A Dublin-based startup
Mobile Expeditions is building its future around mobile technology as a growing number of people buy smart phone and tablets like the iPad.
Mobile Expeditions has developed platforms for location-based, media-rich tours, presentations and games that can be used on iPhones, iPads and iPodTouch devices. The applications' content can be customized by users, like an art museum, business or a city, looking to offer people a more engaging experience during an outing or an event.
The company was founded in 2009 by business partners and two software-industry veterans Mark Gilicinski and Sean Boiarski, who saw the potential of such mobile applications after the iPhone was first released in mid-2007. Though there were smart phones before the iPhone, its easy-to-use design, multimedia features and touch screen revolutionized--and popularized--smart phone use.
"I've been involved in software during my entire career. When the iPhone came out there was a computer that you could write software for, and have access to data network that fit in your pocket. It was pretty cool," Gilicinski said.
Mobility paired with high speed-data and multimedia capabilities has led to an explosion of mobile applications like games, virtual tours, and virtual product demonstrations that companies use to promote their brands, products and services.
Many times these mobile applications are custom applications built by developers that can be quite expensive. Mobile Expeditions is developing platforms that its clients can quickly download and populate with its own content including videos, text, audio and pictures.
So far the company has more than a dozen clients, including
Celebrity Cruises and Columbus, Ohio’s
COSI (Center of Science and Industry). Celebrity Cruises has used the platform to create self-guided tours of its ships' extensive art collections. Through interactive maps, art lovers can locate specific works, and by touching location points on a piece can find more detail like the title, artist’s name, medium and description.
This year Mobile Expeditions is working to expand its client base and has recently hired a sales person. The self-funded company is located in the
Dublin Entrepreneurial Center and was propelled from idea to business through
TechColumbus's 1492 Business Launch competition and a $50,000
Tech Genesis Grant.
By Feoshia Henderson