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Design

NYC's Twin Towers Reappear In AR App

Brian August virtually restores an iconic part of the New York skyline.

Although we are coming up on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, we are still struck with pangs of sadness when we look up at the void in the NYC skyline that was previously occupied by the Twin Towers. While a memorial and a new tower are currently in the works, it might be a while until we look at those buildings with the same awe and the same symbolism that we did the Twin Towers.

It might not be much, but a new augmented reality app by Brian August could help us remember what the towers looked like as part of the skyline. When an iPhone is pointed at the space where the towers once stood, the app will virtually restore the majestic buildings.

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Besides just virtually reinstating the Towers, it also invites users to take photos within visual range of the World Trade Center and then share stories from their location. As August notes, every location that was within visual range of the Towers had a story that is worth sharing. The app doesn’t just bring back the Towers in augmented reality, but generates a narrative around it that involves all New Yorkers and their shared experiences with the Towers and the buildings’ fate.

Eventually, August hopes to expand the project beyond just the augmented reality application to real world art installations. He plans on creating a series of benches at 110 different locations that include an outline of the Towers so that when the skyline is viewed from a specific vantage point, it overlays the outline onto the area where they once stood.

The project, which is called “110 Stories,” was the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign that garnered $25,000 in funding. It comes at a time when the art world is starting to reflect on 9/11 for the first time—PS1 recently announced a show called September 11 as part of its fall programming.

[via Animal]