Rate this entry


The user

Our target is user is Anthony who lives in a major city in Europe or the US (in Anthony's case it is London) and owns a T-Mobile G1 or other Android phone. Anthony is in his mid-30s has a partner but no children and is excited by the possibilities of all the things he can do in the city. He likes going out to eat or for a drink going to see bands or a film and discovering new places.

Anthony enjoys discovering the city. So a problem he often faces is not knowing what his options are around him right now either because he's in an unfamiliar part of town or because he's on a trip. For instance he's in a bar with his friends and they want to go for something to eat. Where should they go? He's just come out of the cinema with his partner and they want to go for a drink. What's nearby?

The experience

We have designed, built and launched an Android application called nru (“near you”). It allows you to see what you can do near you, based on your current location and the direction you’re pointing the handset. The interaction is very physical as you move the entire phone around your body to see what’s available in different directions. This takes advantage of the fact that the G1 handset uniquely has a compass as well as GPS and accelerometers, so can detect direction as well as position and orientation.

When the phone is held flat, you see your options arrayed in a circle according to the direction they’re in. As you raise the phone up you see the straight-ahead view of what you can do in the direction you are facing. By turning the phone around your body or rotating around you can see what there is in different directions. nru currently has several categories: Bars, Bowling Alleys, Cafes, Cinemas, Clubs, Comedy Clubs, Music Venues, Pubs, Restaurants, Snooker & Pool Clubs and Stations. It is available in the UK and we’re working on the USA and France. The content comes from a combination of fonefood (the lastminute.com mobile restaurant booking service) and Qype.

When you select a particular item you are shown more information. In the case of restaurants, as well as seeing a description, photo, map and any special offers, you can directly book a table.