March 8, 8 women, 8 cities. For Women’s Rights Day, Snapchat wants to honor historical women with augmented reality. The virtual statues will appear in 3D on the screen of your smartphone. A fun and modern highlight that allows you to learn more about these little-known icons.
In Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Nantes, Marseille, Lille, Metz and Bordeaux, it will be possible to discover a statue erected in honor of an outstanding woman. In Paris, next to the statue of Charles de Gaulle, in the roundabout of the Champs Elysees will appear Simone Veil, at the origin of the right to abortion in France. In Lyon, on Place Bellecour, you can admire the writer Simone de Beauvoir next to the statue of Saint-Exupéry. In Marseille, in Parc Borély, next to the statue of Pierre Puget, discover a statue of the royal portrait painter Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.
In Bordeaux, the woman of letters François de Graffigny will be visible next to the statue of Montesquieu on the Place des Quinconces. In Nantes, the resistant Manon Tardon will be on the Admiral Halgan square. In Metz, travelers will be able to virtually meet Joséphine Baker at the Central Station. In Strasbourg, Snapchat has decided to exhibit one of the pioneers of feminism, Olympes de Gouges, at Place Kléber. Finally in Lille, walkers can discover the feminist activist Hubertine Auclert on the Place du Théâtre.
Visibility in public space
This initiative, which required three months of work, was carried out by Snapchat AR Studio, launched last September in Paris, and which aims to develop augmented reality on behalf of the application. While women represent only 10% of the statues in France, Snapchat wanted to make a contribution to the building and compensate for the lack of visibility of important women in the public space.
The experience will be available from March 8. To virtually meet these women who have made history, you obviously need the Snapchat app. And to make the statue appear, simply scan a QR code available at the designated location, then point your phone at the physical statue.
Another option, the filter appears in the application when the user is geolocated near the indicated place. The 3D technology visible on the smartphone screen offers a more than realistic experience since it is possible to rotate the statue and zoom.
In 2017, Snapchat angered netizens on the day of March 8. The app had offered filters, including one to look like Marie Curie. Except this one featured excessive makeup and false eyelashes. Which was far from unanimous.
Source: BFM TV
