Augmented Reality for Midlands Air Ambulance.
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has expanded its online presence and is the first air ambulance service in the world to launch a mobile Application containing Augmented Reality.
Developed in partnership with Bronze Software Labs, the App, named A.I.R. Ambulance, (Augmented Interactive Ambulance), is a first of its kind for the air ambulance community. It gives users the chance to see the service’s distinctive red helicopters in augmented reality when hovering their smartphone over any British bank note or the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity logo. This technology has been employed very successfully by other Bronze Labs clients for a wide variety of purposes and it will undoubtedly make a significant impact for the charity.
Jason Levy, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, says: “At Midlands Air Ambulance we pride ourselves on being innovators in raising awareness of the vital work of our air ambulances, and believe the cutting edge technology used within the new App will allow users to experience our world, without the actual need for the service. We are delighted to have worked with Bronze and by what they have accomplished with the new App. We believe it will raise further awareness online of the life saving work of our air ambulance.
“A.I.R. Ambulance not only gives users on both Apple and Android devices the ability to learn more about our vital life saving service, but they can also see and hear our augmented reality helicopter take flight, thanks to the incredibly advanced technology.”
In deciding not to charge users for this App, despite it containing the augmented reality element, Midlands Air Ambulance is hoping the App users will donate to the charity, as it costs £2,500 every time it undertakes a mission, which is entirely funded by the general public and local businesses.
For the donation element of the App, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has partnered with Barclays Pingit. Barclays Pingit is a smartphone app-based payments service which allows users to make payments quickly, easily and securely without having to input any account details. Using Barclays Pingit to collect donations provides Midlands Air Ambulance with an innovative alternative to cash, cheques and SMS, and allows them to claim Gift Aid as part of an easy donation process.
Jason added: “By using the PingIt icon in the App it is a very simple, easy and quick way to donate to our service. As we are wholly reliant on public and local businesses’ generosity, we hope the App will prove to be another vital income stream for our great cause.”
Richard Howells, director of Bronze Software Labs, commented: “Midlands Air Ambulance is a charity I am very passionate about as you never know when you need to rely on the service. I therefore wanted to help raise awareness of, and funds for, the charity. The whole team at Bronze has been really excited about working on A.I.R. Ambulance – after all it’s not every day you get to fly a helicopter around your office!
“The end result is something we’re extremely proud of as it’s at the very forefront of App technology. There are many business applications for this type of technology and we are delighted to have been able to showcase our work and support our local air ambulance simultaneously.”
To download the App, visit The App Store or Google Play. If you would like to find out more about Midlands Air Ambulance, contact the team on 0800 8 40 20 40, visit www.midlandsairambulance.com and find them on Facebook and Twitter.