- Title: GERMANY-BERLIN WALL APP Berlin Wall app brings past to life
- Date: 8th November 2014
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) SIGN READING (GERMAN AND ENGLISH) 'BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL' BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) STYLISED WALL MADE OF METAL POSTS AT THE BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL DEVELOPER OF APP "TIMETRAVELER DIE BERLINER MAUER" ("TIMETRAVELLER - THE BERLIN WALL") ROBIN VON HARDENBERG, HOLDING TABLET UP IN THE AIR TABLET HELD UP IN FRONT OF BUILDING VARIOUS OF VON HARDENBERG SHOWING PEOPLE THE APP APP RUNNING ON TABLET TABLET HELD UP IN FRONT OF BUILDING TABLET SHOWS 77-YEAR-OLD FRIEDA SCHULZE JUMPING OUT OF WINDOW USING AUGMENTED REALITY FUNCTION BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN FRONT OF PRESERVED PART OF BERLIN WALL SIGN AND INLAID BRICKS ON PAVEMENT SHOWING WHERE BERLIN WALL USED TO BE BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON VIEWING PLATFORM OF BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL DOCUMENTATION CENTRE PEOPLE LOOKING OUT FROM VIEWING PLATFORM VARIOUS OF BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL/CHAPEL OF RECONCILIATION SEEN FROM ABOVE VARIOUS OF VON HARDENBERG USING HIS TABLET COMPUTER VON HARDENBERG HOLDING TABLET UP TO SITE OF FORMER VERSÖHNUNGSKIRCHE (CHURCH OF RECONCILIATION) DEMOLITION OF CHURCH SHOWN LIVE ON TABLET CAMERA THROUGH AUGMENTED REALITY FUNCTION (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEVELOPER OF APP "TIMETRAVELER DIE BERLINER MAUER" ("TIMETRAVELLER - THE BERLIN WALL"), ROBIN VON HARDENBERG, SAYING: "Timetraveler Augmented is an app which turns an iphone or other mobile device into a window into the past. You can stand at historical sites and then, for example here you can look at the death strip. And when you turn on the app and look at it, you see what happened here in the past. In this case you see the Versöhnungskirche when it was demolished in 1984." VARIOUS OF HARDENBERG AND VISITORS LOOKING AT THE APP (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITOR TO THE BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL DOCUMENTATION CENTRE, ZACK BURBECK, SAYING: "Well, once I realised it was live I thought it was pretty incredible. I'm glad I walked all the way up here, up all the steps." VON HARDENBERG AND VISITORS LOOKING AT TABLET YOUNG PEOPLE WALKING AT BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL PLAQUE BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEVELOPER OF APP "TIMETRAVELER DIE BERLINER MAUER" ("TIMETRAVELLER THE BERLIN WALL"), ROBIN VON HARDENBERG, SAYING: "The problem you always have when you go to a historical site is that you are there, and the first thing you have to do is look in a book to read about it. And you fundamentally lose contact with the place. With the app, you can be somewhere and simply look at it and see what happened in the past. Obviously that is exciting for the younger generation because they have an affinity with such devices, but also because the impression is so much stronger, because you can really be outside and recreate the experience of emotional moments as if you had been there at the time." VARIOUS OF YOUNG PEOPLE AT THE MEMORIAL (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEVELOPER OF APP "TIMETRAVELER DIE BERLINER MAUER" ("TIMETRAVELLER THE BERLIN WALL"), ROBIN VON HARDENBERG, SAYING: "The possibilities that this new technology opens up are clearly extremely exciting. For one thing because historical moments can be experienced again. But fundamentally because the technology can be developed in different formats under certain circumstances, so it's lots of fun." BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) PRESERVED WATCHTOWER YOUNG PEOPLE WALKING IN FRONT OF WALL WITH WATCHTOWER
- Embargoed: 23rd November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA701PU08T7FLWC96E98GDHYLVC
- Story Text: Visitors to preserved sections of the Berlin Wall now have the chance to step back in time using a new app developed as part of celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall on Monday (November 9).
Developed by film director Robin von Hardenberg, the "Timetraveler Die Berliner Mauer" ("Timetraveller - The Berlin Wall") app uses augmented reality technology to display pictures from the past on the screen of a mobile device. When the device's camera is pointing at a historical site, images of what happened there are overlaid on the live picture on the screen.
Von Hardenberg has developed the app for use at 11 sites along the former route of the Berlin Wall, including the building where 77-year-old Frieda Schulze famously jumped out of a window to cross the boundary. This event plays out on the screen of the mobile device as if it were happening at that instant, creating an immediacy which von Hardenberg thinks is the app's unique selling point.
"Timetraveler Augmented is an app which turns an iphone or other mobile device into a window into the past," explained von Hardenberg.
"You can stand at historical sites and then, for example here you can look at the death strip," he added, looking out onto the former exclusion zone in front of the Berlin Wall. "And when you turn on the app and look at it, you see what happened here in the past. In this case you see the Versöhnungskirche when it was demolished in 1984."
The app is already available for download and is used by tourists and locals alike.
"Once I realised it was live I thought it was pretty incredible," said visitor Zack Burbeck.
"I'm glad I walked all the way up here, up all the steps," he added.
Von Hardenberg says that when people visit historical sites and have to look up a book to read about it, they lose contact with the place itself.
"With the app, you can be somewhere and simply look at it and see what happened in the past. Obviously that is exciting for the younger generation because they have an affinity with such devices, but also because the impression is so much stronger, because you can really be outside and recreate the experience of emotional moments as if you had been there at the time," he added.
The app guides visitors along the wall using a GPS map, and provides further information on the pictures displayed on the screen.
Although the app has only been developed for the Berlin Wall, von Hardenberg said there was great potential for development.
"The possibilities that this new technology opens up are clearly extremely exciting. For one thing because historical moments can be experienced again. But fundamentally because the technology can be developed in different formats under certain circumstances, so it's lots of fun," he said.
The app is available for iOS and Android in their respective app stores.
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