14 May 2012

Just in Time tourist: an App that helps accidental tourists

JiTT - Just in Time tourist is an innovative new mobile App that aims to solve the problems of many travelers who suddenly become accidental tourists.

The App is already available for Download at the App Store and was developed by iClio, an innovative Portuguese IT Company. JiTT is an App for iPhone, iPod and iPad, which combines GPS location, available time, audio and points of interest, creating personalized itineraries in order to satisfy user’s specific needs.

According to Mr. Alexandre Pinto, iClio’s CEO, the “Just in Time Tourist” is a product which fills a market gap: “JiTT is adapted to the needs of those who travel a lot for work and like to know more about the places they visit. The combination of an audio guide, dynamic generation of routes, detailed maps and public transport information, transforms the iPhone or iPad into a personalized guide that will make all the difference.”

"JiTT is ideal for those who don’t have time enough to explore an entire city, but want to get quickly to the essence of things. It’s designed to be useful in a variety of situations and works offline without a roaming connection", underlines Mr Pinto.

Based on GPS,  JiTT starts from the user current geographical location and leads to the most interesting places, taking into account the available time. Trough a detailed map, the application indicate how to get to a certain point. JiTT knows when to break in while listening to the music, to inform about the history and cultural importance of where the user is at a given moment. "It is not a common audio guide, because it’s designed to become a kind of friend, who, in a pleasant and often amusing way, speaks directly to the people", concludes Mr Pinto.

JiTT Barcelona is the first city to reach the market and is available in the Apple Apps Store. It presents a very intuitive interface and is sold along with the necessary information to operate offline. 

About the project

Funded by the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), as part of the Continental Regional Operational Program “Mais Centro”, the project “Just in Time Tourist”, is a mobile application created for the business or academic traveler. It represents a global investment of 102 302, 90 euros, with a grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of 66 496, 30 euros.

iClio is a company which conceives of and edits contents in the areas of History, Heritage and Culture. Its mission is to combine digital technology and quality material to create innovative and cutting edge products.

Source: iClio