Tokyo-based Tonchidot, legendary TechCrunch50 finalist and maker of the popular Sekai Camera augmented reality service, has released a new (free) app for iPhone and Android. But DOMO (Japanese for “nice to meet you” or “thank you”) isn’t an update or variation of Sekai Camera but another (ingenious) way to “augment” reality.
DOMO is being offered as a “pre-social” app, which makes use of your interest graph and location to make it easier to connect with people who are similar to you and physically near you (“pre-social”, because these people are initially strangers).
For that, DOMO pulls interests and “likes” from your Facebook account, creates a DOMO profile based on these items, registers your location via GPS and shares your profile with other DOMO users in the vicinity.
When you encounter a person with a similar profile to yours, you can view their profile, write a short message or send over a friendly “Domo” – and you’re connected (logging in with your Facebook account and customizing the info you want to share is enough to use the app).
DOMO iPhone version:
Android version:
It’s no coincidence that DOMO has become available right before SXSW 2011 in Austin.
Tonchidot CEO Iguchi says the main idea behind his application is to bring the usefulness of Facebook to the real world, for example events, meet-ups, parties, universities and other places where people meet people they don’t know yet. (Iguchi himself will demo his app on Saturday during an SXSW party for DOMO and other apps in Austin).
Again, the app is free on both iPhone and Android, so give it a it a spin and start scanning your vicinity for interesting new people.
Here’s the official DOMO video:
Social Augmented Reality Mobile Location-based Service “Sekai Camera” (World Camera) Their client-side software and web service enable camera-equipped mobile devices (such as iPhones, Android “Google Phones”, and other smart-phones) to access informational and entertainment services by creating a “Clickable World” via the use of Augmented Reality (AR) hyper-tags. These user-clickable tags, which they call “AirTags”, are location-based and mapped in the real world. These AirTags can be seen and accessed through the camera view of mobile devices with Sekai Camera software....
An outstanding creator and evangelist of several innovative multimedia platforms and web services at various companies including JUST Systems, and Digitao, for which he was founder/CEO. Has over 20 years experience in providing consumer oriented services using cutting-edge technology. Founded Tonchidot Corp. in 2008 to develop Sekai Camera service. BA Philosophy, Ritsumeikan Univ, Kyoto, Japan
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