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Smartphone interactives

Experience something new.

Explore new interpretive media techniques, reach new audiences and connect with users in new ways. With over 98% of Canadians owning smartphones, the technology has exciting possibilities for interpretation. Below are just a few ideas. Let us help you get creative and come up with many more.

Scavenger Hunts +

Put a new spin on an old idea with smartphone driven interactives. Directed activities, like scavenger hunts, can encourage users to explore resource areas in more detail, with more understanding of features they may have previously overlooked.

Smartphones allow users to record their discoveries and share them with friends and park staff in unique and engaging ways.

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This very simple scavenger hunt for Hillary House National Historic Site encouraged visitors to explore the features of gothic revival architecture by examining the house itself. The smartphone interactive guided users through the experience of searching around the outside of the house to find a series of illustrated features.

Audio Stories and Tours

Audio tours are easy with smartphone technology. Much of the cost associated with building an audio tour app lies in creating the media files (copywriting, voice acting). Audio tours allow users to engage with your resource visually, while also taking in your interpretive content audibly. Audio can also be used to add accessibility to physical signage.

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This app for the City of Orillia takes the audio tour to the next level by serving seasonally relevant stories. Stories about spring wildflowers are only played in spring, while stories about winter wildlife are only played in winter. With over 200 audio stories, there is almost always new content for visitors to hear.

Interactive Mapping

GPS tools on smartphones allow you to communicate a significant amount of relevant information to your users. Trail hazards, difficulties, reviews and more can be conveyed quickly and simply. We can use your mapping visuals as well to help maintain your brand.

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Some interactive mapping ideas:

  • Trail updates and hazards

  • Direct users to scenic vistas for photos (and by default away from sensitive areas).

  • Interactive sites where users can engage in activities.

  • Locations and times of in-person park programs.

  • Attractions with corresponding times and information.

Image Recognition

Artificial Intelligence has progressed to the point where phones can now recognize images. Consider apps like iNaturalist where users can identify wild species from a set of photographs. While identifying and distinguishing between millions of different animals and plants lies outside of the budget of most, using this technology in a scaled down version affords some exciting opportunities.

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Monarch Adventure, currently in development, takes users on a 4000 mile journey through the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly while hiking a local trail. Users must find milkweed (and verify it with AI image recognition) and nectar sources. The app encourages visitors to explore the habitat of a monarch close up, such as looking for larva and eggs on the leaves of the plants.

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