PanGo and UGA Students Introduce VisiTour, Wi-Fi Cloud Over Athens, GA


May 05, 2004 /Wi-Fi Technology News/-Imagine being a tourist with the ability to show yourself the lay of the land all through the convenience of your PDA. PanGo Networks, along with students from the University of Georgia?s New Media Institute (NMI), have made it possible to do just that.

PanGo Networks, a developer of leading software platform and applications for intelligent, location-aware systems for enterprise wireless LANs, was used by NMI and UGA to further enhance its outdoor WLAN ? dubbed the ?WAGZone? (Wireless Athens Group Zone) throughout the town of Athens, GA. The goal of the NMI program is to work with students to research and design applications that take advantage of wireless technology beyond access and connectivity.

The WAGZone represents the first outdoor deployment of WLAN intelligent location-based systems and applications making Athens, GA the first Wi-Fi location-enabled city in existence. The WAGZone is a 24-block Wi-Fi cloud over downtown Athens that serves as a test bed in exploring the compelling uses of Wi-Fi ? way beyond simple connectivity.

The UGA students worked with PanGo to enable downtown visitors to automatically be delivered relevant text, audio and video based on their geographic location via an HP iPAQ handheld. The applications are great in allowing tourists to walk around a city and have their own personal tour guide providing them with relevant information. The students debuted their WAGZone project at the ?Go Mobile or Go Home? event in Athens, GA where they took visitors on a ?VisiTour? of downtown Athens to demonstrate the benefits and possibilities of using an outdoor WLAN.

PanGo?s president and ceo, Michael Campbell sees a strong and vibrant future in wireless applications and is impressed with the students that made this project possible. ?Wi-Fi is definitely changing the way we perform our daily tasks and the applications appear endless. The New Media Institute has provided an environment in which technology and innovation meet and can be demonstrated to show the possibilities of today?s communications.?

With the WAGZone, PanGo and NMI have the potential to influence the future of travel and tourism.