This iPhone App Is Better Than Reality

The Internet’s ablaze regarding a new hidden feature within Yelp’s iPhone app, called Monocle (which you can unlock, believe it or not, by shaking the phone three times).

Once activated, the app uses the phone’s built-in camera to bring up a live image of one’s environment, overlaying the names of bars and restaurants in the area. For instance a bar on the next street over will show up on your left with the name and distance. Once clicked on, you’re taken to the Yelp review.

This technology is called Augmented Reality, and has been in the works for some time now. This is the first real implementation we’ve seen on the iPhone, and it’s rumored that Yelp bypassed getting the thumbs-up from Apple, which is allegedly releasing official integration of this technology with the next update to the iPhone’s software.

Either way, this app changes the way we look at mobile restaurant decision-making, and probably how we look while walking down the street.

Watch the video to see it in action:

Via Mashable