Create a visual old fashioned virtual passport
IF you’ve ever dreamed of seeing a quirky stamp in your passport – say a cartoon pirate turtle … now you can.
In an era of SmartGates and more relaxed European border controls a new website is offering a virtual passport service to give you the souvenir stamps you deserve.
Visastamper works by tracking your computer’s IP address to generate what it says is a fairly realistic entry stamp for whatever country you are visiting.
And just like at a real life passport control, the stamps vary in colour, angle and placement to create a unique record to share on Facebook and Twitter.
The site’s UK-based creator Alex Petrie said he had the idea while bored at Munich airport.
“Living in Europe we no longer get the stamps when we move from one European country to another – which is a bit disappointing,” Mr Petrie said.
“I thought it would be nice to be able to do so, as passport stamps make a really attractive collection.
“It’s a bit crushing when your passport expires and you have to start again. Our site helps you to keep that collection going and lets you share the collection with others.”
Visastamper has stamps available for most countries in the world as well as a selection of city-specific stamps it is continuing to expand.
Mr Petrie’s personal favourite is the Cayman Islands stamp, which features a “cartoon pirate turtle”.
While the stamps are realistic he said there were subtle differences so they were unlikely to cause any security issues.
The site is still in the beta but Mr Petrie and his co-partner plan to launch an app version soon which will use GPS to add stamps.
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