On August 30, rock band Arcade Fire, together with Google and artist Chris Milk, launched an interactive video set to the band's track "We Used to Wait." Called "The Wilderness Downtown," the online project makes use of Google Maps and Google Street View to incorporate images of the viewer's hometown into the video.
Viewers begin the experience by providing their childhood address. The video experience then unfolds in multiple windows, taking viewers on a tour of their hometown to the tune of the Arcade Fire track. Users can also write a note to their younger selves in a tree branch-inspired font that is incorporated into the video.
"The Wilderness Downtown" is optimized for Google Chrome and should also run on any browser that supports HTML5.
"We Used to Wait" comes from Arcade Fire's latest LP The Suburbs and is the second interactive project to come out of that album: A webcast of the band's recent concert at Madison Square Garden features fan-submitted photos of the suburbs as part of its stage display.
"The Wilderness Downtown" co-creator Chris Milk previously worked on The Johnny Cash Project, an interactive video set to Cash's "Ain't No Grave."
Make a customized video for "The Wilderness Downtown": http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com
Find out more about the project: http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire
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