When most of us are messing around on our phones we use Apps, little programs that hook us straight into the service, game or social network we want. In fact, most of us won’t use a browser on our mobile phones much these days, but browser tech is getting seriously clever and what are called Web Apps are coming along leaps and bounds with WebVR at the cutting edge.

This excellent mobile browser technology was a blast to use and pretty unobtrusive, only requiring access to my phone’s microphone and geolocation functions to give a really fun interactive experience
Share on X

This month Co-op Insurance has launched a really fun interactive Web App called Up & Away that takes users on the hot air balloon trip of a lifetime, around the world like Willy Fog! What is really clever is the experimental browser technology that connects to your phone or tablet’s built-in compass, geolocation and microphone, opening up the world in a completely unique way. This new interactive experience will work on your iOS11+ and Android 7+ device, no App needed here. Just visit the Up & Away site in your browser, Chrome 61+ recommended, and get ready for lift off.

By blowing into the device’s microphone, users can blow the Up & Away hot air balloon up into the sky in a bid to visit different locations around the globe. Keep blowing into your device to see how far you can travel. Apart from huffing and puffing into the phone to power your flight, pointing the device in the direction you want to travel lets you control which continents you visit. The harder a user blows, the further the hot air balloon will travel and – with the aim to get to destinations including New York, Nuuk, Paris and Berlin – users can challenge themselves to get further each time.

Up & Away The world is waiting for you… Blow our hot air balloon through the skies and see where you land

Sat comfortably at home I was nevertheless feeling restless, so took my balloon for a trip. A little countdown allowed me to fill my lungs and my first long blow took me 1,253 miles, all the way to Helsinki!

Co-op Insurance has launched a really fun interactive Web App called Up & Away that takes users on the hot air balloon trip of a lifetime
Share on X

A cute little illustration showed the city and a few of its inhabitants while a bite-sized traveller tip warned me that temperatures there could drop to -50C. Too cold for me, so I quickly set off, although I forgot to point my compass south and only made things worse, landing 1,953 miles away in Nuuk – the capital of Greenland.

A cute little illustration showed the city and a few of its inhabitants while a bite-sized traveller tip warned me that temperatures could drop to -50C
Share on X

My third attempt to escape the cold landed me in the frigid North Atlantic, so I scrabbled for my rudimentary geography and started thinking more carefully about the direction I wanted to travel in.

Blow number four landed me far to the east in the Brexit-shattered Brussels, but this was not quite warm enough, so travelling due south via Prague my fifth blow got me to the glorious Malaga – where the traveller’s tip informed me I could enjoy 320 days of sun per year. Wooo Hooo!

My third attempt to escape the cold landed me in the frigid North Atlantic
Share on X

Basking on the beach for a few minutes made my tummy grumble, so I headed west and after an epic journey arrived in New York City where they serve the finest steaks on the planet. I was home.

This excellent mobile browser technology was a blast to use and pretty unobtrusive, only requiring access to my phone’s microphone and geolocation functions to give a really fun interactive experience. Highly recommended for a bit of armchair travelling at this grim time of the year, at least here in the UK!

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Up Up & Away! appeared first on Tech Trends.