A startup called House of Highways LLC has announced the launch of its artificial intelligence-powered travel assistant, designed for “nomadic families” enjoying a life on the road in recreational vehicles, camper vans and caravans.

The app, called HoH+, is focused on a generative AI assistant called Ask Junie, which has been especially trained for the realtors of nomadic living, featuring comprehensive trip planning and RV-friendly GPS routing capabilities.

House of Highways was founded by the husband-and-wife team Colan and Cristy Lee McGeehan, who gave up their careers as media executives and application designers to become full-time nomads just over two years ago. They designed the app after realizing that existing map applications and AI tools are often ill-suited for RVs and other large vehicles, sending them in the wrong direction and failing to provide the comprehensive information required for such a lifestyle.

“This app was born from the lifestyle. I wanted to create something that actually solved real problems,” Cristy said. “Such as, how to plan a route that works for your rig, or how to track down a mobile tech when you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. That’s what Junie does.”

Ask Junie is the first AI assistant that’s trained for nomadic living, possessing fundamental knowledge of the intricacies of RV life, she explained. It’s designed to serve as a comprehensive co-pilot for van dwellers, helping out with trip planning, technology troubleshooting, serving as a guide for local hotspots and providing advice for anything else they might need.

For instance, users will be able to tell Ask Junie exactly what type of vehicle they’re driving, so that every time they plan a trip it will take into account whatever height and weight restrictions there might be on the roads they need to traverse. It can also help out finding mobile technicians in remote areas should any problems arise with the vehicle. Moreover, Ask Junie’s trip planning tools integrate the largest campground database in the U.S, with details of more than 45,000 sites across the country.

Users can also avail of numerous integrated services, including telehealth, travel and vehicle insurance, pet care and RV rentals.

Colan and Cristy said they’ve been testing the HoH+ app for the best part of two years, constantly refining and adding to its capabilities as they came to learn the realities of RV life. During that time, they’ve managed to visit 21 of the 63 national parks in the U.S., traveling through 22 states, providing them with the opportunity to test it out in numerous real-world scenarios.

The founders believe there’s a big market for an RV-focused AI assistant, pointing out that around 1.3 million Americans are currently living full-time in RVs, while millions more do so for at least a part of the year. They add that the nomadic travel industry is now one of the fastest-growing lifestyle segments.

The basic HoH+ app is available to download from the App Store and Google Play now, with some capabilities offered for free and others available only with a subscription.

“There’s finally an app that understands life on the road, because it was built on the road,” Colan said. “This platform wasn’t made to document a lifestyle, it was made to enable it.”

Photo: SiliconANGLE/Dreamina AI