one day as they walked in the beach a la
jolla I noticed these docents collecting
data on the clipboards they were there
day after day they were collecting data
and I just kept asking myself why aren’t
they using a Google Form honestly and so
with help we were able to get rid of the
clipboards and we created a system for
them to get information and to be able
to use it efficiently they put me on the
board of directors more so so they can
keep me and I was able to help them
gather this data and make sure they did
something with it so we were downloaded
the app Google form on to every docents
phone and from there we were able to
present a case to City Council showing
the effects that tourism had on the
local wildlife I didn’t realize at the
time how sharing a little bit of
knowledge was able to shape the
conservation community of La Jolla and
since then I participated in a zoo
hackathon which the Safari Park does
every year it’s a three-day weekend
where you are able to impact change
around the world and I participated in
this with the group from a makerspace
that I that I volunteered at called fab
lab the people who were at this
makerspace believed that they could help
the community build through their ideas
they believe that technology could
change the world and as it turned out we
ended up winning the San Diego Zoo
hackathon and then the world Zoo
hackathon and from there it was a very
fast Ernie we took all that experience
and with the belief that we could work
as a group and collaborate we made sure
that this system could be implemented so
over the course of a year
we worked with the London’s
logical society as well as the San Diego
Zoo and we created a system that was
implemented in Sumatra in Kenya where
the local communities were able to to
convey critical information to Rangers
that pertain to to poaching incidents to
intelligence on poachers to wildlife
conflict as well as it was able to help
guide Rangers to any poachers that were
in the area through that system that we
implemented we learned quite a bit about
what it took to to collaborate as a
community we had members well
unfortunately we had members of our
community who were not able to stay with
our group and the gaps that were left
made it so that we were not able to
ultimately create this app to its
entirety and we learned the effects of
community and how one single piece could
really alter the fate of a system of
conservation as well as just a community
effort so from there I still worked with
the San Diego Zoo after that event I was
able to help with the tech to reconnect
events and the goal of these events was
really to help people connect back to
nature through technology because I
believe that using tools that we have at
our disposal now are very powerful
there is a underlying belief that
technology takes us away from nature and
what I believe is that using these tools
are powerful because they can evoke
emotional experiences and teach people
things that that can only really be felt
I want to feel the effects of climate
change as if I was in the Antarctic and
using virtual reality we can have
students create these experiences and
make it so that they feel like they are
contributing to the global conservation
effort with the help of the zoo we were
able to build a computer we were able to
have a 12 year old build a computer
who then we you who then helped us
create this virtual reality system and
we painted our first project which was a
virtual reality walkthrough of a
rainforest we we use this application
called tilt brush and and a system
called the HTC vive and what that
entailed was two months of hard work
where we were actively engaged in
creating something we were collaborating
we were growing and we were inviting
people in to create their own tree and
with every tree that we painted we
gained ownership of our rainforest our
room became the canvas and our hands the
paintbrushes
there was really no limits it was truly
a magical experience as you walked
through your painting and you saw the
stars above you and you took in the
sounds of nature and it was really it
was life-changing after seeing my
students and their love for conservation
grow with that we decided to continue
this the next year and in this past tech
to reconnect event last month we took
elements from our our our immersive
rainforest and we decided to go a step
further and see what we could do so we
decided to use virtual reality but not a
virtual reality with just a painting
application we decided to collaborate or
to use augmented reality in conjunction
with virtual reality and create an
experience that was immersive in every
aspect we wanted people to learn about
what what exactly was going on in the
world
what we did was demoed a virtual reality
savanna where you walked around and you
interacted with elephants you interacted
with the environment you could grab a
orb and your hands were the remotes so
you would grab an orb you would toss it
and a tree would be planted where you
toss that orbit it would grow and tower
over you and it was something that when
paired with augmented reality really
made it
experience that you could then grow from
so with the help of students they
created an augmented reality experience
with Metaverse which is a system where
you can actually teach content in a more
interactive and fun way so we use
visualizations we used quizzes and we
use GPS based trackers and if you can
imagine this technology being used in
zoos and exhibits worldwide you could
see yourself walking through an aviary
and as you walk upon walk to a sign of a
bird you’re looking for that it happens
to be asleep somewhere you can actually
pull up a 3d model of that bird and
it’ll walk around giving you the
information that you were looking for
and giving you an idea of exactly what
this bird looks like and that in itself
helps us learn so much more about
wildlife and it helps us connect more so
to what we can do with technology
through that lens with our past exhibit
either the elephant we learned so much
about AR and its possibilities it helped
us gain a deeper understanding of what
could be done in the future and how we
could actually take these systems and
build a community from it my goal is
that each student is able to to have
these tools using augmented reality
virtual reality using programming design
graphic design and art to teach everyone
about the wonders of nature and to make
sure that we feel still connected to
nature and it’s so much more possible
now than it ever was technology is in a
way for us to disconnect it’s really a
way for us to reconnect to our
experience in this world I challenge you
all to look at why what you know and see
how valuable that information is and
grow from
and help others girl from it and help
this was the event protect to reconnect
we had artists we had students using 3d
printing using well using the computer
system that a student built we brought
together an exhibit that was so
immersive and impactful in people’s
lives and I really hope that we can all
look to our communities and learn
something and help each other grow thank
you [Applause]
jolla I noticed these docents collecting
data on the clipboards they were there
day after day they were collecting data
and I just kept asking myself why aren’t
they using a Google Form honestly and so
with help we were able to get rid of the
clipboards and we created a system for
them to get information and to be able
to use it efficiently they put me on the
board of directors more so so they can
keep me and I was able to help them
gather this data and make sure they did
something with it so we were downloaded
the app Google form on to every docents
phone and from there we were able to
present a case to City Council showing
the effects that tourism had on the
local wildlife I didn’t realize at the
time how sharing a little bit of
knowledge was able to shape the
conservation community of La Jolla and
since then I participated in a zoo
hackathon which the Safari Park does
every year it’s a three-day weekend
where you are able to impact change
around the world and I participated in
this with the group from a makerspace
that I that I volunteered at called fab
lab the people who were at this
makerspace believed that they could help
the community build through their ideas
they believe that technology could
change the world and as it turned out we
ended up winning the San Diego Zoo
hackathon and then the world Zoo
hackathon and from there it was a very
fast Ernie we took all that experience
and with the belief that we could work
as a group and collaborate we made sure
that this system could be implemented so
over the course of a year
we worked with the London’s
logical society as well as the San Diego
Zoo and we created a system that was
implemented in Sumatra in Kenya where
the local communities were able to to
convey critical information to Rangers
that pertain to to poaching incidents to
intelligence on poachers to wildlife
conflict as well as it was able to help
guide Rangers to any poachers that were
in the area through that system that we
implemented we learned quite a bit about
what it took to to collaborate as a
community we had members well
unfortunately we had members of our
community who were not able to stay with
our group and the gaps that were left
made it so that we were not able to
ultimately create this app to its
entirety and we learned the effects of
community and how one single piece could
really alter the fate of a system of
conservation as well as just a community
effort so from there I still worked with
the San Diego Zoo after that event I was
able to help with the tech to reconnect
events and the goal of these events was
really to help people connect back to
nature through technology because I
believe that using tools that we have at
our disposal now are very powerful
there is a underlying belief that
technology takes us away from nature and
what I believe is that using these tools
are powerful because they can evoke
emotional experiences and teach people
things that that can only really be felt
I want to feel the effects of climate
change as if I was in the Antarctic and
using virtual reality we can have
students create these experiences and
make it so that they feel like they are
contributing to the global conservation
effort with the help of the zoo we were
able to build a computer we were able to
have a 12 year old build a computer
who then we you who then helped us
create this virtual reality system and
we painted our first project which was a
virtual reality walkthrough of a
rainforest we we use this application
called tilt brush and and a system
called the HTC vive and what that
entailed was two months of hard work
where we were actively engaged in
creating something we were collaborating
we were growing and we were inviting
people in to create their own tree and
with every tree that we painted we
gained ownership of our rainforest our
room became the canvas and our hands the
paintbrushes
there was really no limits it was truly
a magical experience as you walked
through your painting and you saw the
stars above you and you took in the
sounds of nature and it was really it
was life-changing after seeing my
students and their love for conservation
grow with that we decided to continue
this the next year and in this past tech
to reconnect event last month we took
elements from our our our immersive
rainforest and we decided to go a step
further and see what we could do so we
decided to use virtual reality but not a
virtual reality with just a painting
application we decided to collaborate or
to use augmented reality in conjunction
with virtual reality and create an
experience that was immersive in every
aspect we wanted people to learn about
what what exactly was going on in the
world
what we did was demoed a virtual reality
savanna where you walked around and you
interacted with elephants you interacted
with the environment you could grab a
orb and your hands were the remotes so
you would grab an orb you would toss it
and a tree would be planted where you
toss that orbit it would grow and tower
over you and it was something that when
paired with augmented reality really
made it
experience that you could then grow from
so with the help of students they
created an augmented reality experience
with Metaverse which is a system where
you can actually teach content in a more
interactive and fun way so we use
visualizations we used quizzes and we
use GPS based trackers and if you can
imagine this technology being used in
zoos and exhibits worldwide you could
see yourself walking through an aviary
and as you walk upon walk to a sign of a
bird you’re looking for that it happens
to be asleep somewhere you can actually
pull up a 3d model of that bird and
it’ll walk around giving you the
information that you were looking for
and giving you an idea of exactly what
this bird looks like and that in itself
helps us learn so much more about
wildlife and it helps us connect more so
to what we can do with technology
through that lens with our past exhibit
either the elephant we learned so much
about AR and its possibilities it helped
us gain a deeper understanding of what
could be done in the future and how we
could actually take these systems and
build a community from it my goal is
that each student is able to to have
these tools using augmented reality
virtual reality using programming design
graphic design and art to teach everyone
about the wonders of nature and to make
sure that we feel still connected to
nature and it’s so much more possible
now than it ever was technology is in a
way for us to disconnect it’s really a
way for us to reconnect to our
experience in this world I challenge you
all to look at why what you know and see
how valuable that information is and
grow from
and help others girl from it and help
this was the event protect to reconnect
we had artists we had students using 3d
printing using well using the computer
system that a student built we brought
together an exhibit that was so
immersive and impactful in people’s
lives and I really hope that we can all
look to our communities and learn
something and help each other grow thank
you [Applause]
Please follow and like us: