Time Travel By Telephone: New App Shows Classic Pics At Scenic "Pivot Points"

Who doesn't enjoy the notion of time travelling to a different era in the past?  Speculating on the places, people, and events that have preceded your life is one of humanity's great fascinations, even as we stretch further into the future.  Now, although we can't physically poke around the past, a new app allows for a different type of this temporal trip...

It's like an inter-era Instagram.
(Image courtesy laughingsquid.com.)

According to wired.com, the new Pivot app adds a touch of "augmented reality" to everyday excursions.  When you near what they classify as a "pivot point", your phone receives an alert.  Raising your phone shows you an image of what the view from the spot you're standing on looked like at some point in the past.

Creator Asma Jaban co-invented the app as a means to explore her father's native Nazareth home.  “I wanted to create a way to let people see what my father’s village looked like in the past,” she explained. She and her fellow developers hope that the app will eventually become a platform for historical preservation.

 A Pivot point in Bethlehem.  It's two types of tourism for the price of one!
(Image courtesy fastcoexist.com.)

Pivot currently utilizes online archives for their material, but hopes to open a "shoebox archive" where people from around the world can upload photos of the past for perusal at pivot points.  Once the accuracy of the images is confirmed, each will be tied to a specific GPS point.  Already, prospective time-jockeys have offered images from Italy, Australia, Indonesia, and all around the United States.

Pivot is compatible with Android and iOS, and though they have reached their kickstarter goal, will continue to fundraise until this Saturday. They plan to launch the app this fall, including points of historical interest from Boston and Palestine. More cities will be added so that viewers can "see your world through a tunnel of time." Now, you can be a time tourist without having to worry about all that annoying stuff like getting the proper money and clothes and weapons to fend off everyone who thinks you're a sorcerer!  Enjoy the explorations!

A Pivot point in Yaffa, Palestine.  The more some things change, the more others stay the same...
(Image courtesy mondoweiss.net.)