Places and people have existed for centuries, and we’re only allowed to walk down the memory lane of past history through documentaries, museums or the voice of our ancestors. What if we can reimagine the histories of historical gems using technology?

Joining hands with Preface Nomad teachers, a group of students 6 to 15 year old from HK made use of their innovative sights grown in 21st century tech era to create a digital puzzle of the past with the use of Scratch and MIT App Inventor, retracing and visualizing the nostalgic scenes of their hometown and the Massachusetts hub.

The project ‘Now and Then, through Our Eyes’ reads through the history of the communities on the surface, but also epitomizes the collected innovations and the digital abilities of today’s kids. The App showcases a timeline and draggable puzzles of different parts of the community, encouraging users to immerse themselves into more visual geographical and social changes in history, while leaving traces and ideas navigating the application. The application is intended to keep a collection of the momentous records of every user’s footsteps in the database so as to gather more precious contents. They will also make use of extension functionalities to build physical, interactive installations connecting to hardwares like buttons and movement detection in different locations in HK, so as to share their innovative creations about the bygone days and the modern times with a more user-centric and engaging design.

Six streams in detail:
App Inventor
Stream 1: Geo-Coding & Maps
Students in this stream were tasked with building the framework of the application and also created the mapping functions within the App.

Stream 2: Third-Parties Extensions
Students in this stream explored extensions and utilised them to streamline information delivery and customised visuals of the App buttons.

Stream 3: Storage & Database
Students here were tasked with fitting all media elements within App Inventor’s 10MB limit, learning about cloud and external storages in the process.


Scratch
Stream 1: Arts & Music
Students in this stream developed the visuals of the applications, and built numerous in-game animations that serve as transitions within the App.


Stream 2: Science & Social Studies
Students here were tasked with reimagining key historical events, and transformed them into prototype to be developed into the App.

Stream 3: Motion Sensing
Students in this stream explored computer and mobile sensing functions, and deduced the viability of their development within mobile settings.