We live in cities abundant in remembrances of things and people past. Unfortunately, current generations do not pay enough attention to them. The project proposes a way to change the status quo by utilising the city as an art canvas as well as interactive and mobile technologies, which are familiar to younger generations.
The project focuses on using statues, busts and plaques of forgotten well-known and unknown persons as interactive hotspots. Such use entails mapping all the hotspots and creating a database of their gps coordinates. A next step is to assign meaningful questions which are linked to the historical and personal background of each historical person. Anytime a user with the project’s mobile application installed in her smart device approaches a hotspot, she receives, as if from the historical person itself, a
message where a question is asked. In order to avoid uninteresting and irrelevant questions, the questions are chosen by respected academics who can provide expertise in the subject matter. By answering correctly, the user obtains points.
The points play an important part in the project’s general concept. Another way to receive points is by active participating in the project, which entails adding new historical hotspots, adding multimedia to a historical hotspot’s profile, using the “check-in” functionality. The best users of a given period are invited for an interview where they can express interests in chosen historical figures and comment on the project itself as well.
The project comprises developing a mobile application and a web version where necessary functionalities are implemented. By using up-to-date design and technological features, together with academic and pedagogical expertise, we hope to create a compelling case for drawing attention to significant historical figures who were inventors, scientists, politicians, artists, war heroes; in other words people who changed forever the lives of next generations — that is us. The little this project hope to do is to raise awareness of their deeds in a modern, compelling and educational form.
Project website: http://invisibles.jakubferenc.cz/
Author: Jakub Ferenc