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Mayor is an augmented reality application developed by Niantic.

Touristification of a locale may seem beneficial but locals may not always agree with this idea. Apart from the obvious economic upside, it brings a lot more issues in the city like crowds, pollution, an increase in rates of commodities, etc. All this leads to friction between tourists and locals. To ease this friction, Niantic developed ‘Mayor’. It is an application that caters to both locals and tourists. The locals recommend their favorite spots and activities to tourists. Tourists can vote for these recommendations. Each month the local with the most votes gets to be the virtual mayor of the city. Being the mayor brings a lot of perks such as discounts, free parking, and the like. With Mayor, locals get a new way to enjoy the touristification of their city.

Credits:

Creative Technologist: Sukratti Jain

Creative Technologist: Paras Juneja

Mentors: Marc Vosshall, Philip Wogart