This new travel app uses AR to keep kids entertained on layovers

By Hillary K. Grigonis Published November 21, 2017

Augmented reality can do a number of different things, from turning selfies into animals to creating virtual scavenger hunts, but now one more feature can be chalked up to the emerging tech — entertaining kids on an airport layover. On July 14, London’s Heathrow Airport announced the new kids’ travel app, Around the World with Mr. Adventure, a kid-friendly game that hides digital badges throughout the terminals.

In the game, players use any iOS or Android device’s camera to explore the airport, discovering hidden digital badges. When users discover a badge, the app plays a 3D animated video. Kids (or kids at heart) can then take a photo with a digital character based on the Mr. Adventure series, including Mr. Adventure himself and Little Miss Explorer.

Recommended Videos

Five badges are hidden around the terminals — when kids find all five badges, they can trade the digital badges for the real thing with iron-on badges available from information desks. The app, the airport says, is designed to keep kids entertained while waiting for flights.

“As summer sees a greater number of families visit Heathrow, we want to ensure they receive the best possible start to their holiday adventures,” said Iona Harper, Heathrow’s senior experience manager. “The Mr. Adventure app is a great, fun experience for Heathrow’s tiniest travelers, encouraging discovery for the next generation of explorers.”

Through the peak of travel season, costumed characters Mr. Adventure and Little Miss Explorer will also add to the experience, helping kids find the badges with appearances until September 10. The airport also has kids’ activities and workshops planned for the busy travel season, along with continuing to offer perks like free play areas and Kids Eat Free menus.

The Mr. Adventure characters are based on the Mr. Men Little Miss series, a storyline that launched over 45 years ago with a popular TV show added in the 1990s. Today, the story includes over 90 characters and has sold over 250 million books.

Heathrow expects 365,000 passengers will be traveling with children during just the summer travel season alone. Friday, July 21 is slated to be the airport’s busiest day of the season with over 130,000 passengers expected to travel through Heathrow.

The Around the World With Mr. Adventure app is available as a free download on the App Store and Google Play.

Hillary K. Grigonis

Former Contributor

Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…

Topics

Computing

What Features Matter Most in a Printer for a Small Business or Home Office?

Choose a laser printer that works as hard as your business does.

Computer Hardware, Electronics, Hardware

This post is brought to you in paid partnership with HP.

For small businesses and home offices alike, the printer has become something more than a peripheral. Remote and hybrid work, side businesses, and small teams handling their own operations have all raised the bar on what a shared office printer needs to do. A machine that handles the occasional document is no longer enough when invoices, contracts, client paperwork, and employee forms are moving through it every day.

Business

WarpSpeed Wants to Be the AI Assistant That Finally Gets Your Life Organized

Trending Forward

Most of us don't need AI to write sonnets, generate pirate jokes, or explain quantum mechanics for the fifth time. What we really need is much simpler and much harder: help getting through the day.

Email. Calendar. Tasks. Chat. Reminders. Follow-ups. Missed messages. Half-finished replies. The bill you meant to pay. The lunch you forgot to confirm. The document someone sent three weeks ago that you now need "right away."

Business

How can businesses simplify invoicing and payment processing?

Connect invoicing, payments, and accounting into one seamless workflow

Body Part, Finger, Hand

This post is brought to you in paid partnership with QuickBooks.

Creating an invoice is rarely the hardest part of getting paid. For most small businesses, it takes only a few minutes to prepare an estimate, send an invoice, or request payment. The work that quietly consumes time comes afterward, when payments need to be tracked, deposits verified, invoices marked as paid, and accounting records updated. Simplifying invoicing isn't just about creating invoices faster. It's about reducing the manual work that happens between sending an invoice, collecting payment, and keeping financial records accurate. QuickBooks is designed around that idea, bringing invoicing, payments, and accounting together in one connected workflow instead of treating them as separate tasks.