While still very much in its infancy, today's online launch of MyBlockNYC.com, the first video-mapping website, that, according to the press release, "allows users to share and explore personal video accounts of life in New York City," may be the natural extension of sites like FourSquare and Google Maps. Co-founded by Alex Kalman and Alex Rickard, the site seeks to incorporate the "diverse perspectives" of the city by letting users upload videos block by block in all five boroughs. Visitors can then filter the map by filmmaker (age, gender, local, or tourist) or material (time of day, season, topic). For example you could type in "Crime in the Winter at Night from the perspective of a Tourist" and see a corresponding vid (uh, we hope the cops come). While we're a little bit hazy on how everything works, you can try it for yourself with an upcoming July 24 installation at the MoMa, Talk To Me: Design and Communication Between People and Objects—MyBlockNYC.com will have a 40-inch touch screen kiosk where visitors can capture real-life street moments and upload them to the map; the videos will then by viewable from the exhibition. We wonder if anyone will film this.
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