Google Latitude As A Game

Recently Google released the official iPhone app for its location-service Latitude, which allows you to share your real-time location with friends, and also see theirs. It is an interesting and thought-provoking tool that brings a new boost to the world of ‘geo-social’ apps and games. Now it is the challenge to make it useful. Developers of third party solution Ladidude have found an interesting way to do it – they are turning Google Latitude into a game. According to The Next Web, Ladidude users play by simply leaving the app running in the background and transmitting their current location to Latitude.

“There’s a leaderboard, showing which users have traveled the farthest distance and Game Center ‘achievements’ can be earned for actions like manually updating or hiding your location. The developers say there are hidden achievements to be earned at certain locations too.”

Adding gamification elements to Google Latitude could lead to some appealing new types of use in the future. Whereas Foursquare emphasizes places of destination with its check-ins, Ladidude makes the journey itself important by rewarding users for the miles that they have traveled.

Related Insights

Block by Block

Using Minecraft as an Urban Planning Tool in Developing Countries

Block by Block, an urban transformation outreach programme by UN-Habitat, helps local communities to have a say about their urban spaces by using Minecraft as a planning and visualisation tool.

Rome Recycling Initiative

Rome Offers Free Transportation in Exchange for Plastic Bottles

A recycling initiative in metro stations across Rome lets you deposit plastic bottles in exchange for public transport ticket credits.

WASTED

Waste Currency Motivates Citizens in Amsterdam to Recycle

Amsterdam-based initiative WASTED motivates citizens to recycle their household waste. It has launched a neighbourhood currency that rewards recycling with discounts at local businesses.