HN Explorer

What do you guys think about my startup?

1 points by swipecity ↗ HN
I'm the co-founder of this startup http://swipecity.xyz/, what do you guys think ? Basicaly, we install beacons on monuments, historic buildings and when you pass nearby, you receive information on the object. You can download the app, and criticise it, I'm looking for feedback. Thanks :)

13 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 38.7 ms ] thread
lun4r
Fantastic.
swipecity
Thanks. If you have downloaded the app, I would love some feedback.
jonkiddy
Why beacons and not a GPS/geofence system? Is there some advantage to using beacons I'm not familiar with?
swipecity
Our target users are tourists, and tourists don't have internet connection when they travel, so the app is loaded with all the data when you download it, and the data is showed when you pass nearby a beacon, no need for internet, you just have to turn on your Bluetooth. We have tougth about using the GPS, and geofences, but withouth internet connection, it's not precise.
smt88
The precision of GPS and geofences has nothing to do with internet connections. You could send a data payload to your app to be used offline, accessed via geofencing, and you wouldn't lose any precision.
swipecity
I'm surprised that GPS and geofences has nothing to do with internet connections. I installed an App (EgiGeoZone) from the playstore, and made many geofences to get notifications. When my internet was on it was working well, but when my internet was turned off, I would receive notifications from various places that were not geofenced. Maybe you can give me some clue on how to improve precision without internet connection ? That would be very helpfull. Thanks for your comment :)
smt88
Your experience with that app doesn't tell you anything because you don't have the source code, so you don't know what it's doing. It might be poorly written or relying on detecting SSIDs of nearby WiFi networks or any number of things.

A geofence is just a shape on a map, which is a latitude x longitude grid. If a device knows A) the shape of the geofence, and B) its own location, it will accurately determine whether it's within a geofence.

Neither of those things (A or B) require an internet connection. GPS operates independently from the internet. It's a one-way transmission (satellites -> device).

It's possible to detect location more quickly or more accurately using other sources to augment GPS. These include WiFi SSIDs, as mentioned above. That still doesn't require an internet connection -- only a WiFi adapter.

drusepth
Is this only available in select locations/cities, then? I'm not sure I'd terribly like a huge app downloading a world of information for monuments and things in cities/countries I'll never use.

It might be a good idea to look into post-install "city pack" downloads, where you can download some subset of data for cities you care about (or are about to travel to). Might be kind of neat also, and opens up a cognitive gate to letting people potentially just "browse" beacon information remotely in the cities they care about.

swipecity
We are doing a pilot projet in Québec city rigth now, our plan is to expand into other cities in the future. So right now when you download the app you just get the info of Québec city. Thanks for your suggestion. :)
dev1n
Looks like it'd be fun tech for a museum too. Instead of having those podium things where people read about the artwork just have museum visitors download the "Museum of Modern Art" app and use your beacons to transmit info.

Cool!

swipecity
Yes we are working on a API so it would be easier to integrate content on the app and asign beacons to it, in the future we want to integrate muséums too. The idea is, one App for one city to explore it's culture. You won't need an app for one museum, and another app for another museum, and another app to explore the city. Thanks for your comment.
drusepth
You might also look at the geocaching community. They might make for some great partners to get the word out about your startup's use & potential to a slice of your target market. Probably just need to coordinate some event(s) and donate/lend some of your hardware and you could find some loyal fans.

Not sure if it'd work out or be worth it, of course, but an idea.

swipecity
Great idea, I'll dig it up. Thanks for your input.