About Lookstory
Lookstory is a private guide to the world around you. You walk where you like. When something catches your eye, you point your phone at it and hear what it is and why it matters.
How it works
Lookstory starts from where you are standing. Near any spot in the centre of Amsterdam there are only a handful of places it has a story for, and it knows which ones they are.
Your photo then says which of them you mean. That is a much easier question than “what is this a picture of?”, and it is why Lookstory is right more often than a general image search would be. When it is not sure, it says so and asks.
Then you get the story: a minute or two, to read or to listen to while you look. You can ask questions about what you are looking at, and Lookstory will point out what is worth seeing next, a short walk away.
Where the stories come from
Every story is written once, by Lookstory, and told to everyone who asks. It is not made up on the spot. The dates, names and numbers in it are checked against published references before it goes live, and each page links to the records for the place: the national monuments register, the institution that looks after it, Wikidata and Wikipedia.
Where the records disagree or a good story cannot be confirmed, Lookstory leaves it out or tells you it is only a story. An entertaining mistake is still a mistake.
Where it works
Lookstory begins in Amsterdam, from the medieval centre out to the canal ring, the old Jewish quarter and the museums, and grows from there. It would rather know one city well than a hundred badly.
What it asks of you
Your location, so it knows what is near you, and the camera when you choose to use it. No account is needed for any of that. The details are on the privacy page.
If you sign in
Signing in adds three things. Lookstory can walk with you, telling the story of each place you pass without being asked. Every story has a second telling for children of about eight to eleven. And when you take a photo, it says a few words about what you caught before the story begins.
Who is behind it
Lookstory is made and run by Tan Gravam. Every story is checked against published sources, which are listed at the foot of its page.
Get in touch
Found a mistake in a story, or know a place Lookstory should cover? Write to tan.gravam@gravam.com.