GPS tour

A GPS tour (using Global Positioning System) is an audio tour or a multimedia tour that provides pre-recorded spoken commentary, normally through a handheld device, for mobile applications such as walking tours, boats, buses, trolleys and trains. GPS tours can either be GPS guided or self-directed tours that provide visitors with location relevant content about points of interest along a route or within a destination or region. GPS tours are predominately for outdoor applications, but some audio guides offer the flexibility to manually continue tours indoors.

Using satellite technology (GPS), audio and/or multimedia content is triggered based on a user's location, providing location relevant information to visitors depending on who they are, where they are, and what they are viewing.

A GPS audio tour provides "background, context, and information on the works being viewed" (Fisher, 2004, p.49). Recently, the Economist magazine stated that "aiming such services at tourists makes sense—since people are more likely to want information when in an unfamiliar place."

GPS Tours are often unilingual, but advances in technology have made gps tours for mobile applications available in multiple languages simultaneously. GPS tours can be created by using GeoTours and can be downloaded from the Internet, often in MP3 format. Some GPS tours are free, included in the ticket fee, others have to be purchased separately.

See also

* Location based media
* City audio guides
* Podcasting

External links

* [http://www.geovative.com Geovative Solutions - GeoTours is used to create, share, and download media-rich GPS tours for mobile GPS devices]
* [http://www.audioconexus.com/venues/technology/wesgps/index.php GPS tours in multiple languages simultaneously]

References

* Fisher, Jennifer (2004), "Speeches of Display: Museum Audioguides by Artists". In Drobnick, Jim, "Aural Cultures". ISBN 0-920397-80-8.
* The Economist (2006), "Roaming holiday", from "The Economist" print edition.