Project Uses A ‘Pokemon GO’-Style App To See Statues Of Historic Female In The U.S.

Y&R New York, a communications company, announced on Monday, May 1, the launch of The Whole Story Project. It is an augmented reality app similar to how “Pokemon GO” operates. However, what users would see are statues of historic women in the U.S.

Digital Trends reported that The Whole Story Project aims to bridge the gender gap for historic statues in the U.S. It points out that of the 5,193 historic statues in street corners in the U.S., women comprise only about 7.5 percent. If fictional characters are not included, there is none in the New York Central Park.

The Whole Story Project app would help the app users to locate the statues of real women with the use of the smartphone camera, augmented reality, and GPS. It would work in Central Park, Dante Park in the Big Apple, Washington D.C., and Mount Rushmore. The app likewise functions in London, Milan, Prague, and Rome by missing the real scene with computer-generated statues using the camera view of the smartphone.

Y&R, which developed The Whole Story Project app, did it to support the Sustainable Development Goal of the UN in 2016. In March, it placed the first virtual statue at Dante Park before the Women of the World Summit was held. Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Shirley Chisholm, Nina Simone, and Edith Wharton were among the 22 statues in New York added by Y&R and Girl Scout Troop 3484 in Central Park, Mashable reported.

The Whole Story Project app could be downloaded on iOS and Android phones. More historic female statues are expected to be added because the crowdsourced venture is inviting users and developers to take part in adding more statues to the map. To do that, design a statue using a software, upload the statue through Facebook, and while exploring the real world, place the statues at the desired location using the mobile app, Gov,tech reports.