WebPark - Geographically relevant information for the mobile user in protected areas
Oct 2001 - Sep 2004
WebPark, a research and development project (October 2001 - September 2004) was co-funded by EC (Information Society Technologies Programme) and developed a platform that enables the deployment of Location-based services in nature areas.
In other words: it created the possibility to provide information to the visitors of nature areas through the use of smart phones and GPS. A WebPark guide is a mobile website that has dynamic content that changes with the visitors' location, time and interests.
The most obvious use for this technology is the possibility to respond to questions in the field, like:"What's the name of this plant?" or "What animals can I find around me?".
The system warns users about something interesting in their vicinity. But there are many other possibilities.
The advantages of using WebPark include:
environmental education (the system provides information where it is most wanted), new channel for (reselling) the park information.
The system is web-based and runs on a smartphone or PDA via wireless internet (GPRS or UMTS). It can also operate offline with cached data when the internet connection is unavailable. The position obtained with a GPS.
It is important to underline three constrains that the service architecture should be able to cope with:
Since the user is mobile, the communication with the services must be wireless.
Users can carry only small palm-sized devices, with strong limitations in terms of display and computing power.
The typical use is in Natural Areas, which may be characterised by partial wireless network coverage. To cope with the latter, WebPark does not rely on a permanent Internet connection, not even on constant bandwidth.
