a comfortable seated position whether it is worth getting up to queue for champagne.
This year also sees the introduction of a Grand Slam Widget downloadable to your desktop providing up-to-the-minute scores and match schedules along with player statistics and photos. The widget is currently anticipating the first serve with a second-by-second countdown to the games.
Wimbledon is looking to engage a younger audience with its technological wizardry, having also recently targeted this demographic where it is often to be found lurking - on Facebook and Twitter.
The software developers will be bating their breath hoping for no double faults on June 21, with some concerns over the accuracy of the GPS tools and the effects of heavy traffic on the programme.
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