Codes on trail provide Web data
LINDSAY DOWNEY
Special to news-press.com
Mother Nature’s gone digital.
J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge will make virtual history Tuesday when it unveils iNature Trail, an interactive, Quick Response code system along Wildlife Drive.
The Sanibel sanctuary will be the first of more than 550 wildlife refuges in the country to use QR codes. It’s believed to be the first QR wildlife trail in the nation.
QR codes are small barcodes that can be scanned by smartphones to pull up websites, videos and other information.
As the refuge’s approximately 800,000 annual visitors travel a quiet, 4.5-mile stretch along Wildlife Drive, they’ll be able to watch videos about everything from the characteristics of the roseate spoonbill to the types of mangroves that dot the 6,400-acre refuge — all with just a few clicks of their smartphones.
iNature Trail features 10 signs, each with two QR codes — one that pulls up videos and educational websites for adults, and another that’s tailored to children.
“We used to say ‘Turn your phones off and enjoy the outdoors,’ but that message doesn’t resonate anymore,” refuge manager Paul Tritaik said, noting the QR system is an effort to bring younger generations outdoors. “If they’re going to be on their smartphones anyway, we might as well have them use them in a way that’s beneficial.”
Developed in Japan in 1994, QR codes are becoming more popular in the United States. Several Southwest Florida real estate firms and other companies use them to list property and other information. A March survey by Baltimore marketing firm MGH found about 65 percent of smartphone users have seen a QR code, and 50 percent have scanned one.
Lars Bredahl, a 2006 Bishop Verot graduate who last month received his master’s in interactive media from Elon University in North Carolina, developed the interactive trail. Bredahl grew up on Sanibel and is nephew of “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society’s executive director, Birgie Vertesch.
Bredahl, 24, approached the refuge about creating a QR system for his graduate school project.
“I was walking around one of the trails at Ding Darling and I saw they already had signs labeling some of the plants. I thought ‘What if we could throw QR codes on that?” he said.
The society spent about $1,100 in private donations to create the system. It should save resources and money because the refuge won’t have to print as many brochures, Vertesch said.
Bredahl worked with Sanibel videographer Ann Peay Potter to shoot one- to three-minute videos with refuge staff. He spent about a month developing the QR codes, and said they let visitors customize their nature tours to learn more about the refuge.
“It’s a way to offer a very multimedia-rich experience without having to build any high-tech stations that take away from the natural setting,” said Bredahl, an intern with SCVNGR, a mobile applications company in Cambridge, Mass. “This is like having a guide at your disposal — a pocket tour guide.”
Additional Facts
QR codes deciphered
• QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes. They also are known as hardlinks or physical world hyperlinks.
• The codes store up to 4,296 alphanumeric characters of arbitrary text. The text can be anything: a URL, contact information, a telephone number, even a poem.
• QR codes can be read by an optical device with the appropriate software. Many newer mobile phones have scanning technology built in. Others can download free programs to read QR codes.
— Source: Google
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