Veysel Berk, the founder of Wallit, explained the concept: “Think of a virtual wall on the face of the Golden Gate Bridge from one end to the other where people can leave sentiments, photos, movies and even audio that are persistent at that location, even though the people who generate the content constantly keep changing.”
Wallit has in place a comprehensive mechanism to assure quality of content on the walls, and app users cannot create their own wall but can post on a common wall, that is open to moderation by the company.
The dedicated walls are to create a common experience for visitors who, on visiting a landmark, can look up what other visitors have posted about the place previous to them.
One of the biggest attractions of the app is that one has to be physically present at a popular spot to allow a posting to get through. You make it while you are there physically, and also know all the other posts up on the wall of, say Eiffel Tower, have been made by actual tourists who had visited the spot before you. You also know that people accessing the wall after you would be able to see what you posted.
The concept offers the possibility of a richer experience by ensuring that the content on each wall is generated genuinely by people at the spot.
Berk also told the media, “You cannot take a picture at the Eiffel Tower and then post it later to the wall at the Golden Gate Bridge. We make sure that all content is created genuinely at that location. That way we are pre-filtering the content and exhibiting the character of that place at any time.”
The app manufacturers also see a neutral third-party controlled wall as an unbiased platform for retailers and consumers to interact. Apparently, the company is setting up virtual walls at fifteen thousand odd Starbucks locations without the involvement of Starbucks. However, it will be open to Starbucks to come to an arrangement with the company. Similarly virtual walls would be opened for all popular locations including supermarkets and famous stores and landmarks.
Currently the Wallit app is available only for the iOS, but will soon be available for the Android. The virtual walls tied to physical locations would also be carrying commercial advertisement.
Sounds, very interesting, and one step ahead of Facebook in aggressive walling.