HipGeo has announced the launch of the HipGeo app and website with full video capability.

HipGeo now takes the “one-off” photos, video and text shared on social networks, and for the first time, instantly transforms these elements into rich virtual storytelling journals that can then be automatically shared on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, within the HipGeo community, or via selective email sharing.

Whether capturing local experiences or travels around the world, HipGeo’s mapmation and time and location-stamped virtual journals, inspire and enrich discovery and social communication.

And only HipGeo’s crowd-sourcing and broadcast platform allows for people to share photos and videos based on an event or location they share.

“We believe that the most memorable experiences—those we want to capture, share and inspire others with—are typically closely meshed to a physical place,” Rich Rygg, co-founder of HipGeo.

“HipGeo enhances social network and private sharing experiences by grouping together disparate mobile photos, videos and text into a location and storytelling stream.”

“Only HipGeo groups these three elements together into experiences that tell a cohesive story complete with a Trip Player and Day Map that display your movements between taking photos, videos and writing about each location’s experiences.

“You can choose to upload pictures and videos while at a location or load an unlimited number of photos and videos later.

“If you’re out of the country and have turned off your data services to avoid charges or if Wi-Fi isn’t available, HipGeo allows you to post in background mode, automatically saving your journals and posting them when Wi-Fi is available, or when you’re back in your data plan home country. Similarly, when you are in a low signal area, HipGeo caches your videos and photos to be uploaded when Wi-Fi is available or when the signal is stronger,” he added.

“In addition to the HipGeo app, the HipGeo online community lets you find inspiration from the experiences of others, becoming part of a virtual village of local and long distance travellers.

“You can discover and research locations to visit or simply enjoy the adventures of others.

“If desired, you can communicate with other community members to share experiences and advice.

“HipGeo automatically combines videos shot by multiple users at the same location or event and inserts them into ‘place journals’, allowing everyone to see each other’s footage from multiple perspectives, times and dates.

“For example, if four friends go to a concert and all use HipGeo, they can easily see each other’s photos, videos and comments, as well as the public videos anyone else shoots at the same concert. HipGeo also lets you create crowd-sourced posts and virtual journals based on the geographic regions you’re interested in.

“We believe that the most memorable experiences—those we want to capture, share and inspire others with—are typically closely meshed to a physical place,” continued Rygg.

“As a result, an app and a community must enable physical and emotional context. Whether it’s a local bike ride, dinner at a new restaurant or a trip across the world, HipGeo is the unifying bond that ties your captured mobile memories, with your location and automatically enriches the connections you make with others.”

HipGeo’s geo-aware socially linked narratives are based on an app and server-based proprietary mobile recording and broadcast platform. HipGeo’s server technology collects clouds of geographic points and organises them into a user narrative without any user intervention.

It does this by automatically detecting user movements and stops. It then tags photos, video and text with the appropriate locations and routes.

Over ten million cloud points have been collected to date through HipGeo user experiences.

HipGeo’s app technology consists of Passive Recording which records where you are—even when you aren’t using your mobile camera.

It then switches to Active Recording when you begin camera use and collects points in two accuracy modes—Places and Places/Routes. Additionally, HipGeo filtering reduces data upload, saving on data plan charges and battery consumption.