An App-lied Science!
News, People News 15 February 2011
Over the holidays the GML team spent some quality time with their iPhones, discovering new and unusual heritage- and interpretation-related apps.
Among our favourites: ‘Buildings’, powered by OpenBuildings.com, which lists architecturally noteworthy buildings both globally and locally using your GPS; and ‘Heritage’, by fotopedia, which provides an informative and visually stunning taste of all UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The use of apps in interpretation is increasing by the day. One of the best is the Museum of London’s ‘StreetMuseum’, cleverly bringing the Museum’s extensive art and photographic collections to the streets of the English capital. Making use of geo tagging and Google Maps, this free app guides users to various sites in London where, via the iPhone screen, historical images of the city appear. Its popularity has far exceeded expectations, with over 120,000 downloads so far (see museumoflondon.org.uk/ for details).
We have some great projects emerging locally too.
Last year ‘DigiMacq’ celebrated Governor Macquarie’s legacy with an app that guided users around Parramatta, recreating the sights and sounds of the Macquarie era. And d/Lux/Mobile has produced the interesting ‘Razorhurst’, a GPS game forming a tour of Darlinghurst during the razor gang era.
They also teamed up with the Powerhouse Museum for ‘China Heart’: part love story, part game, guiding players on a walking tour of significant locations in Sydney’s Chinatown.
With the application revolution set to soar to new heights in 2011, you can be sure there’ll be many more to come.
Got a favourite? Why not drop us a note and let us know: heritage@gml.com.au