Smartphone app will guide you around Gardens by the Bay this CNY

Singapore

LISTENIN, which is set to change the way people visit tourist attractions, will debut at Gardens by the Bay over the Chinese New Year (CNY) period.

What makes this a game changer is that visitors will no longer need to follow prescribed routes, due to positioning technology that is built into the mobile application. In addition, the application will deliver multi-language audio content directly to visitors' smartphones, said Eddie Chng, chief executive officer of Catalist-listed Equation Summit.

The technology, which took about a year to develop, is the brainchild of Citrine Wireless, a Singapore-based technology solutions provider for mobile devices, and Equation Summit.

In the case of Gardens by the Bay, ListenIN will be deployed on the Garden's Tram Cruiser. Users will need to download the ListenIN application before boarding the tram, after which they will be able to hear perfectly synchronised narration of all the exhibits along the tram's 25-minute ride along the Bay South Garden on their personal smartphones.

While the initial audio commentary will be in English and Mandarin to serve the linguistic needs of the major sectors of visitors, the official implementation of the ListenIN audio solution will see the addition of Japanese and Korean narratives, with the potential for more languages to be added to the menu as demand requires.

Mr Chng shared that they are already in talks with other local attractions including The Singapore Flyer and Resorts World Sentosa's SEA Aquarium.

He also intends to take the technology overseas within the year. "We are talking to people who create content for museums to partner them."

The technology has the potential to make obsolete all other existing audio technologies currently in use in museums, parks, aquariums and other kinds of tourist attractions, noted Mr Chng.

"With the Bring Your Own Device (BOYD) concept a key component of the technology, there is no longer any need for the upkeep of expensive and often unreliable audio devices," he said. "With multi-language capabilities, the technology acts as a personal translator for visitors, providing an enhanced experience and opening exciting ways to entertain, educate and engage."

Separately, Mr Chng is in talks to introduce the globally patent-pending audio solution to billboards to make them more interactive.

While billboards are traditionally silent, users who download the app can hear the audio aspect of the advertisement. With the use of this technology, companies can choose to push out "Sale Events" which will appear as buttons that users can click to purchase the product directly, making advertisements interactive.