Wrinkles Launches AI-Powered Audio Guide That Brings Locations to Life Without the Heads-Down Phone

Summary

Wrinkles, a new iOS and Android app founded by David Stemler and Ryan Hansan, uses artificial intelligence to automatically surface location-based stories and hidden histories as users explore the world around them. Rather than forcing users to stare at their phones matching numbers to lists—the traditional audio tour experience—Wrinkles enables audio-based discovery that keeps users engaged with their physical surroundings. The app has built a global foundation of 1.3 million points of interest across 177 countries and allows historians, museums, creators, and brands to contribute their own stories to the platform.

The idea emerged when Stemler visited the British Museum in London and felt frustrated by the experience of using a well-designed but screen-focused tour app. The dual founders, who have known each other since middle school and frequently traveled together, asked a fundamental question: "If the phone in my pocket knows exactly where I am, shouldn't the places in front of me be able to speak?" The app extends beyond tourist experiences—Hansan and Stemler position it as a tool for daily commutes, family outings, and preserving personal memories tied to meaningful locations.

The startup has adopted a B2B revenue model, generating income from museums, tourism boards, universities, and hotels that create location-based experiences using the platform, while keeping the consumer experience free. Users can personalize locations with family photos, videos, and recordings, and engage with Wrinkles through natural conversation, asking contextual questions about points of interest as they explore. The social features allow users to follow friends, creators, and organizations, share discoveries, and organize curated maps and guides.

• Users can personalize locations with family memories, photos, and recordings, creating a collaborative digital history layer tied to places with personal significance
• The founders see the use case extending far beyond occasional travel—targeting daily use for commutes, family activities, and long-term memory preservation

Editorial Opinion

Wrinkles tackles a real friction point in experiential discovery: the modern paradox where the device that knows your exact location forces you into heads-down engagement rather than enhancing real-world exploration. By decoupling location awareness from screen dependency, the app addresses a genuine user frustration that traditional tour operators have long struggled with. However, the startup's success hinges on two critical uncertainties: whether AI-generated narratives can sustain the quality and emotional resonance that human expertise and curation provide, and whether cultural institutions will fully adopt the platform at scale to keep the 1.3 million points of interest fresh and authoritative. The business model is clever—monetizing through institutions rather than consumers—but it creates dependency on B2B partnerships that must find clear ROI in their own visitor engagement metrics.