Ditch the Selfie Stick for GIGA

GIGA is the world’s newest selfie app, and it’s bringing selfie taking to the next level. There’s only one little problem — it’s only available in Australia.

Tourism Australia created GIGA and allows users to take not only a photo of themselves, but also of their entire surroundings, up to around 360 feet. So how does it work? Just download the GIGA app, go stand on one of the specified GIGA platforms placed in popular spots and press the correct button on the app. A long-distance camera is triggered, which takes the photo and sends it to the app user via email. You can then zoom in or out as much as you want.

GIGA is part of Tourism Australia’s “There’s Nothing Like Australia” campaign and the first GIGA platforms are located on the Gold Coast, with later locations in the works. The selfie experience was created as a way to connect with Australia’s large amount of Japanese tourists. The campaign has been pushed over a wide variety of Japanese media, from digital media to newspaper advertising.

While this app may allow tourists to ditch their selfie sticks, it does lend itself to several issues — you’ll only be able to get your photo at a certain angle, standing in a certain spot. There’s no way to prevent other people, wildlife, weather or other elements from messing up your photo. Then, of course, how many times will the app allow you to retake a selfie at a particular spot, just to make sure you get it right? Only time will tell if GIGA is here for good, and an idea viable enough for other tourist and travel organizations around the world to adopt.