By Natasha Baker
BANGKOK | Mon September 12, 2011 5:57 am EST
Bangkok (Reuters)-for people who have stood at a monument or a landscape — the great wall of China, for example, or the U.S. Grand Canyon — and wondered how it looked 100 or more years ago, there is now an app for you.
Historypin, in iOS and Android platforms, strives to create a collection of memoirs about the locations, relying on people to unearth and digitize old photographs and other local media, along with personal memories of the past.
Combined with the modern images and memories, the app creates a story of a place for people to enjoy-a kind of "time machine in my pocket," says of his supporters.
"It's about people coming together to create a web of human history," said Nick Stanhope, Executive Director, are what we do, a United Kingdom-based non-profit organization responsible for the project Historypin.
The app uses GPS to find content that has been added within a certain proximity. Users can also search for content that was loaded in any location on the map. The results can be filtered by date, ranging from the early 1840 (the time of the first photos) leading up to the present day.
The app also includes a camera that augmented reality overlays historic images in the database on the current panorama. More than 55,000 pictures and stories have been set to map how the site and app were introduced.
A 1938 photo shows a car being pulled across Newfoundland, Anaheim Gut Canada by two small wooden boats, a method that has been retired, as well as a bridge was built to provide a more efficient route.
Another since the late 1920 shows a mother and daughter in Minnesota enjoying a laugh in front of a local school and its bell tower and now defunct.
Users can create or upload content using the app. comments can be added to existing media, helping to build what the organization expects to become a tapestry of historical data.
"We don't make any judgement about what is and is not history," said Stanhope. "But there are decisions made about things like marketing spam or content unrecognizable".
With the ubiquity of today's digital content, some users are concerned that Historypin could become a dumping ground to social images that could be a better fit for a Facebook album.
"Obviously a guy falling out of a bar in Manhattan in September 2011 is not interesting in itself," said Stanhope.
"But when you look at what people have done in this location over the past 200 years, it becomes interesting – and over time becomes more interesting. If you look at people socialize or do a celebration of 100 years ago, suddenly is fascinating. "
The app, which received over 250,000 downloads, has faced a few complaints of speed and stability since its launch. Stanhope, said that the organization is providing updates every few weeks to resolve the problems.
New tools being implemented in January are expected to significantly increase the amount of content in the database, as are partnerships works with U.S. museums.
Stanhope said that future updates will include features to increase the accuracy and amount of detail assigned to the content and the introduction of a classification system.
The app is available worldwide on the App store (here) and the Android Marketplace (here).
Content can also be explored through the project site.
(Edited by Paul Casciato)
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