Anyone who visits Campus Martius, for example, can use the app to check-in (sort of like on Four Square) and information on the land-marked location will appear with historical data.
Will McDowell, a business analyst at Detroit Labs, came up with the idea last summer as a new way to connect with his city, and said he hopes the app allows othersdo the same.Â
“There’s all these unique facts,†McDowell said. “Like Compuware has the world’s largest indoor waterfall or Martin Luther first said ‘I have a dream’ in Cobo Hall. … It’s all about discovering Detroit’s stories and it’s an easy way to learn little facts that make Detroit special.â€
McDowell and a team of Detroit Labs developers partnered with D:Hive and the Detroit Historical Museum for historical photos of some of the landmarks. There are currently 20 different check-in locations with about 40 total points of interest, and McDowell said he hopes to expand upon that. He also envisions unique features such as allowing a user to hold his or her smart phone up to an area like Campus Martius and viewing what it looks like now versus 100 years ago, for example.
Detroit Labs has not tried to market the free app, but through word-of-mouth about 20 new users have downloaded each day since its launch last week, McDowell said.
“Right now it’s just about getting people to use it and love it,†he said.
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