Techies had the app-titude

Consider this: it’s the middle of winter, freezing, and you’re struggling to find the nearest subway. Your fellow New Yorkers are giving you the cold shoulder, not willing to pause for a moment to share directions.
What if you could whip out your cell phone, press a button or two, and visualize the fastest route to the underground? A technologically savvy duo has found just the way to make that happen, with WayFinder NYC, the winner of the inaugural NYC BigApps Competition.
The city launched the contest in October of 2009, releasing 170 datasets from 30 city agencies in order to “unleash the creativity and ingenuity of New Yorkers,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. BigApps, the city hoped, would bring transparency and efficiency to the way it delivers information to residents.
Of the 80 submissions received, nine of the 10 winning applications were selected by a panel of media and technology entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Only the “Popular Choice Award” was voted on by the public, from around the globe.
Grand Prize-winner WayFinder (www.wayfindermobile.doc), developed by Victor Sima and Steven Lao, received $5,000 out of cash prizes totaling $20,000. The app relies on augmented reality technology that works in concert with an Android phone’s camera (the app is currently only available on the Android).
Through the camera, the user sees a live view of nearby subway and PATH stations, and when held parallel to the ground, the phone will display a mapped route to those stations. The app also won the Data Visualization Award for its aesthetic appeal and user-friendliness.
Coming in second place, and earning $2,500, was Taxihack (www.taxihack.com), which allows users to post live comments on city taxis and their drivers via email or Twitter. A city schools guide called Big Apple Ed (www.bigappleed.com) earned a $1,000 third prize.
For his part, Bloomberg seemed pleased and surprised with the wealth of innovative projects spurred by the competition, which culminated with a February 4 award ceremony.
“We want New York City to stay ahead of the innovation and technology curve, and we’ll continue to capitalize on our greatest asset – New Yorkers – to make sure we do,” he said.
More information on the contest and the other winning apps – ranging from a library book search tool to the Popular Choice- and Investor’s Choice-winning project that offers access to restaurant inspection results and traffic updates – is available at www.nycbigapps.com. The NYC DataMine, launched along with the competition this past fall to provide developers with a basis for their designs, is accessible at www.nyc.gov/data.
NYC BigApps was administered by city-based ChallengePost and, according to NYC Economic Development Corporation president Seth Pinksy, will generate millions of dollars in economic impact.