Croc Tales: Education and Adventure
This project is part of the GovHack 2024 competition, with the goal of boosting NT tourism and enhancing public safety education. By blending culture, wildlife, and technology, Croc Tales delivers a fun, educational experience for both locals and tourists.
Inspired by the success of Wrocław’s famous gnome statues
We bring you Croc Tales: Education and Adventure!
Imagine exploring the Northern Territory, discovering crocodile statues across Darwin and beyond
It's more than just a Hot Tripadvisor topic
Croc Tales teaches you how to stay safe in crocodile country, blending adventure with learning vital Crocwise safety tips.
Start Your Adventure
Begin exploring by taking your first quiz or viewing the map.
Explore Croc Locations
View the interactive map of crocodile statues across the Northern Territory.
View Achievements
Check your progress and unlock achievements and badges.
Find Your Path
Learn important safety tips for encountering crocodiles.
What is Croc Tales?
Croc Tales: Education and Adventure is an interactive initiative that combines exploration, education, and adventure. Discover crocodile statues across the Northern Territory, learn Crocwise safety tips, and unlock fun rewards as you explore.
How It Works
Explore NT Cities
Find and scan crocodile statues using our mobile-friendly web app.
Learn Crocwise
Complete quizzes and unlock essential crocodile safety tips.
Collect Rewards
Earn badges, share achievements, and explore more.
Our Journey So Far
Team Formation and Conceptualisation
The Vasilkoff GovHack Fellowship team formed and brainstormed ideas for Croc Tales: Education and Adventure. Initial project goals and design concepts were outlined.
UI/UX Mockup Development
The team developed a basic UI/UX mockup for the web app, ensuring a seamless user experience and a clear design to guide users through the Crocwise education process.
Crocodile Statue Theme Ideas
The team brainstormed themes and ideas for crocodile statues to be placed across NT cities, with a focus on integrating QR codes aesthetically into the statue designs.
Crocwise Educational Flow
Drafted the educational flow of the app, including multiple-choice quizzes and a progressive learning experience for users about crocodile safety.
Mock QR Code, Crocodile Alert Generation, Personalised Map Suggestion, Frequently Asked Questions & Answers, User Reviews & Achievements Scanning Setup
Set up mock QR Code, Crocodile Alert Generation, Personalised Map Suggestion, Frequently Asked Questions & Answers, User Reviews & Achievements, allowing expected visualisation of complete design in the future.
GovHack 2024 Kickoff
The team began work on the technical aspects of the project, focusing on the core web app functionalities, such as Crocwise quizzes, user progress tracking, and statue location mapping.
Mentor Feedback
The team met with mentors to gather feedback on the app’s educational content, design, and technical challenges, leading to refinements in the quiz flow and map features.
Finalise Challenge and App Features
By midday, the team finalised the app's core features, ensuring the app met the GovHack challenges and began integrating the Crocwise educational flow with the interactive map.
Team Meeting: Design and Development Check-in
The team reviewed the design progress and refined the mockups to ensure a cohesive user interface and user journey across the app.
Video Presentation and Pitch Preparation
The team began assembling the project presentation, including screenshots, mockups, and possible artistic elements for visual impact. The educational and societal benefits of the project were highlighted.
Final Submission and Video Upload
The final video presentation, project page, and app demo were uploaded for GovHack judging, showcasing the Croc Tales project and its impact on public safety and tourism.
Art NT Grant Application
After GovHack, the team plans to apply for the Art NT Grant to continue developing Croc Tales, adding new educational content, artistic features, and more statues across NT cities.
Open Data in Action
Our project, Croc Tales, leverages various open data sets to promote public safety, tourism, and education across the Northern Territory. These data sources empower the app to provide real-time updates on crocodile activity, educational content, and optimal tourist engagement, ensuring users can safely explore the region while learning vital Crocwise safety measures. Below, we explain how each dataset contributes to achieving our goals.
NT Crocodile Capture Zones and Daily Count
This dataset provides real-time information on crocodile capture zones and daily counts, allowing the app to alert users about the proximity of crocodile activity. By integrating this data into our interactive map, users can see where crocodiles have been captured recently and make safer choices about where to explore. Additionally, users can scan QR codes on statues in these zones to get up-to-date information about crocodile activity and Crocwise safety alerts.
Crocodile Monitoring Survey
The Crocodile Monitoring Survey provides data on crocodile populations across the Northern Territory. This dataset is critical for educating users about crocodile behavior and conservation efforts. The app uses this data to deliver location-based insights and quizzes, giving users a deeper understanding of why Crocwise education is essential in regions with higher crocodile populations. Users visiting these areas will receive additional safety messages, helping them stay informed and aware of the risks.
Northern Territory Tourism Data
This dataset helps us strategically place crocodile statues in high-traffic tourist areas. By analyzing tourism data, we can ensure that the statues are located in places where tourists are likely to engage with them, maximizing both educational impact and user interaction. This data allows us to attract more visitors to specific regions while also promoting Crocwise safety through interactive, gamified experiences.
Territory Stories
Territory Stories provides historical and cultural content about the locations of our crocodile statues. This rich, location-based storytelling adds depth to the visitor experience, allowing users to learn about the cultural significance of the areas they are exploring. The app integrates this data with the statues to create a narrative that blends local history, indigenous stories, and Crocwise education.
Latest Visitor Data
Real-time visitor data helps us optimize the placement of statues and ensures that our content reaches the most engaged users. This dataset informs our decisions about where to place new crocodile statues, ensuring they are positioned in areas with the highest foot traffic. By doing this, we not only boost tourism but also ensure that visitors receive Crocwise safety messages when they are most relevant.
Meeting the GovHack Challenges
How Croc Tales Aligns with the Challenge Goals
Tourism Growth
By creating a network of crocodile statues in key locations across the Northern Territory (NT), Croc Tales encourages tourists to explore more cities and stay longer. Each statue is strategically placed in high-traffic areas, making it a must-visit attraction. The interactive web app provides a gamified experience that not only attracts tourists but also educates them about the region’s rich wildlife and culture, enhancing their overall visit. Visitors will want to explore all the statues, learn their stories, and discover the diverse regions of NT.
Crocwise Education
Our app integrates Crocwise educational content directly into the user's exploration journey. By scanning QR codes at crocodile statues, users unlock critical safety tips about living with crocodiles and receive access to engaging quizzes. These quizzes reinforce safe behavior around crocodile habitats, helping to reduce the risk of crocodile encounters and promoting Crocwise safety practices across the NT. This aligns with the NT Government’s Crocwise public safety initiative.
Cultural Promotion
Each crocodile statue is deeply connected to the local culture, telling stories of the region’s Indigenous heritage and the spiritual significance of crocodiles. Croc Tales enhances this experience by providing background stories and educational material through the app. Users can explore the cultural ties between crocodiles and the Indigenous people of NT, fostering a greater appreciation for both wildlife and local traditions. This cultural promotion helps tourists engage meaningfully with the region.
Public Safety
Croc Tales leverages real-time crocodile data and Crocwise educational content to raise public awareness about crocodile safety. The app helps users understand crocodile behavior, learn how to stay safe in croc-prone areas, and provides up-to-date information on recent crocodile activity. This proactive approach to education helps prevent dangerous encounters and supports the NT Government's ongoing public safety initiatives.
Next Steps
Roadmap for Future Development
Incorporating AI
A neat feature to add to "Croc Tales" is a chatbot that informs tourists about the history of the Northern Territory and recommends activities to do around the state. This feature will ingest documents from the "Territory Stories" dataset for historical information and the "Visit the Northern Territory" dataset for tourism recommendations, providing a comprehensive and informative experience for visitors.
The Crocodile Map
Improving the crocodile maps is crucial for real-time alerts. The current dataset, limited to 2021-2022, needs updating for accurate information. We propose deploying cameras along crocodile hotspots, utilizing object recognition technology to detect crocodiles automatically. These sightings would be recorded in a database, which would then feed into the map visualization, displaying the latest sightings in real-time. This approach minimizes human interaction, reducing costs and potential dangers to staff. Moreover, it allows for wider coverage, operating 24/7 at a lower cost, significantly enhancing the effectiveness and safety of crocodile monitoring efforts.
Activity Map
Enhancing the activity map is a key priority for future development. We plan to expand the interactive map's functionality by incorporating a diverse range of data types beyond the current national parks. Our strategy includes obtaining a comprehensive dataset of local tourist attractions from the Northern Territory's official tourism website (https://northernterritory.com/map). Additionally, we aim to collaborate with local businesses to feature their establishments on the map, providing a more holistic view of the region's offerings. To improve user experience and clarity, we'll implement a color-coding system to distinguish between parks, tourist attractions, and local businesses, making it easier for visitors to navigate and explore the Northern Territory's rich landscape of experiences.
Boosting Tourism in the NT
Crocodile Watch - Enhancing Public Safety
Connecting Communities - Local Info