Have you ever come upon an interesting building, plant, or landmark and wanted immediate information about its origin or function? Perhaps you should travel to the Welsh town of Monmouth, which is set to become the first "Wikipedia town" this weekend.
On May 19, Monmouth, located about 150 miles west of London, will transform into Monmouthpedia. Officials will affix QR codes, scannable by a mobile device's camera, to local points of interest, enabling passersby to immediately access the Wikipedia page for that location. There will also be town-wide Wi-Fi access made available for tomorrow's event.
"The project aims to cover every single notable place, person, artifact, plant, animal, and other things in Monmouth in as many languages as possible, but with a special focus on Welsh," according to (what else?) the Wikipedia page for Monmouthpedia.
Organizers will be deploying four types of QR codes for the event: larger ceramic or metal plaques for outdoor venues; smaller ones for objects non-specific to Monmouth, like the Flora and Fauna guide; glass stickers in the windows of shops; and information posters, signs, and notice boards. The town was hoping to have 1,000 QR codes in place by tomorrow.
The event is the brainchild of John Cummings. As he told ABC News, "I started Monmouthpedia because I think that knowledge can give us context and allow us to appreciate the things around us more."
The project is jointly funded by Monmouthshire County Council and Wikimedia UK.
Cathy Yeates (right), project leader at Swancraft Studios, helped to create the ceramic QR codes at the behest of Cummings, who used to be a volunteer at her studio. Some of her studio's handiwork can be seen via the Flickr account for Monmouthpedia.
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