Google and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have launched a new initiative today, designed at helping tourists and residents to get around New York without feeling like they’ve missed any of the city’s exciting places and events. In what could be a model for other cities, New York has partnered with Google to launch a Web site for tourists and a high-tech visitor's center. Interactive tables and a Video Wall let visitors explore New York, get local opinions, and save information. An forecaster called New
York's high-tech center an development of "out-of-home" marketing.
New York City may be starting a new trend in city-oriented tourist Web sites. In partnership with Google, it has launched the NYCgo.com site, a portal to promote tourism, and opened a high-tech information center for visitors. The Web site uses Google Maps and other information to make it easy for a visitor or a local resident to quickly find things to do, places to go, restaurants and other points of interest. The site also provides discounts and promotions.
Just Ask the Locals
The information center at 810 Seventh Avenue offers touch-sensitive horizontal screen tables that also use Google Maps. In a statement on The Official Google Blog, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote that the new Web site and information center will "help make it easier for both visitors and residents to explore the energy , excitement and diversity of New York City's five boroughs."
Visitors can move around a table's map of the city's five boroughs. If the user has selected a category such as Museums & Galleries or Dining, the map will flag those places as a token is moved around. Each flagged item can then be opened to reveal photos and more information.
Since there are probably 10 million opinions about the city, no visitor's center would be complete without at least a few virtual New Yorkers. A visitor can browse a Just Ask The Locals section, where famous New Yorkers give recommendations.
'Custom Itinerary Flyover'
Visitors can save sites, recommendations and more to a physical disk and take it to a Video Wall where a "custom itinerary flyover" soars virtually over a detailed, three-dimensional map of the city. The wall also offers yet more advice from celebrities and local experts, and the visitor can send the itinerary to his or her cell phone, e-mail, or print it.
Andrew Frank, an analyst with Gartner, said such a high-tech center for visitors could be a marketing tool for other cities.
If done with an eye toward ease of use, as New York's appears to be, Frank indicated that such centers could appeal to the wide range of technological sophistication among visitors and locals in any city. He also said New York's center is another indication of "the evolution of out-of-home" marketing experiences, which increasingly are accompanied by ways to measure how people use them.
But, Frank noted, an issue with these centers -- and even Web sites -- is keeping them up to date, not only with data , but with the latest technology and fastidious, shining surfaces.
Just Ask the Locals
The information center at 810 Seventh Avenue offers touch-sensitive horizontal screen tables that also use Google Maps. In a statement on The Official Google Blog, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote that the new Web site and information center will "help make it easier for both visitors and residents to explore the energy , excitement and diversity of New York City's five boroughs."
Visitors can move around a table's map of the city's five boroughs. If the user has selected a category such as Museums & Galleries or Dining, the map will flag those places as a token is moved around. Each flagged item can then be opened to reveal photos and more information.
Since there are probably 10 million opinions about the city, no visitor's center would be complete without at least a few virtual New Yorkers. A visitor can browse a Just Ask The Locals section, where famous New Yorkers give recommendations.
'Custom Itinerary Flyover'
Visitors can save sites, recommendations and more to a physical disk and take it to a Video Wall where a "custom itinerary flyover" soars virtually over a detailed, three-dimensional map of the city. The wall also offers yet more advice from celebrities and local experts, and the visitor can send the itinerary to his or her cell phone, e-mail, or print it.
Andrew Frank, an analyst with Gartner, said such a high-tech center for visitors could be a marketing tool for other cities.
If done with an eye toward ease of use, as New York's appears to be, Frank indicated that such centers could appeal to the wide range of technological sophistication among visitors and locals in any city. He also said New York's center is another indication of "the evolution of out-of-home" marketing experiences, which increasingly are accompanied by ways to measure how people use them.
But, Frank noted, an issue with these centers -- and even Web sites -- is keeping them up to date, not only with data , but with the latest technology and fastidious, shining surfaces.
MORE..Google powers new NYC information hub
Google Maps and Google Earth are the centerpiece of NYCGo, a new information and reference project launched by the New York City government to provide resources to both visitors and locals. Wednesday's launch announced the debut of NYCGo.com, a Google Maps-fueled local search and reference site, as well as the unveiling of the renovated New York City Information Center a few blocks north of the tourist-heavy Times Square district.
NYCGo.com contains not just Google map and search data, but also travel deals from Travelocity and local content from what-to-do powerhouse Time Out New York, nightlife culture magazine Paper, the New York Observer, and eco-living guide Greenopia.
The information center, located on Seventh Avenue between 52nd and 53rd streets, is equally Googly. The city's technocratic mayor, Michael Bloomberg, even contributed a guest post to the official Google blog to announce it: "The Information Center features interactive map tables, powered by the Google Maps API for Flash, that let you navigate venues and attractions as well as create personalized itineraries, which can be printed, emailed or sent to mobile devices," the blog post explained. "Additionally, there's a gigantic video wall that utilizes Google Earth to display a 3D model of New York City on which you can map out personalized itineraries."
Bloomberg has been aggressive about promoting tech initiatives during his time in office, from a wind power plan (part of the much bigger "GreeNYC" project) and a city-run venture firm. Under his watch, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Google opened its New York satellite office, taking over several floors of the historic former Port Authority building downtown.
NYCGo.com contains not just Google map and search data, but also travel deals from Travelocity and local content from what-to-do powerhouse Time Out New York, nightlife culture magazine Paper, the New York Observer, and eco-living guide Greenopia.
The information center, located on Seventh Avenue between 52nd and 53rd streets, is equally Googly. The city's technocratic mayor, Michael Bloomberg, even contributed a guest post to the official Google blog to announce it: "The Information Center features interactive map tables, powered by the Google Maps API for Flash, that let you navigate venues and attractions as well as create personalized itineraries, which can be printed, emailed or sent to mobile devices," the blog post explained. "Additionally, there's a gigantic video wall that utilizes Google Earth to display a 3D model of New York City on which you can map out personalized itineraries."
Bloomberg has been aggressive about promoting tech initiatives during his time in office, from a wind power plan (part of the much bigger "GreeNYC" project) and a city-run venture firm. Under his watch, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Google opened its New York satellite office, taking over several floors of the historic former Port Authority building downtown.
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