October 3, 2004
Hear you are
The Canadian [murmur] project, created by Shawn Micallef, James Roussel and Gabe Sawhney, relies on a simple concept: recordings of anecdotes and memories told by locals can be accessed by mobile phone (or payphone.) The number to call is posted on a small sign close to the site where the events took place.
People can dial the number on the sign, enter the code, and the place comes alive as tales of its past lives unfold.
[murmur] deliberately curates stories of a rather ordinary nature. "There's an official history that any plaque will tell you about. But history is made every day, and has been made everyday by regular people," says Micallef. "We're trying to give equal weight to everyone's story, whether they're regular people, or the ruling class, which is usually the traditional history of Toronto the Good."
Sawhney says [murmur] is miles away from commercial audio guide: "We've since heard about projects in other cities which let people listen to stories about places using cellphones, but they're all highly-produced and tourist-oriented, with soundtracks and voice actors -- and most of them aren't free."
So far, [murmur] has been installed in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
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