14 DAY TRIAL // The mobile application, supported by German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) will be available during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The COMPASS 2008 had been created to aid users while they are visiting a foreign country. With the help of the users GPS-enabled phone, the software will establish your location. For instance, if you were looking for a restaurant, the software would analyze what restaurants are nearby, and - according to your preferences - it will provide you with several options.
So - basically - the software will help you find your way to a Chinese restaurant, but what good will that do you if you can't order because you can't speak Chinese? Well, the software also provides a translator, so after writing whatever you want in English, the COMPASS 2008 will translate your text into a selected language. So, apart from helping visitors navigate through the streets, it also proves to be a powerful multilingual information system connected to several services via the Internet.
The different content providers and service providers that you can search through with the help of the software include accommodation, shopping, tourism, recreation, transportation and city information. Apart from that, the most important thing the software provides is an easy way to go around an unfamiliar town and to avoid getting lost.
COMPASS 2008 was created in order to help visitors easily access information services during the 2008 Olympic Games. It has already been successfully tested in China. The project, financed by the German Ministry for Education and Research, the Chinese MOST and other participating companies, started on the 1st of October 2004 and has been extended until September 2007.