Moscow officials want to provide locals and tourists to the Russian capital with a safer way to indulge in selfie-taking. City officials are accepting proposals to develop a smartphone app that would sync user's phones with street monitoring cameras, allowing people who purchase a monthly subscription to the service to take a photo with Moscow's most picturesque sights.
The app will show a spot for the best selfie on a GPS-enabled map, and launch the camera's timer. The app will also include software to edit the selfie.
Artem Yermolaev, head of Moscow's Department of Informational Technologies, told local television channel M24 that the department has already received a number of proposals for the app, which will be funded by private investors.
The app may have been triggered by the growing danger of selfies, recently acknowledged by Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, which issued a leaflet on "safe selfie taking." Similarly, the Head of Duma Commission on Legislation, Reglamentation, Rules and Procedures Alexander Semennikov has expressed the need to introduce bans on selfies in dangerous locations in Moscow, news portal Newsmsk.ru reported.
Experts say that the app will increase safety in the city and attract tourists, as well as TV and documentary filmmakers.
