Geocaching Outing
As part of Experience Design 2, our group has decided to take different outings to get us inspired for our next project. Geocaching was something we'd talked about when we were developing our mobile app idea, but only one of us (Heidi) was an experienced geocacher. Geocaching involves using a GPS to search for hidden containers ('caches') in outdoor locations - Wikipedia describes it as 'a game of high-tech hide and seek'. I was surprised to learn there are over 1.3 million caches and 5 million geocachers all over the world, so it's a big community.
What was the experience like?
We picked Nonsuch Park as the location for our geocaching and used Heidi's GPS to find the location of the first cache. Even though you can narrow down to an approximate area, it still takes quite a lot of searching to find a tiny camera film can in trees and bushes. This made it quite satisfying when we did manage to find it. The cache had a log book to sign which had a lot of signatures. It was strange to realise someone else found this same cache the same day as us, even though it was a pretty wet and windy day! The next couple of caches we found were easier and one was bigger, containing some trinkets and a travel bug (pictured below). This is a trackable tag that is attached to an item. It is taken from cache to cache by geocachers and can be tracked online. I was excited about finding these hidden treasures! Overall, it was a fun day that would be even better in dry weather! It was frustrating when we couldn't find a cache, but this made it more rewarding when we did. It's also a great way to explore places as you are encouraged to go off the beaten track following the GPS directions. A good starting point for our next innovation.
