![iSpot mobile Citizen Science & Biodiversity: Meeting at the crossroads The Open University, 21 st -23 rd October 2011 Jon Rosewell & Richard Greenwood [email_address] [email_address]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ispotmobile-111023053034-phpapp02/85/iSpot-mobile-developments-1-320.jpg)
![Jon Rosewell & Richard Greenwood The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA [email_address] ; [email_address] www.open.ac.uk](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ispotmobile-111023053034-phpapp02/85/iSpot-mobile-developments-21-320.jpg)
iSpot mobile developments
- 1. iSpot mobile Citizen Science & Biodiversity: Meeting at the crossroads The Open University, 21 st -23 rd October 2011 Jon Rosewell & Richard Greenwood [email_address] [email_address]
- 2. Mobile affordances Availability: more phones than PCs Portability: in your pocket Immediacy: instant on Context: GPS Connectivity: links to web Social interaction: links to people Individuality: personal
- 3. Mobile issues Connectivity? Platform specificity? Cost? Accessibility? Interface constraints? Equity?
- 4. Approaches Java applications PDAs WAP/WML Smartphone / small browser Apps: iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry
- 5. Browser vs App Cross-platform Connectivity required Zero installation Restricted functionality Platform specific Off-line use feasible New marketplace Full functionality
- 6. iSpot mobile keys phones with large touch screen phones with small screen and cursor http://www.iSpot.org.uk/mobilekeys
- 7. iSpot mobile app API created Android app in development – release in new year iPhone app awaiting funds – Spring 2012?
- 8. iSpot app functionality Upload observation Photo, location, identification Browse observations Own observations Latest observations Provide identification; agree identification Manage profile & account
- 19. Tree of life: a visual taxonomic browser for iSpot
- 21. Jon Rosewell & Richard Greenwood The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA [email_address] ; [email_address] www.open.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
- #20: The proposed visual taxonomic browser will provide beginners with another easy-to-use tool which will guide them towards an identification. Starting with the kingdoms (animals, plants…), the user will pick from photos of recent observations on iSpot which branch of the tree of life to follow. The example below shows how this could appear when a user tries to identify a specimen (long, with many legs); they have established that it is an animal and an arthropod – is it a centipede or a millipede? By picking from one row of alternatives, they will be guided towards the next refinement (order, family, genus etc) in their chosen branch. Since images are chosen from current iSpot observations, they will tend to show those species most commonly observed at the time (ie UK species that are seasonably abundant) – and thus most of interest to beginners. Users can be guided to a partial identification even if not to species; this benefits not only the user themselves but also reduces the load on the community, particularly our volunteer experts who can more profitably concentrate on detailed identification. While navigating the browser, a user only has to click on images most resembling their specimen; they are not faced with the unfamiliar jargon of the taxonomist. At the same time, they are being exposed to the taxonomic hierarchy and the terminology that is the stock-in-trade of all biologists; they will thus be enculturated into the community of practice of natural historians.