Thursday, May 10, 2018

Time Travel Switzerland


Smapshot is a platform for georeferencing and visualizing historical images of Switzerland. The platform uses Cesium.js to display vintage photographs superimposed on top of a 3d globe. You can use Smapshot just to explore historical, vintage views of Switzerland. Or you can join in and help to georeference other vintage photographs of the country.

So far Smapshot has georeferenced a large number of vintage aerial photos of Switzerland. You can have a lot of fun browsing these historical aerial views. If you click on any of the thumbnail images of the photos then the 3d globe zooms and spins to show you the exact view depicted in the photo. The image is superimposed on top of the globe, so you can see where the historical picture was originally taken.

If you click on the 'contribute' button you can help Smapshot to find the locations of other vintage photos of Switzerland. It is possible to contribute to this process even if you don't know Switzerland very well. The description notes attached to the vintage images are often all you need to discover the exact location of the view depicted in the photo.

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