Android is quickly becoming the go-to mobile OS for augmented reality apps: just days after Layar gave us a realtor's tour of Amsterdam, IBM has released a similar—and more comprehensive—app for attendees of the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
The "Seer" app serves the same purpose as any other decent event app (see: Coachella), working as a digital handbook that lists specific locations, facilities and amenities in an easy to navigate interface. What makes this one cool, though, is that it uses your device's GPS and compass to present information as an overlay on your Android phone's camera instead of in a static map. Basically, if you point your phone's camera at a court, restaurant, bathroom or parking lot, Seer should tell you whatever you could want to know about it.
As you can see in the above video, the effect is mostly seamless, though I can imagine the novelty of attending a tennis tournament through the lens of your cellphone's camera getting old fairly quickly. The real promise of apps like this is that they become standardized and universal, so that getting a guide like this is as simple as downloading a new overlay. This isn't a bad start.
Wimbledon starts today, and this particular mobile app—one of many for the tourny—will be available "soon." [Reuters—video from Pocket-lint]