Carte – Transforming Retail, Events, and Tourism Through Advanced Map Services and AR Integration

Carte is a pioneering platform that redefines how businesses in retail, events, and tourism connect with customers by leveraging advanced map services, AI, and geo-spatial augmented reality (AR). Carte provides immersive and interactive navigation experiences, guiding users to physical locations and rewarding them for engaging with their surroundings. Through customisable AR markers, businesses can create new opportunities for customer interaction, driving foot traffic, enhancing events, and making tourism more engaging.

1. Vision & Objectives

Vision

Carte aims to revolutionise the way people explore cities, attend events, and shop by integrating intelligent map services with interactive AR elements. By focusing on retail, events, and tourism, Carte enables businesses to create personalised, real-world experiences that attract, engage, and reward customers in innovative ways.

Key Objectives

• Enable retailers, event organisers, and tourism operators to enhance their offerings through dynamic, AR-powered maps that provide real-time location-based rewards and insights.

• Use AI and telemetrics to create personalised, optimised routes that guide users to key locations, attractions, and events.

• Build partnerships with businesses to monetise map services through location-based AR activations and personalised promotions, driving traffic and increasing customer engagement.

**2. Defining Carte

Carte is a dynamic, location-based platform designed to enhance customer experiences in retail, events, and tourism. The name “Carte” symbolises a detailed guide that helps users navigate their surroundings, discover new opportunities, and unlock real-world rewards.

Core Elements of Carte

• AI-Powered Navigation: Real-time, intelligent route planning for events, retail stores, and tourist attractions, ensuring efficient travel and personalised exploration.

• Geo-Spatial AR: Immersive AR markers placed at points of interest (POIs), which users can discover and redeem for rewards, discounts, or experiences.

• Retail and Event Promotion: Businesses can use Carte to create custom AR activations that drive foot traffic, enhance event participation, and encourage tourism.

• Interactive Tourism Experiences: Carte enables cities and tourism operators to offer AR-guided tours, interactive landmarks, and engaging city exploration experiences.

3. Core Features of Carte

A. AI-Powered Navigation for Retail, Events, and Tourism

Carte provides intelligent, real-time navigation with tailored routes for exploring stores, events, and attractions:

• Personalised Routes: AI analyses user preferences and travel patterns to provide the most relevant routes, whether they are visiting retail stores, attending a live event, or exploring tourist sites.

• Location-Specific Suggestions: Carte will highlight relevant stores, event venues, and tourist attractions along the way, offering exclusive promotions or AR markers to engage users.

• Event and Attraction Highlights: For event organisers and tourism operators, Carte offers real-time updates and routes to key attractions, performance areas, or special activities, ensuring users don’t miss out on important experiences.

B. Geo-Spatial AR for Engagement

The standout feature of Carte is its geo-spatial AR markers, which can be strategically placed to enhance both the user experience and business engagement:

• Retail AR Markers: Stores can use AR markers to offer promotions, discounts, or exclusive offers. As users approach, they can interact with the marker through their phone, unlocking rewards and driving foot traffic to the store.

• Event-Based AR Engagement: During festivals, concerts, and public events, AR markers can guide attendees to specific event zones, stages, or VIP areas. These markers can also unlock event-specific perks, such as merchandise discounts, free entries, or backstage access.

• Tourism AR Experiences: AR markers placed at historic landmarks, cultural sites, and scenic routes provide tourists with immersive experiences. Users can access interactive content about the location, unlock rewards at nearby businesses, or engage in gamified challenges (e.g., completing a city tour to earn a prize).

C. Customised Business Solutions

Carte’s map and AR services are customisable for businesses in retail, events, and tourism:

1. Retail Engagement: Stores can sponsor AR markers that drive foot traffic to their physical locations. For example, an AR marker outside a store could unlock a discount, encouraging users to enter and shop.

2. Event Enhancement: Festivals, concerts, and exhibitions can use Carte to engage attendees with AR markers that guide them to different areas of the event or unlock special offers, scavenger hunts, or exclusive content.

3. Tourism Operator Tools: Carte helps tourism companies create interactive city maps and guided tours using AR. Tourists can discover hidden landmarks, collect AR markers along their journey, and unlock rewards at local restaurants, cafes, or gift shops.

4. Monetisation Strategies

A. Retail and Event Sponsorships

• Sponsored AR Markers: Businesses can sponsor AR markers placed at or near their locations, drawing customers to their stores or event venues. Each marker offers real-time rewards, such as a discount for visiting the store or entry to an exclusive event zone.

• Location-Based Marketing: Carte offers businesses a platform to create custom AR activations that promote their products or services based on user proximity. This allows brands to drive foot traffic, reward loyal customers, and enhance overall brand engagement.

B. Premium User Features

• Personalised Routes & Experiences: While basic navigation and AR marker interaction will be free, premium users can unlock advanced features, such as personalised route suggestions, exclusive AR content, and early access to event offers or tourism experiences.

• Custom AR Content: Premium tourism partners can develop custom AR guides for city tours or create gamified experiences, where users collect rewards for visiting certain attractions or landmarks.

C. Affiliate Revenue

• Retail Partnerships: Businesses partnering with Carte can offer exclusive deals through AR markers, with Carte earning affiliate revenue based on customer engagement and purchases.

• Tourism Collaborations: Tourism operators can integrate Carte’s map services into their platforms, allowing for guided tours and interactive experiences that increase user engagement and spending at partner locations.

5. Focus on Retail, Events, and Tourism

A. Retail Map Services

Carte transforms traditional retail experiences by turning the physical store environment into an interactive journey:

• Attracting Foot Traffic: Retailers can place AR markers near their store locations to attract customers. These markers offer real-time discounts, product previews, or limited-time offers, drawing users into the store.

• Enhanced In-Store Experience: Once inside, customers can continue to interact with AR markers that offer additional promotions or engage them with product details, making the shopping experience more interactive.

B. Event Promotion and Engagement

Carte is an ideal tool for festivals, concerts, and public events to increase attendee engagement:

• Guiding Attendees: Event organisers can use Carte to direct attendees to different areas of the event, such as stages, VIP areas, or food and drink vendors. AR markers can be placed to offer time-sensitive discounts, special content, or exclusive event access.

• AR-Driven Participation: Events can feature AR-based scavenger hunts or gamified experiences where attendees collect markers to earn rewards, enhancing the fun and encouraging participation.

C. Tourism and Interactive City Experiences

Carte offers cities and tourism operators a unique way to engage both locals and tourists:

• AR-Guided Tours: Using Carte, tourists can embark on self-guided city tours where AR markers provide information about landmarks, cultural sites, or scenic viewpoints. Each marker can also be tied to a reward, such as a discount at a nearby café or entry to an attraction.

• Cultural Engagement: Cities can use Carte to create AR experiences that enhance visitor engagement with historical landmarks and cultural attractions. Visitors can unlock additional multimedia content or participate in city-wide challenges, earning rewards for completing tours.

6. Technology Stack

A. AI-Powered Route Planning

Carte’s AI-powered algorithms optimise route planning by factoring in user preferences, real-time traffic data, and location-based business promotions.

B. Augmented Reality (AR)

Geo-spatial AR technology will overlay interactive markers on real-world locations, visible through a smartphone’s camera. This technology is key to engaging users in retail, event, and tourism settings.

C. API Integration

Carte’s map services can be integrated into existing platforms for businesses in retail, events, and tourism, allowing for easy adoption of the technology.

7. Target Market

A. Retailers and Shopping Centres

Carte is ideal for brick-and-mortar stores, shopping malls, and retail chains looking to drive foot traffic, offer location-based promotions, and enhance the customer experience.

B. Event Organisers and Festivals

Event organisers can use Carte to improve attendee engagement, guide participants through large venues, and offer AR-driven experiences.

C. Tourism Operators and Cities

Carte’s services will be valuable to tourism operators and cities seeking to provide interactive, guided experiences that blend navigation with cultural and historical exploration.

8. Conclusion

Carte offers a unique platform that combines the power of AI-driven navigation, telemetrics, and geo-spatial AR to create enhanced, interactive experiences for retail, events, and tourism. By placing dynamic AR markers at key locations, Carte drives customer engagement, promotes foot traffic, and makes shopping, event participation, and tourism more immersive and rewarding. This pivot positions Carte as the ultimate tool for businesses and cities to connect with their customers in innovative and meaningful ways.