TimeLens app:
San Francisco Through Time
An interactive waterfront tour that turns history into a living experience
San Francisco is a city layered with stories — but most of them are locked behind plaques, textbooks, or museum walls. I wanted to explore what happens when history becomes something you can touch, slide through, and walk inside of. This project is an MVP concept for a location-based, interactive tour app that lets users scan a place and see how it evolved over time — while turning exploration into a gentle, rewarding experience for both visitors and locals.
Walk the City
Slide Through Time
An interactive historical tour that turns places into living stories.
This app transforms real-world locations into immersive time-travel experiences.
Users scan a location, see how it looked decades or centuries ago, explore its evolution through an interactive timeline, and complete curated walking routes that end in meaningful, shareable moments.
Just history you can see, hear and feel.
A new way to experience history — built for modern cities
Most historical tours are passive: plaques, audio guides, static maps. This app reimagines cultural exploration as an interactive, location-based experience that blends storytelling, movement, and discovery. By combining QR scanning, “then / now” visual overlays, and tactile timelines, the app invites users to stand in one place and witness time unfold — before guiding them onward through a thoughtfully designed route. It’s designed to work while walking, without friction, and without overwhelming users.
Why It Works
Designed for engagement, not attention drain
Short, cinematic story bites (20–30 seconds)
Expandable depth for curious users
Motion used as feedback, not distraction
Built for tourists and locals
Visitors get clear, magical moments worth sharing
Locals rediscover familiar streets — and can contribute personal memories, photos, and stories
Supports local ecosystems
Routes guide foot traffic to nearby small businesses
Stamp-based quests create incentive without gamification fatigue
Designed for partnerships with cities, museums, and cultural institutions
