u/Top_Action_4143

I’ve always been the type of person that drives past an old abandoned house, factory, school, random building in the middle of nowhere and immediately starts wondering:

“What was this place?”
“Who used to live/work here?”
“What did it actually look like when it was brand new?”

Sometimes I’ll literally end up going down a Google rabbit hole trying to find old photos or history on it and still come up empty.

That curiosity is actually why I started building an app called Origin Search.

The idea is pretty simple: you take a picture of an old building, abandoned house, forgotten structure, etc. and the app tries to:

• Restore what it most likely looked like when it was new
• Identify what the building/place likely was used for
• Give history and background info on it
• Estimate time period / architectural clues

For example, if you pass an old boarded-up Victorian home, an abandoned gas station, warehouse, school, or historic building, it can try to reconstruct how it probably looked in its best years and tell you the story behind it.

Still building it out, but honestly it started because I figured I can’t be the only person weirdly obsessed with old forgotten places 😂

Does anyone else do this when driving around? What’s the coolest abandoned building/place you’ve ever found?

GOOD FOR THRIFTERS , FIX AND FLIPPERS, OR ANY CURIOUS TREASURE HUNTER ! I’ve been quietly building an app called Origin Search and wanted to get some honest thoughts from people who are into old stuff, antiques, history, restoration, abandoned places, old cars, etc.

The idea came from seeing old houses, rusty objects, random antiques, and damaged old photos and always wondering: what was this thing originally? or what did it look like when it was new?

The app is super simple. You just scan or upload a photo of something — an old item, rusty object, antique, damaged photo, old house/building, car, pretty much anything.

It will:
• Try to identify what it is
• Restore it visually to what it likely looked like in its best/new condition
• Give a history/background on it
• Estimate the value when possible

One thing I’ve actually found useful is restoring really rusty or damaged items just to figure out what they even are before trying to research them.

Still building and improving accuracy, but curious — what would you use something like this for? Old family photos? Antique hunting? Forgotten buildings? Estate sale finds?

I’ve been quietly building an app called Origin Search and wanted to get some honest thoughts from people who are into old stuff, antiques, history, restoration, abandoned places, old cars, etc.

The idea came from seeing old houses, rusty objects, random antiques, and damaged old photos and always wondering: what was this thing originally? or what did it look like when it was new?

The app is super simple. You just scan or upload a photo of something — an old item, rusty object, antique, damaged photo, old house/building, car, pretty much anything.

It will:
• Try to identify what it is
• Restore it visually to what it likely looked like in its best/new condition
• Give a history/background on it
• Estimate the value when possible

One thing I’ve actually found useful is restoring really rusty or damaged items just to figure out what they even are before trying to research them.

Still building and improving accuracy, but curious — what would you use something like this for? Old family photos? Antique hunting? Forgotten buildings? Estate sale finds?