A new augmented reality application – junaio – is the latest example of the innovative products and services utilizing BART’s API (application programming interface) to help transit riders navigate and stay on top of train schedules.

With mobile augmented reality technology, users can see digital content such as text or graphics overlaid on real objects on their mobile phones. Junaio lets users tag photos, audio and text in the real world and leave digital "crumbs" behind at particular locations for others to explore. For example, a rider coming out of the Montgomery BART Station in San Francisco could see recommendations left by friends for restaurants or shops to try that are nearby that station. Or, simply by pointing the camera on her phone, a user could find the direction of the nearest BART station and get a list of estimated arrivals for the next several trains to her destination.

Junaio is currently available free for iPhone 3GS and through a web interface, with a version for Android in development.

BART was one of the first transit agencies in the nation to provide schedule and real time data to developers. Today more than two dozen innovative applications have been created using BART data; find more information about them in the BART app center.

Junaio is a mobile augmented reality platform that allows users and developers the ability to create content channels in the real world. Junaio is the first mass consumer platform for metaio, a leader in the growing field of augmented reality. Founded in February 2003, Metaio, the parent company of junaio, has three offices worldwide, including one in San Francisco.

To watch a video of how junaio works, visit BARTtv.