Enhanced Zoo Visiting Experience with Participatory Computing in a Wireless Sensor Network

Zoos, as ''hotspots'' for tourists and visitors, are making positive economic contributions to many countries like Sweden and Australia. In this paper, we investigate how to enrich people's zoo visiting experience with a wireless sensor network and in particular with ''participatory computing'' of the zoo visitors. We proposed a conceptual framework with simulation, where the zoo visitors are allowed to contribute their discoveries and captured information to the wireless sensor network via their mobile devices. The visitors' supplied information is subsequently processed to help to find interesting animals or animal events in the zoo and also to enable a number of interesting services to the visitors. In particular, the visitors' contributions are divided into different levels according to the amount of efforts required by each participatory task. In return to visitors' contributions, they are subsequently offered various services in different levels too such as animal searching, augmented reality service on mobiles, etc.