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When ever I see my friend Meni I always come away with one or two new app recommendations. This time it out it’s the application Akinator and it is really quite amusing. The application looks and acts like a mind reading app and the accuracy is amazing. Of course there is no such thing as mind reading and that’s not what is really going on here. No, the application uses the power of technology to ask a series of quests that, in amazingly short order, narrow down the possibilities. The result is a series of initial questions that are rather general and then, when the field of possibilities are narrowed enough, one or two narrowly pointed questions to lock in the result.
Yup, there is no magic here but the process, and the accuracy of the guesses, is still more than a bit amusing. Here is a quick walk through of the process when I thought of my all time favorite fictional character. (I skipped about 2/3 of the questions but you will still get a sense of the process and decide if the app is worth buying.)
First you think of a character, person etc.
The first question knocks out about half the possibilities.
The next series of questions are a bit narrower but still rather general in nature.
Once it asked if the individual I selected was real or fictional it wanted to narrow down the genre in which the character appears. Again, it is worth noting that the app is using broad questions to narrow the field further and further. When you go through the process a few times you begin to understand the logic game it is playing. Still, it continues to amusing.
So we now have a fictional character who, as answered in some questions I did not include here, is part of a trilogy, not mentioned in the title and has killed people. The next two questions, “does he hunt for treasure” and “does he wear a hat?” suggest that we are all but there.
Then comes the final question and, at this point if it guesses wrong I want my money back. But…
…it guesses right. Team my favorite fictional character is Indiana Jones and the app guessed it, and numerous other attempts to fool it, correctly.
No, it is not magic but it is pretty cool anyway. Akinator the Genie is just $1.99 and it is worth the price just to watch the process of narrowing down the information. If you get the app and stump it please do let us know what person or character did the trick because… I still haven’t been able to! Grab it here.
MSRP: $1.99
What I Like: Fun; Good for all ages; Pretty amazing the first time you use it
What Needs Improvement: Nothing, this is a fun, logic app that is entertaining and under $2
