School of Tourism lecturer Janet Dickinson has been working on a research project with other academics called The 6th Transport project and they have recently started trails of the 6th Sense campsite app.
The RCUK funded project is designed to explore new ways to bring about more sustainable transport. The research vision is to understand the extent to which behavioural change in transport habits and practices can be facilitated through the creation of a new form of ‘transport network’, based on extending social networking principles to transport users and their individual vehicles.
The campsite app puts tourists staying at the campsite into a social network that facilitates opportunities for travel collaboration. Travel collaboration might involve:
- Picking up an item from a shop while you are there to save another visitor making a car trip. The app will alert users to this opportunity using a geofence system
- Organising lifts to avoid car use
- Providing travel information to avoid car trips where congestion is bad or car parks are full
The app also visualises the collective patterns of the campsite users so people get a better understanding of visitor routines to realise collaborative travel opportunities.
This tourism trial is part of a wider project with 2 other strands. The first is about improving logistics and is working with Oxfam UK to improve the efficiency of their operations. The second is working with schools to develop a real-time walking school bus app.
For more information on the project and to follow the project please see here www.sixthsensetransport.com