Field Trip, a new app from Google's Niantic Labs, is essentially a Google Map full of location-specific articles and photos from culture blogs and experts. It alerts users of nearby attractions, then doles out tour-guide like descriptions of buildings and restaurants.
Field Trip has a surprisingly Detroit flavor, with content from local websites like Historic Detroit and Detroit Moxie. It also aggregates historical photos from Arcadia Publishing, peeks inside buildings with Curbed Detroit, and recommends foodie hang outs from Zagat.
It can be set to alert occasionally, frequently, or never. Interests can be specified. Field Trip will even read to you.
It runs in the background of devices, so to take advantage of round-the-clock surprises, users can expect the app to eat into battery life and data plans.
The free app launched for Android devices in September, but let iPhone and iPod Touch users in on the fun last week.
