Hold the phone: UK launches 'talking statues'

Statues in the UK are getting chatty this week in a bid to engage new audiences in history and culture.

"Talking Statues" is a yearlong project that will put words into the mouths of 40 figures across London and Manchester.

Famous statues taking part in the capital include Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street, Isaac Newton at the British Library and the Unknown Soldier at Paddington Station.

In Manchester the artist LS Lowry, Queen Victoria and Abraham Lincoln will all be getting wordy.

Visitors just need to swipe their smartphone on each talking statue's tag to get a "phone call" from the famous historical person in question, giving further information about their stories.

The project works using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which enables content to be streamed directly from the web via a wireless network.

The brainchild of arts organization Sing London with tech company Atenna International and the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG), the project mixes playwrights, actors and mobile technology and aims to reach at least 100,000 users over the course of the 12 months.

For more information see http://www.talkingstatues.co.uk/index.html