iPhone app helps kids do virtual drives

A new iPhone app called Backseat Driver permits kids to enjoy a virtual drive linked to the real journey via GPS.

Players chase the 'Papa Car', the real driver, in their own vehicle along a route similar to that which they are really moving along.

The app uses satellite positioning and creates a road layout with a similar number of twists and turns. Children steer to the left or the right by tilting their phone and earn extra points for driving well.

The game could prove a valuable tool for parents with children who are bored on long journeys with nothing to do, the Daily Mail reports.

But it could also be handy for relatives who insist on driving from the backseat even when it annoys the person behind the wheel.

In Backseat Driver, the Papa Car drops various objects which are linked to landmarks and shops taken from real life buildings which are driven past.

Players collect the objects and save them to view information about the locations later. Points collected can be used to modify the car with a different colour or better engine.

The game allows users to share their routes via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and compete in an online league table of how far they have travelled.

A promotional video for the app shows a family driving around Tokyo with their daughter in the back seat - turning her iPhone at the same time her father turns the steering wheel.

The voiceover says it is 'the world's first application that you can enjoy driving from the back seat of your car'.

Backseat Driver is free to download from the iTunes store from ToyToyota, an offshoot of the car manufacturer Toyota.