There are so many memories of Sept. 11, 2011, and now a free augmented reality mobile app and website, 110 Stories, enable people to share online their recollections and feelings about the day and the almost 30-year history of the 110-story World Trade Center Twin Towers.
That day, which has come to be known merely as 9/11, was like no other day in U.S. and travel industry history.
At 9:26 a.m., the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration banned the takeoff of all civilian aircraft across the country, the first nationwide shutdown of the commercial aviation system, and in addition to all of the human tragedy that day, the travel industry reeled for months.
The 110 Stories iPhone app has arrived just in time for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Using the app, a radar display instructs you how to point your iPhone in the direction of the spot where the Twin Towers once reigned, and the app's augmented reality features draw a pencil-like image of the towers.
You can then snap a composite photo, capturing your view with the Towers superimposed, and comment about what the Twin Towers, 9/11 or the scene means to you.
Users of the app can then submit their photos with comments and they will be displayed on the 110 Stories website on a map or in gallery form.
For example, this is what Hermann Mazard of Brooklyn, N.Y., wrote about the Twin Towers:
I grew up in New York, went to school in New York, got a job in New York and partied like a real New Yorker. Since I can remember, the Twin Towers stood atop the New York skyline, overlooking my every move to make sure I wasn't getting in trouble. They were a constant reminder that someone is looking over me, whether I want them to or not. When I saw the Towers fall, it was like losing a parent.
The images even depict the distance to the Twin Towers from where app users shoot their photos.
Here's what New Yorker Frank Radice, who was in Paris on Sept. 11, 2011, wrote using the 110 Stories app:
My wife and I were in Paris and saw the 2nd plane hit on live tv. Almost immediately the streets were filled with French military. We spent 2 days getting back so we could be in the city we love so much and mourn with friends and family.
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There undoubtedly will be way more than 110 stories collected once word about the free 110 Stories app spreads.
The memorial will be dedicated on Sept. 11, 2011, on the 10th anniversary and will open to the public the next day.
It would seemingly be a great app to use as tourists make their way to visit the new 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site.