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We’re very happy to now have Locatify on board as a supporter of our weekly mailing list.
If you’ve worked on creating mobile, location-based, auditive experiences, you know there are quite a few platforms out there that can help you to achieve this. But also that several struggle to reach a significant audience.
Not so Locatify.
Based in Iceland (Who doesn’t love Iceland? Well, bankers, perhaps.), Locatify helps people to share stories, and to engage their audiences, through innovative mobile and location-based technology.
Iceland has a rich national heritage of storytelling, dating back to the Icelandic sagas. You might have noticed that, just a few weeks ago, archeological findings in North America confirmed what the Icelandic sagas already had told the world for, literally, a millennium; that Vikings visited and settled in what is now Newfoundland, half a millennium before that Mediterranean latecomer ‘discovered’ the Americas.
You might already have first-hand experience of Locatify’s work. But, we’ll also whet your appetite.
It’s hard to make a concise selection of the impressive tours on their platforms. But, here are a few we really like and are in the Locatify app, where you can also add your own:
Egils Saga, Borg on the Moors: Retracing the family history of one of Iceland’s most famous Viking poets, Egil Skallagrímsson, “Egil’s Saga” is one of the many Icelandic themed tours (Locatify is based in Iceland, after all) available in the Locatify apps, which can be enjoyed on location, but also wherever you find yourself.
Juicy: Egil was a poet and farmer, but also a sorcerer and berserker. Yes, the kind that fight’s in a “trance-like fury”. Imagine handing out your business cards with this as part of your job description.
The Beats Tours, the ultimate Beatles tour: You can follow this Liverpool-based tour at your own leisure, but you can also discover the world of The Beatles by getting yourself a ticket for a drive in a replica of John Lennon’s Rolls Royce Phantom V, with tour company, The Beats Tours. More here.
Reykjavik Art Tour: Dozens of artistic locations are highlighted in this tour of Reykjavik. When you find yourself in the capital of Iceland. And, you can further by getting the Reykjavik Art Walk app (iOS, Android).
Locatify also maintains an app called TurfHunt, which allows you to put together ‘treasure hunts for the 21st century’. One, of many, which deserves a highlight, is REAL School Wonder Trail, which explores the poetry and short films from the students of the REAL School Budapest.
But, there’s more. Locatify also produces custom apps. Here are a few:
Simon Schama’s Face of Britain, with the National Portrait Gallery in London: Here, historian Simon Schama joins forces with National Portrait Gallery curators to create five new displays exploring the development, character and meanings of British portraiture.
Eldheimar Museum’s truly immersive audio guide, with Eldheimar Museum Iceland: An immersive exhibition located at the UNESCO World Heritage site Surtsey volcanic area on Westmann Islands, Iceland. The museums exhibition focuses on the 1973 volcanic eruption in Vestmannaeyjar, providing a glimpse into people’s lives on Heimaey, prior to the eruption that changed their lives forever.
De Hortus, with De Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam: Where does your houseplant actually come from? How is it, that we know so well how the plant kingdom works these days? The Hortus Botanicus can help you answer these questions. Dating back to 1638 and featuring an impressive and diverse collection of more than 4,000 plants from 7 climates, De Hortus app guides you through the world-renowned botanical garden.
If you’re keen to experiment, you can create stories using Locatify’s Creator CMS platform, right now, and see how you can use their platform to create location-based audio guides and treasure hunt games to help tell your stories. Check out the Locatify website for details.
We all need to make money, one way or the other. (Sadly. Though, in fairness, attempts at pure communism have not been very successful.) However, Locatify offers a free plan which lets you play around with their platform.
Here, at walk · listen · create, to support you, we’re moving towards creating a self-sustaining platform for the promotion of walking, and sound walking art, in part by recognizing the monetary value of your, and our, work.
We’re very happy that Locatify has joined us on this journey.
