A few weekends ago I was in the Peak District enjoying the summer weather. We decided to walk through Lathkill Dale from Over Haddon to Monyash as the weather was hot, and we heard the orchids were out.
Hypertag provides Natural England via the Peak Experience organisation with Proximity technology (otherwise known as ‘Bluetooth Marketing’) for Lathkill Dale. This is a pilot which we hope will be extended, and ultimately rolled out amongst other rural locations under Natural England’s remit.
The premise is how do you put information in the hands of the walkers to help them get more out of their walk? The use of mobile phones is the perfect solution as you can compress a huge amount of information into a mobile Java Application, and structure that information so that the walker can access what they need quickly and easily. This offers much wider possibilities than would be available with just the static signs or via leaflets that could be distributed.
At Lathkill Dale, Hypertags powered either by ultra long life batteries or a solar panel (in the case of a single Hypertag) allow the walker to download the information to their phone as they walk past five points of interest.
Each point is clearly marked with a Nature Bytes sign, and gives out a different piece of content, from the core Peak Experience application to the sounds of birds the walker will hear as they walk through the Dale, to photos of butterflies they are likely to encounter.
Be sure to look out for the Nature Bytes signs this summer if you are out and about in the Peak District.
