Virtual Mobile City Guide Alexiei Dingli Department of Intelligent Systems Faculty of Information and Communication Technology University of Malta alexiei.dingli@um.edu.mt Dylan Seychell Department of Intelligent Systems Faculty of Information and Communication Technology University of Malta info@dylanseychell.eu Abstract The Virtual Mobile City Guide (VMCG) is a mobile application which aims to provide the user with digital equivalent tools which tourists normally use while travelling and provides them with factual information about the city. Using Android technology, the VMCG is a mash up of different APIs which together with an information infrastructure provides the user with information about different attractions and guidance around the city in question. While providing the user with the traditional map view by making use of the Google maps API, the VMCG also employs the Wikitude® API to provide the user with an innovative approach to navigating through cities. This view uses augmented reality to indicate the location of attractions and displays information in the same augmented reality. The VMCG also has a built in recommendation engine which suggests attractions to the user depending on the attractions which the user is visiting during the tour and tailor information in order to cater for a learning experience while the user travels around the city in question. Keywords Mobile Technology, Tourism, Android, Location Based Service, Augmented Reality 1. INTRODUCTION A person visiting a city might at different stages of his/her trip require different forms of guidance and assistance, whether or not the city is known to the person. The „tools‟ which people normally use while navigating in a city are maps and guidebooks which are generally utilised in printed form. Another item attributed to tourists is the camera which people use to try to save the moment and share it later with their friends or relatives back home. Tourists or visitors of cities usually also ask other fellow perambulators about different attractions or places of interest or perhaps suggestions about which attraction is in reality nicer or more recommended to visit. The Virtual Mobile City Guide (VMCG) is a mobile application which tries to bring all the above mentioned means of assistance in one place. The problems which tourists find were investigated using secondary research and this was also followed by an investigation of the way tourists use mobile devices to assist them in navigating a city. These problems and respective solutions will be carefully examined, studied and eventually employed in the system. Using Android technology, the VMCG is a mash up of different APIs which together with an information infrastructure provides the user with information about different attractions and guidance around the said attractions. While providing the user with the traditional „Map View‟ by making use of the Google maps API, the VMCG also employs the Wikitude® API to provide the user with an innovative approach to navigating through cities. This view uses augmented reality to indicate the location of attractions and displays information in the same augmented reality. From an administrative point of view, the VMCG allows various cities to adopt the same framework but providing the application with a different profile of the city in question. This would allow the users to use the same interface while having information relevant to the city they are visiting at that point in time. The VMCG also offers the capability of suggesting different attractions depending on the likings of the user. For the sake of practicality, the VMCG also allows the user to use the mobile device as a camera and organise the photographs taken while using the application in a dedicated directory. 2. TOURISM BACKGROUND Brown and Chalmers (13) identified the following problems which tourists face while on holiday. The first problem was the “What to do” problem. Brown and Chalmers explain that unlike work, there is not a particular or strict goal which must be reached by the end of the holiday. The tourists face an “open-ended” list of options since tourism entails a choice from various activities such as commercial activities, social activities and so on. The “how” problem outlines the situation in which tourists may find themselves and eventually being exploited. Brown and Chalmers say that an issue in this case is the cultural norms possible minor clashes when the difference of the culture of the tourist and that of the place being visited clash. The tourist needs to be equipped with knowledge about how to get something from place which is being visited to avoid exploitation. (13). The “Where” problem is about finding where things are. There are different attractions which tourists can visit and they are also restricted with the time at hand to go around the attractions. Brown and Chalmers emphasise that tourists “need to avoid spending too much time travelling between places” (13).