Ephemeral messaging apps like Snapchat, while often fun, can sometimes make it seem as though the sender is trying to hide something (because, often, that's exactly the point).

But what if there were a way to harness the same kind of fleeting messaging dynamic in way that used your location to give the message even more meaning long after the message has disappeared into the ether? That appears to the goal of a new app called Traces that allows you to leave a message for someone that they can only pick up by traveling to the message's geographic location.

A team of UK-based developers, led by neuroscientist Beau Lotto, came up with the app as a way to bring people closer together through a dynamic that merges private messaging with the concept of augmented reality.

"Rather than a repetitive and instantly forgotten click, Traces requires the brain to embark on a process of discovery, generating dopamine and generating empathy between connections," said Lotto in a statement given to Mashable. "This is a wonderful example of what we call 'neurodesign'"

Once two users are connected via the app, either can leave a photo or a 10-second video or audio clip for the other to pick up in any location the sender chooses. In order to pick up the message, the receiver has to be within 50 meters of the message's geographic location.

So, for example, a person could leave a short music sample accompanied by a brief text message for their friend at a particular train station as a way to deliver a sort of secret message.

Image: Traces

Similarly, users could harness the app to conduct a kind of digital scavenger hunt, leaving audio, video and photo clues around the city, or even place a romantic message at a particularly meaningful locale during an anniversary. Many of the possible innovative uses for such an app probably haven't been thought of yet.

When sending a message, the user can set it to expire in one hour, one day, one week, or one month. That temporal feature adds a kind of urgency to the dynamic, like Snapchat, but with the added geographic component requiring the receiver to "meet" the message in meat space, thus closing the loop of digital connections with real world actions.

Adding to the augmented reality aspect of the app is the fact when a user goes to pick up a message, looking at the tagged location through the iPhone's screen reveals a bulbous distortion of the real-time image of your location — that's where the message is waiting you. Simply hover the targeting icon over the bubble and access to the message is enabled.

Currently, the iOS only app (an Android version is also in development) is limited to the UK, but the company says it has plans to bring it to the U.S. soon.