Integrated ZooEduGuide with multimedia and AR from the largest living classrooms to wildlife conservation awareness

Abstract

Dissemination of information in today's digital lifestyle has grown beyond prints, multimedia contents are no longer luxurious elements but necessary components. Combined with an advanced navigation system on Android-based mobile devices and augmented reality technology, we achieve a contextaware self-guided application that not only assists users navigating an unknown territory but also delivers facts about places they are visiting as well as living and non-living things they are encountering. Applying such a system to zoos, the largest living classrooms in existance, while incorporating cartoon-like kids' friendly interfaces and games, we have developed a portable educational gadget. Our application, named ZooEduGuide, is designed to effectively attract and motivate young children and teenagers to learn about animals and wildlife along with ecological footprints. It encourages their love for animals and raises their awareness for environmental conservation as today, more than ever before, there is an urgent need to actively protect wildlife at a global scale. Enhancing zoo experience with ZooEduGuide, a planned field-trip at the zoo could be personalized. Furthermore, the flexibility and generalizability of our system allows local zoos to customize their maps and to dynamically schedule show events. At the same time, many zoos across the country can share common information and news through a centralized on-board database managed by the national zoo organization.

A Survey on Applications of Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality for Nature and Environment

“…In citations per year the 5 most cited publications are: [10](24.33), [15](5.33), [11](5), [16](5), [12](3.5). The average number of citations for each classification category is as follows: environmental monitoring 9.86 (most cited [11](40)), ecological awareness 12.25 (most cited [10](73)), resource efficiency 10.83 (most cited [12](35)), environmental education 3.66 (most cited [17,18](5)).…”

“…Srisuphab et al [18] designed an application (ZooEduGuide) for motivating teenagers and children to learn about animals and wildlife and to raise their awareness for environmental preservation. They tested their application at a zoo.…”

The gap in technology for visitor experience in a zoo: A case study in Indonesia

“…Furthermore, technological applications offer creative, familiar ways to attract children and teenagers to learn about wildlife and raise their conservation awareness. The combined use of the advanced navigation system on mobile devices and augmented reality has been demonstrated to assist zoo visitors in navigation and accessing information about the displays (Srisuphab et al, 2014). The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has created a virtual zoo where visitors can experience a visit to the zoo through their mobile phones or computer (WAZA, 2015).…”

Moving learning into a smart urban park: students' perceptions of the Augmented Reality EduPARK mobile game

“…The ZooEduGuide [30] is a mobile application to enhance the zoo visits experience in Thailand. This app provides an interactive way to explore a zoo by combining mobile devices and AR.…”