A small Crieff-based software firm has created interactive software for the London Eye that will be seen by four million people a year.
Dogfi.sh Mobile has created an app that will run on touchscreens inside the Eye’s capsules, allowing people to pick out points of interest on the London skyline.
It is the latest in a series of major contracts awarded to the company.
Co-founder Ross Tuffee explained his company, which has a staff of just four, was approached by London Eye last summer with an idea to enhance people’s experience on the attraction.
He said: ”London Eye had carried out a lot of research and the top idea was for putting a touch pad in the capsule that would pick out points of interest around London.
”We created a 360 degree view of the London skyline and picked out 44 points of interest. As people are riding in the capsule they can zoom in on the points of interest and read a short paragraph about them.
”Some of the landmarks also have video footage, allowing people to see inside buildings like the Gherkin.”
Six Galaxy Tab tablet computers are being installed in each of the London Eye’s 32 capsules to run the programme, which is available in five languages.
Dogfi.sh Mobile was approached thanks to work it has done for Merlin Entertainment, which owns the London Eye.
The company has created apps for Thorpe Park, Garda Park in Italy, Legoland in California and Florida and Madame Tussauds for Merlin.
”We’ve covered a lot of the Merlin empire, which means that our apps are being used by millions of people every year,” said Ross.
”The London Eye has been the biggest project we’ve done. We are also creating a free app for iPhones and Android smartphones about the Eye, which tries to entice people to the attraction along with directions and the ability to buy tickets.”
Ross, who has a background in IT for large companies, started the business after he was made redundant two years ago, with his brother in law Paul Burrowes, a software developer.
The pair realised that mobile internet services were becoming increasingly popular and there would be a need for business to tap into the market.
They took on their first employee, a software developer, a year ago, and recently added another member of staff.
He added: ”We are delighted with the way the business has gone so far. We love what we do and have the privilege of working with some worldclass clients.
”We are on track to exceed our planned turnover for the year and we have contracts in the pipeline that give us the confidence to grow. The company is growing rapidly as we are getting more and more referrals,” he said.
”We are on a bit of a roll at the moment, which is a nice position to be in in this tough market, but we have ambitions to scale up much further.”
Photo by Anthony Devlin/PA Wire