A new application named Wrinkles has been launched, utilizing artificial intelligence and a user's location to automatically present stories and historical information about their surroundings. The app aims to serve as an AI-driven audio tour guide, bringing to life the hidden histories and local narratives of places without requiring users to constantly engage with their phone screens.
Co-founded by David Stemler, a former advertising executive, and Ryan Hansan, who has experience launching food businesses, Wrinkles was conceived from their shared passion for travel and a desire to enhance exploration experiences. Stemler's inspiration struck during a visit to the British Museum, where he found the official app's navigation cumbersome, leading him to question why location-aware phones couldn't proactively share information about nearby points of interest.
The platform has established a substantial global foundation of 1.3 million points of interest across 177 countries. This base content can be augmented by historians, museums, creators, and brands, who can add their own narratives. Users can discover these stories organically as they move through locations or explore them remotely via the app's map interface. A key feature allows users to ask follow-up questions about discovered points, similar to a traditional guided tour.
Wrinkles also incorporates social functionalities, enabling users to follow friends, family, creators, and organizations, and to save or share points of interest. Users can further personalize their experience by attaching personal memories, photos, videos, and recordings to specific locations, fostering a collaborative way to preserve place-based histories.
The founders position Wrinkles as more than just a travel app, emphasizing its utility for everyday exploration and rediscovery of one's own hometown, driven by curiosity. The app operates on a freemium model, with revenue primarily generated from businesses like museums, tourism boards, universities, and hotels that utilize Wrinkles to create custom location-based experiences for their visitors. Additionally, creators can develop sponsored guides, and businesses can promote locations, with Wrinkles earning a commission on transactions facilitated through the app.
