To kick it off… Think of Chromaroma as an automated version Foursquare for public transport in London! Weird right? Well, maybe not… Public transport is one of those things you use every day with out thinking and its often the most boring part of your day, so what if you could be part of an alternate reality game, every day on your way to and from work? Interesting…
Well, Chromaroma has created just that and is currently gamifying the entire London transport system via the Oyster Card (London’s public transport smart card) and I’m thinking they might just be a huge success if they can monetize brands and integrate prizes as part of the game…
The idea is that the Chromaroma app tracks a range of statistics on the number of swipes, achievements, missions, collections, places, identities, modes of transport, and even passengers passed as you travel around the city, capturing stations to set records and gain an overall rank.
Does this thing have the potential to take off? (via Martina on Adverblog)
Oh yeah, the one big thing I didn’t mention would be around the whole privacy debate… who owns the rights to your travel data? will it be mined? is it safe for people to know what way you travel to work every day or where you are traveling right now?
Another issue with London Transport could potentially be the fact you can’t get mobile reception in the tube.
@Matt agree, that won’t help! I guess most of the core interaction is activated by the card, but you would want to have them online during the travel downtime to be using the site and planning the next challenge or it becomes a little pointless!
I think the idea but agree you’d want to be online to fully interact. Will be interesting to see if this takes off!
Hmm… folks have been playing this for years on the Tube, it’s called Mornington Crescent.
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