Here’s a new application of augmented reality. Tagwhat, a media company based in Boulder, Colorado, has a “Great Stories at Places” app that lets users of iPhones (3GS/4) and Android-using smartphones learn some of the stories behind places they visit.
For example, on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, you can watch Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” Or, while touring San Francisco, you can see historic photos that show how different sites were devastated by the San Francisco Earthquake.
Tagwhat’s team of new media journalists and filmmakers worked with publishing partners such as the Associated Press (AP), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Virginia Beach Public Library System to create and curate thousands rich-media stories that can “augment” your understanding and enjoyment of some of the places you visit.
Organized like TV channels, the stories pop up on top of real-life locations and change based on where you are looking. If a story is too good not to share, you can send a personalized, digital postcard to friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.
Channels include: Heritage, Movies, Sports, Food, Nature, Music, and Art.
In the “Movies” channel, you can watch a clip of the parade from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” while walking down the same Chicago street. Or you can read about Woody Allen movie settings while touring New York.
Visitors to the LA Coliseum can tap into the “Sports” channel for a look back at the 1984 Summer Olympics with videos of gold medalists Mary Lou Retton and Carl Lewis.
In the “Music” channel you can hear Janis Joplin sing outside the Austin club where she got her start and see images of her preparing to perform.
A “Visit” feature lets you take a virtual trip to Tagwhat’s featured cities: New York; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Chicago; Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. You can look around and interact with multimedia stories as if you were standing in that city!
Tagwhat is already seeded with thousands of stories, with new stories being added every day.