PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now offers a mobile app that uses "augmented reality" to help customers locate branches and automated teller machines.
Augmented-reality programs draw graphics and text on top of an image captured from a device's camera. In the case of PNC's app, it draws a compass and location markers on top of the user's surroundings as captured in real time by the smartphone's camera. Looking at the screen, users would be able to tell which of the buildings they are standing in front of has a PNC ATM inside.
The app is currently available for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and will be made available early next year for phones running Google Inc.'s Android operating system, PNC said in a press release Thursday.
For users that want a less flashy ATM-finding experience, the app, called PNC Finder, also shows branch and ATM locations on a standard map.
