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A Walk Through Time, a “Walking” iphone app.

I am currently working on a mobile phone app project with Geoff Ainscow from Los Angeles. We study now a iphone app where each of your steps is one million years during a one mile walk tracing the 4,600 million year the evolution of life on earth. In 1997, at Hewlett Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California, the Walk Through Time exhibit was created for the opening experience of a five day meeting involving 350 scientist from around the world. Every foot of the one mile walk represents one million years of the evolution of life on Earth. 95 color, illustrative panels, describing the state of life at that time were spaced at various intervals. Starting 4,600 million years ago, at the beginning of the solar system, you walk a mile before reaching the present day and realize that the last 1/10 of an inch represents the 10,000 years of our civilization. This exhibit has been shown in many cities and continues to travel around the world. A book was published in 1998.  Today, the Walk moves into the high tech age with the development of this iPhone app.

walkthroughtime.org

As creative designer, the most important idea around the app is that you will have to walk for real to experience the 4,600 Millons years of evolution of life on earth. Each of your steps will be detected by the accelerometer and will move you forward 1 million years. We hope to  start the programming of the iphone app around October 2011.