Wrinkles is a new app that uses your location to surface stories about the places around you, acting as an AI-powered audio tour guide. Founded by David Stemler and Ryan Hansan, the idea came from Stemler’s frustrating experience at the British Museum — he spent the visit heads-down matching numbers instead of taking in his surroundings. Wrinkles, available on iOS and Android, aims to let you move through the world while hearing the places around you come to life without staring at your phone.

The app has built a global foundation of 1.3 million points of interest across 177 countries. Historians, museums, creators, and brands can add their own stories. Users can discover these stories as they move or explore remotely by searching the map. A conversational feature lets users ask questions, like where the water for the Trevi Fountain comes from. Social features allow following friends and creators, saving and sharing Wrinkles, and organizing them into custom maps. Users can also personalize locations by attaching family memories, photos, and videos.

While Wrinkles is free for users, its revenue comes from the supply side: museums, tourism boards, universities, and hotels use it to create location-based experiences without building their own apps. Creators and media partners can build sponsored guides, and businesses can promote Wrinkles tied to their locations, with the app earning a share of bookings and transactions. The long-term vision is for Wrinkles to become a normal part of how people navigate places — from exploring a college campus to rediscovering their own hometown. “The common thread isn’t travel — it’s curiosity,” Hansan said.