Technology in Nature, Who Can Benefit?
The disconnect with nature in the 21st-century results in a list of problems for us humans. Not only our health and well-being is suffering from this disconnect but also the environment. But what if we use technology to fight this disconnection. For my internship, I work with Friends of Discovery Park, an all-volunteer organization that looks after Discovery Park. For Friends of Discovery Park, we created interactive walking tour maps for the park. Using mobile technology, park visitors can use interactive tours to better understand the park’s history, flora and fauna. My independent study aimed to answer the following questions: what traits characterize someone that would benefit from using technology in nature, and how would those people be best served by that technology? I asked these questions to better elucidate how to translate technology into nature, and to figure out which groups would be most amenable to using technology to establish a better relationship with nature. I did this by sending out a survey to the greater Seattle area. The survey was a mixture of questions about their personal experiences with technology, age, gender, education level and the willingness of the use of technology in nature. These survey results show us what sort of technology can be used and what part of the demographic can benefit from the use of technology in nature.
