National Park app developer Chimani launches BearChat, first-ever mobile app to communicate with bears

PORTLAND, Maine, April 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Chimani, Inc., a developer of mobile app guides to the national parks, has announced the launch of its latest app BearChat, the first social networking app geared toward connecting humans and bears.

The National Park Service celebrates its Centennial in 2016, and park officials expect to see a record-breaking year for park visitation.

"Park visitors are going to be looking for new, fun, and exciting things to do when they get to the national parks this year," said Theodore "Teddy" Mather, park environmentalist. "We think allowing them to communicate and send selfies back and forth with the bears is a great way to engage the modern visitor."

The app works as a translation device, allowing humans and bears to chat with each other by video or instant message, all without the need for a cellular connection.

"When we were first approached with the idea of creating an app to socialize with the bears, we were pretty stumped," said Kerry Gallivan, CEO and Co-Founder of Chimani. "Honestly, we weren't even sure how the bears would hold a smartphone. They don't even have opposable thumbs… This was a challenge we'd really need to sink our teeth into."

As is typical with Chimani's national park apps, no stone was left unturned when it came to integrating the latest in mobile technology. To overcome the size of the typical bear paw and the difficulty of using a smartphone touchscreen, we created a new voice-command technology which we call "Roar."

"It was clear early on that allowing the bears to connect, engage, and interact with humans was only the beginning," said Gallivan. "We wanted to be sure our app could translate the different bear dialects from the Alaskan Katmai Bear to the mighty Grizzly of Yellowstone. And then there was the challenge of teaching the bears how to use it! I think I can speak for the entire Chimani team when I say we are all very eager to receive our first bear selfies when the app goes live on April 1st."

The Chimani BearChat app is available today for free download on iTunes App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore, or go to bearchatapp.com

About Chimani, Inc.
Chimani, Inc. (www.chimani.com) creates free apps for national parks and the outdoors. Chimani's growing suite of apps includes guides to Acadia, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and over 25 other National Parks. Chimani was recently chosen by Google to be one of nine app developers to partner in its new app-indexing program. The apps are available for download in the App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

Contact:
Thomas Tash
Marketing Manager, Chimani
[email protected]
207-931-7226

SOURCE Chimani, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.chimani.com