An innovative new service that beams location-based news to mobile phones has been announced by start-up studio Like No Other.
The future-led consultancy practice is to pilot the OtherWorld news service in Manchester after receiving funding from Google’s Digital News Initiative.
The service will use cutting-edge beacon technology to provide on-the-go local news stories relevant to an individual’s current location without the need for an app.
“We’re excited to put our concept of ‘living media’ to the test and provide an accompanying real-world experience to digital news,” said Stuart Goulden, lead consultant at Like No Other.
“Many sectors have woken up to the potential of beacons and are doing some interesting things in the space, however it’s relatively uncharted territory in news. We think it’s a potential game changer.”
With real-time updates and the ubiquity of mobile phones, the technology opens up a wealth of new storytelling possibilities.
The studio hopes that the new approach to news creation and distribution will help fresh audiences to discover the news on their doorstep and to act on the stories they read.
For news organisations, it has the potential to provide an escape from the treadmill of daily news cycles and offers the opportunity to distribute stories at the location they happen.
The pilot is planning to run from summer to winter 2017, before being fully rolled-out.
The Digital News Initiative (DNI) is a $150m collaboration between Google and news publishers across Europe to support high quality journalism and encourage a more sustainable news ecosystem through technology and innovation.