A new mobile application created by a local business that gives self-guided ghost tours of Williamsburg was released Oct. 14.
Williamsburg-based mobile software developer iTour Mobile got approval for the Apple Store to approve their new application Williamsburg Ghost Tour, a-self guided ghost tour of Williamsburg.
Using GPS technology, the app shows a map with points of interest (POIs), which are sites of different ghost stories and markers. As users arrive at a POI, it triggers audio and images that tell a story or give an explanation. It’s a technology that Founder of iTour Mobile Lance Zaal said enhances reality instead of causing users to be buried in their phones.
“We believe in keeping the people engaged in their surroundings instead of staring at their screens,” he said.
Zaal said the application is an effort of a team comprising him and six others: two designers, an iOS developer, an Android developer and two back-end developers who handle web coding. Zaal said the company has been around for about nine months, but this is the first time it’s released an app that has content for Williamsburg. The app is composed of 26 locations around town, an hour of audio and connectivity to Facebook.
Along with the content in Williamsburg, Zaal’s company simultaneously rolled out ghost tours in New York City; Gettysburg, Pa.; Key West, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; and New Orleans. Zaal said the company is also working with Williamsburg Winery to release an app that will show where they hold weddings, make wine and sell wine, as well as where customers can make reservations and book hotel suites.
There is not yet an official release date for that application, Zaal said, but a substantial amount of work has already been done.
The company is also creating content related to different movies like where certain scenes were filmed in “Harry Potter,” the Batman movies, “Sex in the City” and “Godfather.”
For more information, those interested can find Williamsburg Ghost Tour on the Apple or Android stores on mobile devices for $2.99, on iTunes here or on Google Play here.
