Though the Internet seems to permeate every aspect of our life, it is still largely an urban phenomenon. Both in terms of access to digital services and the development of rural digital mapping on services like Google maps, the focus has so far been on urban environments.
A new collaborative research project between The University of Nottingham’s Schools of Computer Science and Geography, and the Swansea University Computer Science Department will research these through a £365,000 Research Councils UK Digital Economy programme grant, towards a joint project worth more than £935,000.
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The two-year project seeks to bridge the rural divide through the development of innovative mapping services, which will enhance a broad range of activities that sustain the rural economy — from walking and cycling to windsurfing and bird watching.
‘Bridging the Rural Divide’ will develop community-based maps that enhance our engagement with the countryside. These will be coupled with new data services to both input and access digital content in the field. The team will develop these services ‘in the wild’, in order to provide a blueprint for the future provision of services, that will meet the needs of users in rural settings. The project is also supported by Ordnance Survey, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Horizon Digital Economy Hub at The University of Nottingham.
“Current digital mapping services largely focus on urban environments”, Dr Alan Chamberlain of the University’s Mixed Reality Lab, said. “Google Maps, for example, offers rich street views of urban settings, but such views of rural space are largely absent.”
New developments in mobile, location and sensor-based or ‘ubiquitous’ computing now make it possible for users to move beyond the urban fringes. They herald the expansion of computing from cities into rural locations that have long been marginalised due to the limitations of existing technology.
It is hoped that the user-led development of a ‘rural ubicomp toolkit’ will allow people to create and share community-based maps that reflect their interests and concerns. For example, users will be able to sketch routes of their favourite pathways through the countryside. These routes will be augmented by GPS data and community content relevant to different points on their route. Tags and content can also be added to other users’ routes, adding to the overall body of knowledge.
Professor Matt Jones, from Swansea University’s Future Interaction Technology (FIT) Lab said: “We will be focusing on exploring mobile devices and services that will allow people to represent the locations around them in personal and meaningful ways.”
The toolkit will also allow this content to be accessed and added to, via displays in visitor centres, on-line and via mobile phones. ‘Bridging the Rural Divide’ will result in an openly availably set of tools to allow people to capture experiences, represent rural experiences and share them.
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