Digital startup launches new app for Manchester visitors

A Manchester firm has created a new app that uses Google technology to improve the visitor experience for people in the city centre.

Known as Buzzin, the app utilises Google’s open beacon format EddyStone to provide users with information on the places they visit, as they visit them, serving as a virtual guide for those navigating the museums, libraries, art galleries, businesses and other attractions Manchester has to offer.

The software works using the 100 plus beacons, developed by Beijing-headquartered tech firm Sensoro, that are currently dotted around the city centre

Vijay N, the marketing director of Sparta Digital, the company behind the Buzzin app, said: “The privacy and security of our customers is important to us.

“Through the use of a rotating Ephemeral Identifier, Eddystone-EID protects our users by preventing spoofing, malicious asset tracking, replay attacks, or just unpermitted access.”

He added: “With these new features from Eddystone, it opens the door for wider application within Smart city projects that we are currently working on.”

In addition to the location-specific information, Buzzin also offers travel updates and a digital ticketing system currently being trialled on the Transdev buses running between Manchester and Burnley.

One city centre venue hooked up to the Sensoro beacon network is the Manchester Craft & Design centre.

The site’s digital manager, Christine Hitchins, commented: “With Beacons installed within our premises, we are able to provide a more interactive experience to our visitors.”

Through its Buzzin app, Sparta Digital is aiming to allow Manchester businesses to increase brand engagement by delivering new digital experiences for their customers.

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