Ever spend more time debating what to eat than actually eating? Foursquare, the company behind the restaurant check-in app, made a bot that recommends places to go out without the need to succumb to indecision – or encroaching hunger.
Marsbot sends the users text messages detailing eateries and nightlife the recipient may enjoy, based on where they’ve visited in the past and their current location. While similar to a chatbot, Foursquare seems to find the title inappropriate for its virtual foodie.
“With a chatbot, you ask specific questions and give specific prompts for what you need,” writes Marsbot product manager Marissa Chacko on Foursquare’s blog. “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.”
On top of being available only for iOS, Marsbot is currently exclusive to residents in New York City and San Francisco, making it limited in scope in its current iteration.
Being still a work in progress, users living in those areas who sign up for Marsbot will be put on a waitlist, meaning it will be a while before hungry folks elsewhere gain Marsbot’s aid and will probably just stick to that one tried-and-true pizza place tonight.
Source: techradar.com
