The Face the Facts app enables election posters to be scanned with a mobile phone camera and provides information on the candidate’s positions. This allows you to look up how the person on the poster voted in the past as you walk past. Face the Facts is available free of charge for iOS and Android.
Playful research
“It was particularly important to find a design that presented the wealth of information well and was fun at the same time,” the app developers explain in a press release. If you don’t feel like scanning posters on the go, you can also use the search function to find members of parliament.
In the t3n test, the scanning of the posters worked reliably. However, this only applies to posters on which the person’s name is clearly legible. The faces are apparently not recognized.
1 of 5
Information from MPs watch
If the scanning worked, the app shows how the people depicted have voted in the Bundestag in the past, which sideline jobs they do and for which constituency they are running. Curriculum vitae and further links are also listed for the top candidates.
The information comes from the parliament watch, the Bundestag or Wikidata. According to their own information, the developers have only taken over the content and not edited it.
Further features planned
Four students from Code University Berlin developed the app. The project was supported by Wikimedia, Update Deutschland and the Prototype Fund.
The code is freely available so that the application can also be used in other countries, write the developers. Accordingly, there are already first inquiries.
Until the state elections next year, new features are to be added. Then controversies about the candidates should also be displayed as well as a newsfeed, which also shows information about politicians outside of the elections.
The walk to test the app was really fun and almost felt like a treasure hunt. Election posters are often poor in content and sometimes only show a photo and the name of the MP. With Face the Facts you can find well-prepared information quickly and easily.
