Historypin launches global platform and mobile app, bringing communities together to share historic photos and stories
Google supported platform invites people to pin their history to the world.
Historypin, the interactive platform and mobile application designed to bring people together through historic photos and stories, will launch on July 11, 2011 at the Museum of the City of New York.
Created by U.K. based non-profit organization, We Are What We Do, and supported by Google, Historypin sets out to bring people together around the history of their families and streets, from across different generations and cultures, to explore and create a global communal archive.
Historypin.com, the main hub of the project, allows users to upload their historical content to Google Maps, as images, movies, audio recordings, stories and recollections, where it can be geo-tagged and dated. Once on the site, street level images can be overlaid onto Google Maps Street View for a fascinating and nostalgic then-and-now juxtaposition.
Through the Smartphone app, users can become immersed in the history of their current location, submit a photo, or view collections on the go.
“Historypin aims to make billions of pieces of historical material the subject of mass-participation – to allow everyone to see the world through the amazing lens it provides,” said Nick Stanhope, CEO of Historypin.
In its beta form, Historypin received the 2011 Webby Award for Best Nonprofit / Charitable Site for its innovative social use of technology. During this beta phase, more than 50,000 photos, videos, audio and stories have been uploaded by over 20,000 users from all over the world and over 100 institutions ranging from The New York Public Library to The Chinese Historical Society of America.
Over the next year, Historypin will be rolling out an ambitious program of local projects, which take participation directly into neighbourhoods, as well launching a set of free tools for archives, which open up Historypin technology for institutions.
About:
Historypin has been created by We Are What We Do, a non-profit company based in London that works to impact social issues by creating products, tools and services that can positively shift mass behavior. Google is We Are What We Do’s main technology partner on the project, supporting Historypin’s use of Google tools, including Google Maps, Picasa, Google App Engine and Android. For more information, visit: historypin.com, or join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook.
For more information, quotes or high res images please contact:
Rebekkah Abraham
rebekkah.abraham@wearewhatwedo.org
71 St John Street
London
EC1M 4NJ
020 7148 7670