Shaffiq Alkhatib Channel NewsAsia 12 Feb 11;
SINGAPORE: Visitors at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve can now receive on-the-spot information about the flora and fauna at the nature park using their smart phones and tablet computers.
The free wireless trail will give nature lovers the opportunity to view videos as well as take part in games and quizzes on the wildlife found there.
Visitors have to use their devices to scan ColorCodes - which are similar to barcodes - found on 25 signboards located all over the Reserve.
They can then access information on the animals and plants found at the park with the help of the ColorCam software which they can download online.
There are plans to increase the number of ColorCodes to 40 by this October.
-CNA/ac
New wireless trail turns Sungei Buloh into outdoor classroom
Straits Times 13 Feb 11;
The next time you are at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, whip out your smartphone to learn more about the natural attraction.
By installing a software called ColorCam, visitors can use their Internet-enabled smartphones to snap pictures of coded images located along the 500m-long mangrove boardwalk, main bridge and main hide.
The software decodes the images and sends multimedia content like videos of the reserve's wildlife, bird calls and quizzes to the smartphones.
The rise in the use of smartphones prompted the launch of the wireless trail, said Ms Sharon Chan, assistant director of the reserve.
'By making information bite- sized and interactive through this technology, visitors will be able to learn more about the importance of mangroves and come to appreciate Singapore's rich biodiversity,' she added.
Supported by Colorzip SEA, the company behind the ColorCode technology that creates the coded images, the $200,000 initiative has 25 coded images, with the number to be increased to 40 by October.
The National Parks Board will regularly update the Web-based content along the trail.
One visitor who gave the thumbs up to the idea was Chng Chun Kang, 14, a Secondary 2 student from Hillgrove Secondary.
'I particularly liked the video of the mudskippers. The wireless trail is just like an outdoor classroom, where we can use technology to learn more about our natural surroundings,' he said.
For instructions on how to download the software onto your smartphone, visit http://www.czip.sg
