East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership came to Cosmic with a new and unusual concept. We were immediately attracted by its connection to the beautiful environment around us.
They were looking to develop a website for a citizen-science/ public-gathering project, based on projects that had been developed in The Cairngorms and Australia. The project aims to monitor, track and interpret landscape change by cataloguing photographic information from key locations across East Devon. The photographs that people upload provide a fascinating record of seasonal change, the effect of light and weather and changes in land use, habitat and management.
Cosmic produced a proof of concept design and developed a geolocation based phone app to control a device’s camera when close to a post location. The system also has the facility to submit photos when not near a post location. We also developed a website showcasing the photographic work. Minimal text and large images display the photos that people have added, revealing stunning landscapes and changing seasons.
There is also the option for visitors to the site to submit their own images to the catalogue. The geolocation functionality and live upload process takes advantage of modern smartphone technology: bridging the gaps between environmental science, GPS navigation and photography.
The project is still in its early days but the catalogue is starting to grow. Beautiful scenery of East Devon will be added regularly, sharing and capturing this landscape for posterity and enjoyment. Cosmic are strong advocates of environmental protection, and we believe websites like this will help spread the message that our local landscapes are worth protecting.
“Our long term goal will be to have developed a network of locations and wide citizen engagement across the AONB that provides a picture of how our countryside and landscape changes over time and to improve understanding, appreciation and connection with our environment that can support its future conservation and enhancement.”