Abstract
This thesis seeks to introduce an interactive mobile prototype to promote safety awareness and a visualized guideline to assist outdoor adventurers.
Nature is a place where many people go to find peace and relax. According to the “Outdoor participation report 2017” (the Coleman Company, 2017), 144.4 million Americans participated in outdoor activities in 2017. Unfortunately for a multitude of reasons, people encounter some type of unfortunate event that results in either injury or death. As the number of outdoor participants has continued increased annually, safety awareness and skills training have become increasingly crucial now more than ever. This project sought to not only educate people’s outdoor skills and reduce injuries but to also proposes new interactive methods that can support them in the future.
The overall purpose of this project was to reduce injuries from outdoor activities by promoting safety awareness and educate people on outdoor activity skills. By providing users with information about environmental conditions and Augmented reality technology, users can have better insights into their surroundings in addition to knowledge of useful safe solutions when they go outdoors. Therefore, in the future outdoor enthusiasts will be able to enjoy a better and safer adventure. More importantly, this project explored how to integrate emerging technologies into people’s real- life experiences while helping them to solve problems.
The deliverables of this project included three parts. Firstly, the user research. A lot of user research methods, such as user questionnaire, interviews, user personas are used to identify the target audience, their needs and pain points. Secondly, the interaction design process included planning and documenting user flow, the definition of design through wireframes and visual design iterations. To find the optimal user experience, scenarios were evaluated based on user objectives. Lastly, a demo video was created to help communicate the workflow by simulating the use cases. This project proposed to combine user experience methods, interfaces design, and augmented reality technology to deliver a better and safer outdoor experience.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Outdoor life--Safety measures--Interactive multimedia--Design; Hiking--Safety measures--Interactive multimedia--Design; Outdoor medical emergencies--Prevention--Interactive multimedia--Design; Outdoor education--Interactive multimedia--Design
Publication Date
5-10-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Student Type
Graduate
Degree Name
Visual Communication Design (MFA)
Department, Program, or Center
School of Design (CAD)
Advisor
Mike Strobert
Advisor/Committee Member
Daniel Deluna
Advisor/Committee Member
Jason Arena
Recommended Citation
Xu, Zhuoxin, "TrailXplorer: An interactive mobile educational tool to promote safety awareness and prevent injuries from outdoor adventures." (2019). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
https://repository.rit.edu/theses/10181
Campus
RIT – Main Campus
Plan Codes
VISCOM-MFA