iPad app showcases Maori hotspots

Cultural Maori hotspots can now be found in Dunedin thanks to an interactive iPhone and iPad application developed by students at Otago Polytechnic.

The programme, which provides information about marae and heritage buildings, won the team the NZ Microsoft Innovation Award in the Business in Higher Education category at the 2011 Tertiary ITC Conference.

Third-year information technology students Nolan Ratu, Taua Piri, Anton Smith developed the applications, with the help and support from Polytechnic staff.

Nolan Ratu says, “The app can calculate the users’ current position, and show them how to get to destinations of cultural interest.”

The app provides multimedia information on the sites through audio, images, video and text.

It also provides links to relevant websites.

Ratu says the app also includes “augmented reality”.

“If you reach a site, you can hold the camera up to it and the app will recognise it and instantly provide you with all the information relating to it.”

Ratu says while it “encourages Maori to get back to their roots and offers them a new way of learning about  their culture”, it is also ideal for other Kiwis and international tourists.

The application currently only covers the Otago region, but there is scope for it to be expanded and used all over the country.