Park Walk - Tech Specs - Nodes / Hotspots

Park Walk Tech Specs - Nodes / Hotspots
Introduction

Background:

Park Walk is a social and environmental mapping project, engaging aspects of trail orientation and activities, bio-regional mapping, Over time, and with the addition of community members and visitors own experiences of Park Walk, it will become a community mapping experience, with the associated website holding narrative layers that relate how people associate meaning with place, and with a particular place, such as the Spring Creek Trail in Toronto's High Park, or the Hoodoos Trail in Banff.
- This process will show us what people are really interested in documenting, on the trail and in the surrounding landscape.
- It will also show what social activities are people interested in engaging in while on an outdoor wilderness or urban park walk.
- This experience could be a way of involving the visitor and the local community into a mapping of the local landscape over time.
- This data could then be analysed to explore and discover the personal experiences that create a deeper, richer experience of the local landscape.
The design for the Park Walk experience is scaleable and can be designed to relate to a particular chosen site. In this instance, Spring Creek Trail is standing in for testing purposes for the Hoodoos Trail in Banff National Park.

Before the Park Walk:

Park Walkers would visit the Parks Office to find out about the Park Walk experience. They would be given a brief explanation of the Park Walk Activities by the Park Warden. They would be shown to a dedicated kiosk (can be used by more than one person ie a group) where they would register and sign into the website. They then pick up their phones loaded with the application from the Park Warden. They then view a short video demo of the experience, and the potential activities they will participate in. They would be shown the website to give them an idea of the possibilities of capturing and uploading their own images, video and audio and how this content would then be uploaded and added to the various nodes on the site. In this way, participants would be creating layers of information and narrative that would describe the sites along the trail, and map changes to the sites and the trail over time. They would also be shown a sample Park Walk album and template which they can use if they would like to create their own personal album of the experience, after their Park Walk.

After the Park Walk:

Park Walkers would return to the Parks Office and visit the dedicated computer kiosks. There they would sign in again and proceed to upload the images, recordings, video from their phones to their personal folder. They would then return their phones to the Park Warden. Participants may choose to create a personal album of their Park Walk, which can be saved and stored on the website. Much like a flickr pool, this album could then be accessed on-line by the participant via their login, to edit, download, print or send to a friend.

Notes:

The intention is that each of the themes should be built out to include 6 nodes for an entire themed experience on the Park Walk. The individual nodes identified in this tech spec would be expanded to fit the walk, so that participants can choose the theme that they gravitate towards, or change themes during the walk. This would ensure a re-playable game experience, that would suit many sorts of users of different ages, with different interests, in groups, pairs or on solo walks. Having said that, if the participant wishes to experience a different theme at each node of the Park Walk that would also be possible.

Park Walk Tech Spec: Node 1

PHYSICAL (INPUT)

USER INTERFACE

RESPONSE (OUTPUT)

NARRATIVE DETAILS

Step 1

Player enters the trail and steps into Node 1 GPS zone (15 m diameter)

'Trail Entrance'

Phone vibrates and plays audio alert (traffic sounds crossfading into bird sounds) for 10 seconds, then stops

Audio File: parkwalk_hp_1_traffictobirds.wav

Player stops and turns attention to phone screen

Theme: Entrance / Introduction

Step 2

Immediately following Step 1

Phone displays introduction image for 10 seconds -- 'Welcome to the Park Walk Experience'

Image File: parkwalk_hp_1_welcome.png

Step 3

Immediately following Step 2

Phone plays Google Earth intro video for 6 seconds (Animation that begins with visual of Earth from space, and zooming in gradually to an overhead image of the park)

Video File: parkwalk_hp_1_googleearth.avi

Step 4

Immediately following Step 3

Overlay full High Park map on screen, for 10 seconds

Image File: parkwalk_hp_googlemap.png

Step 5

Immediately following Step 4

Phone displays full map of Spring Creek Trail on screen, for 6 seconds

Image File: parkwalk_hp_mainmap.png

PHYSICAL (INPUT)

USER INTERFACE

RESPONSE (OUTPUT)

NARRATIVE DETAILS

Step 6

Immediately following Step 5

Phone displays 'LISTEN' image prompt, for 5 seconds.

Image File: parkwalk_hp_listen.png

Player holds phone up to his/her ear

Step 7

Immediately following Step 6

Phone plays audio instructions -- 'Welcome to the Spring Creek Trail experience'

Player listens to audio message

Content of audio message:
Brief background introduction
to the park.

Explanation of the 6 points that you will visit on the trail and the various activities that will be offered for interaction ie taking photos; recording ambient sound and your own voice over audio; recording video
Information on how to use the default map screen and how to access the activity screen and how to browse and choose activities.

You will be able to upload and share your experiences of the Park Walk when you get home by visiting the website and uploading the experiences you have captured; add to the layers that other walkers have posted to the website with your pictures, audio and video, and create your own personal album of your park walk experience.

Step 8

Immediately following Step 7

Start The Park Walk:
Phone displays intro photo image on screen, for 10 seconds

Image File: parkwalk_hp_1_intro.png

Step 9

Immediately following Step 8

Show default main map
(stays on-screen until Node
2 is entered)

Image File: parkwalk_hp_mainmap.png

	Park Walk Tech Specs - Nodes / Hotspots Introduction Background: Park Walk is a social and environmental mapping project, engaging aspects of trail orientation and activities, bio-regional mapping, Over time, and with the addition of community members and visitors own experiences of Park Walk, it will become a community mapping experience, with the associated website holding narrative layers that relate how people associate meaning with place, and with a particular place, such as the Spring Creek Trail in Toronto's High Park, or the Hoodoos Trail in Banff. This process will show us what people are really interested in documenting, on the trail and in the surrounding landscape. It will also show what social activities are people interested in engaging in while on an outdoor wilderness or urban park walk. This experience could be a way of involving the visitor and the local community into a mapping of the local landscape over time. This data could then be analysed to explore and discover the personal experiences that create a deeper, richer experience of the local landscape. The design for the Park Walk experience is scaleable and can be designed to relate to a particular chosen site. In this instance, Spring Creek Trail is standing in for testing purposes for the Hoodoos Trail in Banff National Park.		Before the Park Walk: Park Walkers would visit the Parks Office to find out about the Park Walk experience. They would be given a brief explanation of the Park Walk Activities by the Park Warden. They would be shown to a dedicated kiosk (can be used by more than one person ie a group) where they would register and sign into the website. They then pick up their phones loaded with the application from the Park Warden. They then view a short video demo of the experience, and the potential activities they will participate in. They would be shown the website to give them an idea of the possibilities of capturing and uploading their own images, video and audio and how this content would then be uploaded and added to the various nodes on the site. In this way, participants would be creating layers of information and narrative that would describe the sites along the trail, and map changes to the sites and the trail over time. They would also be shown a sample Park Walk album and template which they can use if they would like to create their own personal album of the experience, after their Park Walk.
After the Park Walk: Park Walkers would return to the Parks Office and visit the dedicated computer kiosks. There they would sign in again and proceed to upload the images, recordings, video from their phones to their personal folder. They would then return their phones to the Park Warden. Participants may choose to create a personal album of their Park Walk, which can be saved and stored on the website. Much like a flickr pool, this album could then be accessed on-line by the participant via their login, to edit, download, print or send to a friend.