Brief Explanation

An initiative of the state government National Parks & Wildlife Society, the WilderQuest iPad application seeks to reduce “nature deficit disorder” in children, by encouraging them to interact and be inspired by the natural environment around them. Analytics show that kids are increasingly evolving beyond a shared PC and onto more personal and portable mobile and tablet devices. We approached the brief through an exploration of the audience to gain a better understanding of where their iPad use intersected with the brand. Official census stats show that 50% of children between 5 and 8 in NSW have limited access to natural spaces, while it’s estimated that more than 60% of children have regular access to a smartphone or tablet. The application seeks to leverage children’s natural instinct to search, discover and collect when interacting with nature. The key challenge was to allow for these actions within the constraints of the technology platform we were using. Developing a 3 dimensional environment, children are encouraged to engage within a hyper-realistic, immersive environment. The goal of developing such a realistic environment was to encourage a behavioural shift in children and reconnect them with their natural environment. Users hold the iPad like a camera in front of them, panning left and right to reveal more of the 3D rainforest environment, and the native animals hidden within. Users are encouraged to collect animals by taking pictures & earn points by unlocking animals to then open the animals page revealing rich content as well as maps of the local national parks the animal lives in and extra park info. The application highlights locations and wildlife in their local environment, and seeks to build enough interest to motivate them to go outside and experience the real thing. Analytics indicate that the average user has returns to the app 5 times within the first month with an average 18 minutes per session equating to over an hour of interaction time per user. Independent research commissioned by NPWS identified that the app performs highly in education and nature engagement and, as a result, the application has now received additional phases of funding in order to evolve it for use in the National school curriculum. With over 65,000 downloads since launch, the app reached the number 1 position in its category.