Brian August's mobile app uses a mix of new technologies that allow the user to add a drawing of the twin towers to the Manhattan skyline.
I recently had the pleasure of working on a pro-bono mobile app project called 110 Stories. As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the idea by Brian August was to provide a free app that anyone can use to visually take a photo of the World Trade Center site from anywhere within 50 miles site view, and see an artistic impression of where the two towers had stood. People can then add their stories about any memories or messages that they want to share with others using the app. To me, this app is the epitome of a perfect recipe of technologies that bring together a totally new experience.
The first ingredient, and the foundation of the idea, is that it’s a mobile app. Ten years ago, when the towers were lost, the term “mobile app” meant nothing to 99.9 percent of the population. Today, its ubiquity is unquestioned. Mobility is quickly becoming the starting point for many apps today. With 110 Stories, the idea did not revolve around a desktop app or a Web site, but rather a mobile app. Mobility is the new normal.
Second is the social network effect. The 110 Stories app itself is meant to elicit emotions, memories and stories from individuals and share that with people worldwide. Social apps like Twitter and Facebook are changing the world and driving social behavior, and even social revolution. Mobile and social media are symbiotic technologies, and this app is a reflection of the power of this combination.
Third is geo-location and context-aware computing. Mobile devices are built with GPS, internal compasses, accelerometers and much more. All these features mean that the device is “aware” – aware of where you are, how you’re oriented, and even how fast you may be moving. Sounds scary, but also very, very useful. In the case of the 110 Stories app, such awareness allows for the augmented reality engine in the app to point you to where you should take the picture of the World Trade Center site.
And this brings me to the fourth and final ingredient – augmented reality or AR. This term may be new to some folks, but this relatively new technology – again, popularized by mobility – enables users to visually depict their surroundings in an enhanced way through the lens of the camera on their mobile device. The 110 Stories app uses AR in order to draw outlines of the twin towers based on the GPS location and orientation of the device.
The 110 Stories app is truly an idea of the times and probably could not have been feasible just a couple of years ago. To use a cooking analogy, it’s like molecular gastronomy – the intersection of science and cooking – avant-garde in the culinary world. Dishes created using molecular gastronomy incorporate techniques like liquid nitrogen, enzymes and other science lab technologies to transform food and build new culinary experiences. Likewise, the technologies of mobility, social media, context awareness and augmented reality will transform the way we live and work and how we experience the world around us.
Tags: 110 Stories, augmented reality, Jason Wong, Mobile Gourmet, Mobile Trends
[...] You can download it today, and it’s also available for Android. The app itself is the manifestation of a confluence of technologies and would not have been possible even just a couple of years earlier. It uses geo-location, Augmented Reality (AR), social networking, and of course mobility. Read about my thoughts on this “perfect recipe of technology” at the Mobile Masters Blog. [...]
[...] You can download it today, and it’s also available for Android. The app itself is the manifestation of a confluence of technologies and would not have been possible even just a couple of years earlier. It uses geo-location, Augmented Reality (AR), social networking, and of course mobility. Read about my thoughts on this “perfect recipe of technology” at the Mobile Masters Blog. [...]