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Introduction to Geocaching. http://geocaching.com Many of the first half of these slides are adapted from Doug Earl . The second half of the slides are excerpted from Caraman Neustaedter’s CHI presentation . Geocaching as Social Network.
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Introduction to Geocaching http://geocaching.com Many of the first half of these slides are adapted from Doug Earl. The second half of the slides are excerpted from CaramanNeustaedter’s CHI presentation
Geocaching as Social Network • There is a friend network underlying geocaching.com • Example of online social networking in larger context • Gaming • Collaborative community efforts
What is it? • Someone hides a weatherproof box in the woods. • The latitude and longitude of the box is published on the Internet • Others go out and find the box using their portable using their portable GPS. • Finders sign the log, trade trinkets. • When they get home, they log the find on the Internet.
In a nutshell “ “I use multi-billion dollar military dollar military satellites to find Tupperware hidden in the woods.”
What’s in a Geocache? • Log book • Pen/pencil • Trinkets to trade • Info sheet
History • May 1, 2000 – selective availability of GPS removed. Accuracy went from ~100ft to ~10ft • First cache hid in Oregon • Geocaching.com launched in September 2000 • There are ~1,050,000 caches hidden around the world (and one on the International Space Station)
Where they won’t be • Terrorist targets (bridges, airports, etc.) • Within 150 feet of a railroad • National Parks * • Private property * • Closer than 0.1 miles to another cache * Unless approved by the property owner
Who hides them? • Anyone who has a geocaching account can hide a cache • All caches are approved by moderators
Types of caches • Traditional • Multi-cache (multiple steps) • Mystery Cache (with puzzles) • Group Events • Virtual (no object, but must report info)
Puzzle Take the number 3539284345 and convert it to binary. Plug it into the diagram above. The most significant bit goes into A and the least significant bit goes into Z. When you finish solving the diagram take the results and convert them back to decimal format. When finished, N0-N15 will be for the north coordinates and W0-W11 will be for the west coordinates. (Keep in mind, the zeros are the most significant bit) The formats when finished should be N38 ##.### and W 77 ##.###
Puzzle ijnqtqtpnqxipigygengwgozgnjqtngwgkjpiqjigwgpetqgpetqhpisqgoa xvgoqogugiqxogugiygengwgozgnjopwkjpiqwqtngwgqvjgpetqhpisqgo
Finding a Cache • Get a GPS device (garmin, handheld GPS, iPhone) • Find a cache at http://geocaching.com
Unique identifier
Then… • Put the coordinates in your GPS device • Go to the cache and look for something out of place • When you find it • Sign the log in the cache • Report your find on the geocaching website
Travel Bugs • Travel from cache to cache (not collectible!) • Usually have a goal, Examples: • Visit all baseball parks, all capitals • Have picture taken with <fill in the blank> • Final destination: Alaska, South Pole • Journey is tracked on geocaching.com
TB Examples • Dog Tags with unique identifier attached to something
Travel Bug Log • E.g. http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=e23548a9-077c-41f8-bc24-3d83fa3a6ffa
the role of community and groupware in geocache creation and maintenance carmanneustaedter kodak research labs anthony tang university of britishcolumbia tejinder judge virginia tech
the message • location-based experiences can be enhanced by leveraging community and groupware
location based experiences large range of experiences location + content content generation and maintenance is difficult • relevant content • fresh content • easy-to-maintain
research question • how can LBEs effectively permit content creation and maintenance over time?
methodological strategy • evaluate a successful LBE • large worldwide user base • established culture
methodology • geocaching participation • beginner: 15 finds, 1 hide • intermediate: 50 finds, 1 hide • advanced: 250 finds, 10 hides
methodology • 2. online survey • mostly open ended • snowball sampling: email, twitter • online forums • 185 completed surveys • mostly US/Canada • range of ages and experiences
cache creation • anybody can create a geocache • guidelines • e.g., 0.1 miles apart, no terrorist targets • volunteer review
flexible medium • free form text
flexible medium • no container constraints • range of LBEs
quick creations • “Everyone always says it's not about the numbers. I think to a lot of people it is about the numbers and getting to a certain point. This is a nice and easy cache that I wanted to hide.” – Excerpt from Cache Description in New York
creation customs • learn as you participate • customs create consistency
evolution of customs • “[It is in] Plain sight (you can see it 100 feet away), log book only, blends in well enough that it usually takes several trips to find… I wanted it to be challenging and unique to the area. And it was and still is.” – Male, Age 50, Illinois, USA
geocache maintenance • physical objects in the real world • weathering • muggles • check on geocaches • but most don’t! • people rely on others!
“I monitor them through emails, but not usually by visiting the site. The cachers arround [sic] here are very responsible and would never let a cache fall into disrepair. It's teamwork!!” – Female, Age 30, Virginia, USA • “At least 2 of my caches have not been checked on in over 5 years. They seem to be fine from the logs.”– Male, Age 42, Nebraska, USA
found it logs • searcher: accomplishment, blog • creator: no maintenance needed • prospective searcher: positive review
did not find logs • searcher: blog, bad experience • creator: tough to find, maintenance • prospective searcher: negative review, competition
needs maintenance logs • searcher: inform creator • creator: fix the cache • prospective searcher: negative review
