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KickStarter Campaign Launched for History As You Travel Project

Posted by: | April 21, 2014

New Android App Lets You Learn Community History On The Go

COLUMBUS, OH – April 21, 2014  If you travel by car there are undoubtedly times when you have wondered why a town had an unusual name or when it was first settled. Perhaps your ancestor was part of that history. A KickStarter campaign http://kck.st/1lvoChx was launched today to raise funds for a project that is documenting the founding history of every incorporated community in the USA. Along with the project is an app for Android devices that will deliver that history about the places along your way as you drive or ride. Designed to work without intervention by the driver, the HistOrigin™ app uses GPS to determine the user’s location and then taps into its ever expanding database via the internet to provide voice announcements to the user about cities and towns as the user nears them on the highway.

The KickStarter campaign is designed to raise funds to help complete the massive project to document this history for the entire country. The initial effort has completed histories for thousands of communities in three states: New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Under development for more than two years, the project recently completed initial testing. Work is expanding in phases, region by region, across the country. As each state has a significant number of its locales documented, the data is released and the application updated. Contributions from the public are sought to help fund the effort and expand the information available. Completion of the entire US is anticipated in 2015 if funding is available.

A sample of the information available is this entry for Upper Arlington, Ohio: Upper Arlington - Upper Arlington was going to be called The Country Club District, after a similar Country Club development in Kansas City, but by 1917, the community decided on Upper Arlington, in reference to its southern neighbor of Arlington, now known as Marble Cliff. Upper Arlington was incorporated on March 20, 1918.

The HistOrigin™ application is initially available for Android based devices including smartphones and tablets. Future releases for Apple based devices are planned. During the “beta” phase, use of the application and data are free, however a nominal contribution to the KickStarter campaign is required.

Company founder Joseph Schaller, Ph.D. had this to say about the debut of HistOrigin™: “Our initial goal for HistOrigin™ is to provide an opportunity to learn short histories of America's communities across the entire United States. It is hoped that this will be both informational as well as entertaining.”

More About The App

The goal of the HistOrigin™ app and the Local Highway History (LHH) project is to create the most comprehensive reference available to the stories of the origins of American villages, cities, and towns. The app provides the traveling public with the unique hands off experience of hearing the stories of the people and events behind the start of communities you encounter on your drive to any destination within the United States of America. The HistOrigin™ app is meant to require no user interaction once the default Traveling Mode has been activated. Start the App, adjust the volume, put the phone down, and wait for the next story to be read to you. As you travel along and approach a city, town, or village at an approximate distance of 5 miles you will be alerted by the sound of the voice telling you the community name, the state, and the story of how the community came to be. The app is designed to not interrupt your GPS based driving instructions or telephone conversations. An Android device with GPS capability and an internet connection are necessary to take advantage of the application. A 4G data connection is recommended for best performance of the traveling functionality in the app.

About LHH

Local Highway History, LLC is a new company formed specifically for development of this and other ground breaking applications. LHH is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For investor and financial inquiries, please contact Robert D. Erney, Esq., 1654 E. Broad St, Columbus, OH 43203.

Press contact:

For more information or to arrange interviews please contact:

Rob de Santos
Director, Media and Advertising, LHH, LLC
Mobile: 1-:614-571-8986

Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1lvoChx
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