Why is it that when you stare outside a window, listening to music, you end up feeling calm, stressfree and productive? Perhaps, you’re becoming one with the lush green trees and the flocks of sheep grazing by the meadows. It’s also a possibility that you’re staring into people’s lives, inhaling their stories. Well, looking outside a window, has become even more meditative now amid the lockdown when the world grapples with the deadly virus. While staring outside your window, leaves you yearning for more, how about staring outside windows from across the world? You can certainly do that thanks to WindowSwap. This quarantine brainchild of an Indian couple based in Singapore has brought joy into hundreds of people’s lives. This is how you can bring a spark of that joy in your life too.
Travel The World Virtually By Looking Outside Windows From Across The World
While this pandemic and work from home situation has left you giving alot of importance to your Windows XP, maybe it’s time to revive the meaning of actual windows. An Indian couple, Sonali Ranjit and Vaishnav Balasubramaniam created a web application WindowSwap to let people look at the world from other people’s windows. Through this website you can submit a 10 minute recorded clip of a view from your view. And then, watch the view from over 10,000 windows from 110 countries across the world. So, travel the world virtually from the comfort of your home.
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Get mesmerised by the snowcapped peaks and cottages of France, gaze at the rains of Hyderabad, peek at the gorgeous cornish of the UAE and dream as you watch the tall skyscrapers in the USA. It’s a breathtaking world out there and you can travel wherever you want with a free ticket. From some people, this is a stress buster, others, its a spark of creativity and for some others it’s a whole lesson in geography. With deers grazing against the backdrop of snowcapped peaks, cats playing on the lawn or a dog sitting still by the window, it’s truly mesmerising.
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Indian Couple Launch WindowSwap A Website To Stare Outside 10,000 Windows From 110 Countries
Sonali and Vaishnav, who both work in the advertising field and love travelling, shared with MoneyControl about the inspiration behind WindowSwap. Sonali recalls “A lot of our work is creative. But staring at the same window, the same apartment, week after week during the lockdown, wasn’t exactly inspiring. Wish we could look out of some other windows. That was the thought.” WindowSwap was launched in June by the couple based in Singapore. But this tiny quarantine project took a whole new life. It now has 3.3 million viewers, 10,000 window submission and users from 110 countries.
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While WindowSwap started off as a platform to help people travel virtually, it’s now become a medium to help people find calm amid the storm. Ranjit stated to Moneycontrol, “We’ve seen the use of WindowSwap spike when countries go through an anxious phase. For instance, when New Zealand announced the second lockdown and when the US went to elections.” Infact, teachers also use these window views to educate students on geography and artists use them for creative inspiration and meditation. So whether you’re an avid traveller, an artist looking or inspiration or just longing for a break, do look outside the window, and you’ll find everything you need. Meanwhile, here’s a lovely virtual tour of Manali to get your spirits going.