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January 6, 2009

iPhone application for Wildlife Observers

Filed under: features,wildobs,work-in-progress — Tags: , , , , — wildobs @ 1:31 am

I am working on a project (WildObsObserver) that is an iPhone (or iPod Touch) application for Wildlife Observers. Here is the gist so far:

  • Record your wildlife encounter:
    • Select the category (type of critter) from a list: favorites, wish list or all.
    • Current location and current time are determined from the device (if GPS is available.)
    • (eventually) allow an photo to be taken/uploaded. (if available.)
  • View what local critters are at a region (park, mountain, other location).

I want this application for me, to allow me to easily record what I see when in the field & perhaps add a fuller description in my own time. It’ll allow me to develop records on my hikes without me having to remember them or write down the place/time, etc.

Please let me know your thoughts on this application, and especially your ideas for improving it.

  • jason

    Sounds great. There is an app that just launched that does the animal in the area piece.

    http://www.lethalapp.com

  • http://www.osmp.org Mark

    Adam:
    Very cool item. The City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks program had for years a low tech version of this. It was a pad of wildlife observation cards that were carried mostly by rangers. They would complete one each time they saw an animal and wanted to record its presence. Ancedotal information has been used to point people to particular study areas. A couple of items that you might consider are number (how many), gender (male/female) and a place for notes (including location for those times when GPS is not available). If you need a database of vertebrate species (look up table) in the area we have that. Actually we have a large list of Boulder County insects.
    Mark

  • Mark2

    Are you going to integrate the ability to take and/or download and attach a photo to your encounter? I would think that’d be a nice addition?

  • http://wildobs.com wildobs

    Yes, Mark2. I agree. One can do that via the website today, but I recently added that code (to capture a photo, allow crop/edit, and upload to the site) to the device.

  • Lynne

    Will you be adding the ability to record and save sounds (like a bird call) with the obs?

  • http://wildobs.com wildobs

    I hadn’t thought of doing that, but it is a wonderful idea. I’ve added it to the feedback system to see if others agree.

    http://feedback.wildobs.com/pages/general/suggestions/159121-iphone-sound-recordings-uploadings

  • Grahame Boath

    i run a nature reserve as a volunteer, and i'm frequently having to survey species present. This sort of thing would be ideal for me!

    Well, it would be if there was an option to upload to a database, so that you could store your records at an online location?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/AdamJack AdamJack

      Thanks, I'd love to see it used for that purpose.

      BTW: All encounters are uploaded to http://wildobs.com for storage & sharing.

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