Hikesphere
Maarten De Jaeghere (AHS)
Anna Farhadi (LiU)
Paula Gabrielsson (LiU)
David McIntyre (UWS)
Anne Reibke (HdM)
Hiking network nodes in the Biosphere Reserve
The idea behind this brief was to inform hikers unfamiliar with the area about the hiking possibilities in the Swabian Alps Biosphere reserve. This reserve stands out from the crowd with its rich military history that gives it an interesting point of view. It is far from what most people would consider an average hiking path – with its paved roads, danger signs and historical sites, you are instantly reminded of the history that makes this reserve so unique.
Our challenge was to find a way to both raise awareness about the code of conduct as well as incorporate the old and new aspects of the biosphere by using modern communication technology to inform the hikers about the area.
For two weeks we collected research, brainstormed, compared ideas and and narrowed down our thoughts to one main idea – Hikesphere. Hikesphere is a series of interactive checkpoints placed along the paved paths, with each checkpoint having a different tourist attraction to focus and give information about. Each checkpoint has two sides – an analogue and a digital one. On the analogue side, there is a map of the region, the code of conduct and information about the site on which it stands. On the digital side, we offer the interactive part of the concept with the help of wristbands, used to log in, that store personal information about you and your hiking path.
