Oftentimes, it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel when developing a Rich Internet Application (RIA). A perfect example of leveraging an existing solution to construct a useful application is the latest initiative from NYC & Company which provides visitors and residents of New York City with an immersive website that provides recommendations for local hotspots, cool hangouts and tasty eateries.

nycgo, uses Google Maps API for Flash to provide directions for recommended locations throughout the city. A map of the location is available in the sidebar of each feature story allowing for quick information within the same page, saving the user a trip to an additional page to secure this information. It’s details like this that show the potential of geolocalization-specific RIA’s.

What’s also interesting is the immersive experience beyond the website alone as the new NYC Information Centre has been ‘Googlized ‘as well. Ryan Pollock,one of Google’s Product Marketing Managers gave mention to the interactivity of this centre in a post on the Google Latlong Blog,

“When you walk into the Information Center, you pick up a puck that you then place on an interactive map table. Up pops a wheel that lets you select restaurants, attractions, Broadway shows, and more. You save places to the puck and then walk to the back of the hall, where you set the puck back down at a station. A gigantic video wall then shows you a Google Earth tour of the places you saved to the puck. The 3D model of New York City looks amazing!”