A New Kind of Walking Tour

Got an iPhone/iTouch? You’ll love this.

Suffragette, Mrs Pankhurst, being arrested. Click to enlarge.

You’ve probably heard about augmented reality iPhone apps that profess to “enhance your experience” of a new place. They haven’t really caught on, and you can probably guess why. Most people prefer to simply look around, sans screen, and enjoy the visual adventure without filling their heads with facts. Facts are for work and research, not for vacation, right?

Well, first there was the Old Montreal app, (produced by Wherecloud) with its gorgeous black & white photos of the architectural jewels of Montreal. And now the Museum of London has raised the bar: with their free app,  StreetMuseum, you can now overlay a current street view of London (i.e. what your camera lens can see) with historical photos of the City of London. And not just *any* photos… photos of important historical moments like the Great Fire of 1666, and scenes of Carnaby Street during the Swinging ’60’s (Yeah, baby!).

Why is this a big deal?

1) The photos include historical characters, real people, so they add a much richer layer to the experience.

2) Using visuals (versus simply overlaying text) produces an instant, visceral experience of history, like discovering a palimpsest, guaranteed to impress even the most jaded tourist.  Don’t believe me? Here’s a few screen snapshots to give you a preview, since it’s not yet available in the US iTunes store.

Now, imagine if they added video, including sound…