There was no Google Street View between 1870 and 1970 -- nor was there a Google, nor was there any internet -- but the OldNYC project is what such a fictional system might look like for one of the US's most historic cities. The project consists of a map of New York City with dots that represent images from that location, and it includes Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and even small parts of Yonkers.
Though Google Street View's imaging vehicles weren't driving around in early 20th century NYC, the advent of photography still meant that people were taking pictures. Thankfully, the New York Public Library has saved thousands of these historical photos. The OldNYC project digitizes the images and places them on the map with their estimated date taken, creating a time traveling street view for urban history buffs.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Historical Street View
- The use of historical images to create virtual street view experience representing changes over time.
- Digital Heritage Preservation
- The use of technology to digitize and preserve historical photographs and documents for cultural and educational purposes.
- Time Travel Tourism
- Opportunities to create immersive tourism experiences that show how cities and landmarks looked like in the past and how they evolved over time.
Where This Applies
- Tourism
- Opportunities to develop time travel experiences and tours that show the evolution of cities and landmarks over time.
- Education
- Opportunities to incorporate an interactive and immersive historical visual experience into history, social studies and geography classes.
- Cultural Heritage
- Opportunities to leverage digital technology to digitize and preserve historical photographs and documents for cultural preservation and exhibition purposes.
