It’s possible that you are familiar with your neighborhood however, I’m willing to believe that there’s plenty you’re unaware of. There’s something interesting that took place in the area that you drive by everyday without noticing or even noticing, like the structure which has been there for years or the park that which you enjoy at least once in a while. There’s a simple method to get to know more about your local area or any other neighborhood in the world with a method that seems similar to the game Pokemon Go, however, it’s for real-world applications.
I’m talking about the web app wikishootme.toolforge.org. Despite its strange name (to be honest) the wikishootme website is an excellent site. It’s a map of the world made with the OpenStreetMap as well as Leaflet and has an added feature: it highlights any area nearby that has their own Wikipedia pages, pictures that are in Wikimedia commons or Wikidata. In reality, you can utilize it to find out all the important things about any region in the globe.
If you click on the three-layer icon at the top-right corner you will be able to control the various categories that show on screen:
- Wikidata (with image, max 3K): Shows areas that have a Wikidata webpage with an image.
- Wikidata (no images or image, maximum 3K): Shows areas that contain the Wikidata page that does not have an image attached.
- Commons photos (500 maximum): Shows areas which have Wikimedia Commons images.
- Wikipedia (500 maximum): Shows areas with Wikipedia entries.
- Mix’n’match (5000 maximum): Shows data points by using the Mix’n’match tool that ties data to Wikipedia article.
- Mix’n’Match large catalogues (5000 maximum): Show data points by using the Mix’n’match tool to show large catalogs.
- Flickr shows pictures of the site on Flickr.
It is possible to keep any of these things active on the screen, however the more you do it, the more messy things get. From my experience, the most effective combination to use often will be Commons pictures and Wikipedia. In this way, you’ll discover areas that are sufficiently popular to be able to create Wikipedia-related articles of their own, in addition to any regions with images on Wikimedia Commons.
The thing that is so amazing about the Commons option is that you can come across images that appear to be current. You may find photos that illustrate the neighborhood as it was as it was back in time. As an example, while looking through the results of East Harlem in New York City I came across this engraving from the Harlem Flats Viaduct from 1876. If you’ve been on Metro North into the city prior to that, you’ve traveled this road and to be able to see what it looked like 150 years earlier is amazing.
The first place you should take a look is your city or town. I’ve spent the morning looking around my area, and the rest of my city and then jumped right into every other place I’ve lived.
Make use of wikishootme to create a real-life Pokemon Go map
However, if you’d like to take things a more step, then you could make wikishootme a kind like Pokemon GO in real life. TikTok creator deepsofwikipedia has come up with the idea in her video about the wikishootme website. If you select the Wikidata (no images) section, then you’ll be able to see the area around you which has Wikidata but no photos to support it. You could walk around and take a picture of the area, then add it to Wikidata yourself by and then turn the green dot.
Create first a Wikimedia Commons account. Then, upload an image that you took. Then, click on the equivalent blue dot in the map. click the hyperlinked title for the place, scroll down to the end of the Wikidata page, click “Add Statement” then select “image.” You must enter the name of the image in its format on Wikimedia Commons, and then click “publish.” Gather a few buddies, browse the map, and begin making photographs.
