Foursquare unveils location-based leisure recommendation bot
Foursquare has joined the battle of the bots with the launch of a location-based tool that promises to give personalised recommendations for where to eat and drink based on your history of movements and current position.
Marsbot is an iOS app that is being positioned as an indispensable companion for anyone who has ever been stumped as to which pub to hit next or who finds themselves frequenting the same haunts with dulling frequency.
What it isn’t is a chatbot, as FourSquare are at pains to stress, despite a chat-style interface designed to ease interaction between human and app.
In a blog post the company said: “With a chatbot, you ask specific questions and give specific prompts for what you need. Our goal with Marsbot is to give you the answers before you even ask – just based on where you are and where you usually go.”
For the time being Marsbot is being limited to a waiting list amidst a growing proliferation of chatbots, many of which such as Ozlo, Luka and Mezi focus on nightlife and restaurant recommendations.