AR-Powered Audio Tour Platform for Independent Tour Guides
A cross-platform app and web marketplace connecting tourists with independent tour guides - featuring audio-guided tours, augmented reality sightseeing, Google Maps integration, and in-app purchasing with revenue sharing.
About the Project
Tourific is a travel technology platform that connects tourists with independent tour guides through self-guided audio tours enhanced with augmented reality. The platform emerged from a simple observation: after COVID, more travelers turned to online resources to plan and experience destinations, but the options were limited to blog articles and generic review sites. Meanwhile, professional tour guides struggled to reach potential customers outside of in-person bookings with tight scheduling constraints. Tourific creates a marketplace where guides can publish paid audio tours for specific cities and locations. Tourists purchase and listen to guided tours at their own pace, with AR overlays that bring historical sites and landmarks to life through their phone camera. The platform handles payments with split revenue between guides and the platform, removing the friction of scheduling and pricing that limited both sides.
The Challenge
Technical challenges
Integrating augmented reality (Viro AR kit) with GPS-triggered audio playback, Google Maps and Apple Maps for navigation, and a payment system with split revenue between guides and the platform. Building this across both web and native mobile (React.js + React Native) while ensuring AR performed reliably at real-world landmarks.
Product & UX challenges
Designing an experience that made audio tours feel immersive and worth paying for - not just a podcast with a map. The AR component needed to add genuine value at specific landmarks. The guide creation interface needed to be simple enough for non-technical tour professionals to publish quality content.
Business challenges
Tour guides had limited digital channels to reach tourists. Most relied on in-person bookings with tight scheduling that capped their earning potential. After COVID accelerated digital tourism, there was an opportunity to create a marketplace for self-guided experiences - but the platform needed to justify both guides investing time in creating tours and tourists paying for digital content.
What We Delivered
Google, Apple, and email authentication
Role-based access (admin, guide, tourist)
RevenueCat subscription and in-app purchases
Admin panel with analytics
Tour management CRUD for guides
Tour marketplace with purchase and split payment
Google Maps and Apple Maps integration
Audio-guided tour player with location-based playback
AR sightseeing experiences (Viro AR kit)
Web platform for guide management and tour browsing
iOS & Android mobile applications
Work Process
1
Discovery & scoping
Worked with the founder to define the minimum viable marketplace - which features would convince both guides to publish tours and tourists to purchase them. Prioritized the AR experience and audio player as the core differentiators, with maps integration and payment as essential infrastructure.
2
UX/UI design
Designed separate experiences for tourists (tour discovery, audio playback with AR, maps navigation) and guides (tour creation, content upload, earnings dashboard). The tourist experience prioritized immersion - minimal UI during active tours so the audio and AR take center stage.
3
Cross-platform development
Built simultaneously for web and mobile, integrating Viro AR kit for augmented reality, Google/Apple Maps for navigation, and RevenueCat for payment processing with automated revenue split. The audio player was designed with location-aware triggers for a truly guided experience.
4
Testing & launch
Tested AR functionality at real landmarks, validated GPS-triggered audio playback accuracy, stress-tested the payment split system, and submitted to both app stores.
Project team
Results
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100%
MVP delivered within the agreed scope, with all core features - AR, audio tours, maps, payments - functional from day one
Revenue sharing
Split payment system live from launch - guides receive their share automatically for each tour purchase
3 platforms
iOS, Android, and web delivered with full AR, audio tour, and marketplace functionality
AR + Audio
Augmented reality experiences working at real-world landmarks, synchronized with audio-guided narration and map navigation
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