Let a mobile app help you be an urban flâneur

(Image found on  GetLostBBot )

In an article by Catherine de Lange in The New Scientist, “Let's get lost: Apps that help you wander to happiness”, she mentions several apps for your mobile that can assist you in your efforts to be an urban flâneur.  (To see the full article, you must register and subscribe to The New Scientist.  It can also be obtained if you have access to online databases at public or university libraries.) Her comment on being an urban  flâneur might  also be of interest to my readers.

Here are a sampling of app links to help you be an urban flâneur:

GetLostBot
This ‘bot’ examines your regular patterns and then suggests new places to visit, breaking up your routine.  It does require that you be a FourSquare user.

 Highlight
If others have Highlight around you, you can see their profiles and maybe strike up a conversation. Although, this may be a little bit too personal for many.

Roamz
This app searches through social sites and finds interesting things near you.

A less high tech approach would be to pick random places on Google Earth app on your mobile or use another navigation device (such as TomTom) within a city and then go to the places you have selected.