Wikitude on Wednesday launched the TripAdvisor Augmented Reality (AR) app for BlackBerry smartphones, which allows BlackBerry customers around the globe to instantly access an immersive view of hotels, restaurants, and attractions listed on TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor Augmented Reality works with a smartphone's camera to help travelers find the best places within their immediate area to eat, sleep, and play. Featuring over 75 million traveler reviews and opinions for destinations around the world, it's easy to find great advice wherever a user happens to be.

“TripAdvisor Augmented Reality gives travelers a new and interactive way of looking at the world around them,” says Rory Kenny, Director of Mobile Partnerships for TripAdvisor. “The future potential of augmented reality is without limit, and we’re happy to help drive it forward by partnering with Wikitude.”

With the same easy access as any favorite app, users can simply tap the TripAdvisor/Wikitude icon on their Home screen to instantly view their surroundings through an Augmented Reality lens.  With the addition of this app, customers can use their BlackBerry smartphone to quickly access TripAdvisor’s high-quality travel content.

With the Wikitude-powered app on BlackBerry smartphones, once a venue is chosen, customers can quickly dive into get more information about the location. In one simple action, they can find detailed traveler-submitted reviews, average prices, and more. As with all Wikitude worlds, a tap on the “Bring me there” option provides them with turn-by-turn directions to their desired destination. The app also integrates with BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), allowing the user to instantly interact with their BBM friends, a feature only possible on the BlackBerry platform.

“Partnering with TripAdvisor on this all new app concept has been phenomenal and it shows how Wikitude can be utilized as a go-to-market platform” says Andy Gstoll, Wikitude’ S CMO. “With this immersive AR experience, we are very excited to bring TripAdvisor’s valuable content to the BlackBerry user community”, he adds.