The iVisit™ will keep independent adventurers up to
date with safety advice and things to see and do in
each area.
Image: iStockphoto
With more Australians holidaying at home than ever, a revolutionary Outback guidance and advice system will help increase the safety and enjoyment of drive-yourself desert visitors.
With the growth in 4WD tourism and travel across Australia’s vast desert regions the need for a ‘live’ information system that enables drivers to obtain the latest information on travel conditions, things to see and do as they enter a remote area is growing strongly says Professor Roy Jones, who heads the Desert Knowledge CRC’s ‘iVisit™’ electronic bulletin board project.
Capitalising on the rapid spread of internet access across desert Australia, iVisit™ is being developed by DKCRC to provide independent 4WD travellers with fast, reliable online information about what lies ahead of them.
“It started with the obvious concerns about the safety of 4WD tourists in the Outback, but when we investigated further we found a whole range of reasons why people want to get location-specific information as they travel along,” Prof. Jones, from DKCRC and Curtin University of Technology, explains.
“These include negatives – like the road is washed out, there’s a tree down across it, there’s a big bush fire ahead. And they include positives like now’s the time to view the desert wildflowers in bloom or observe rare birds, attend the local rodeo, picnic races or witness an Aboriginal ceremony.”
The information can be relatively static – about the nature of the road, water, fuel supplies and facilities ahead – or it can be dynamic and constantly changing, such as weather, flood and fire threats.
It can also provide up to date advice on entry permits onto private or Aboriginal land, advice on desert behaviour such as collecting firewood, camping, hunting, rubbish disposal, fire bans and ‘outback etiquette’ or safety measures.
“Most visitors spend a lot of time researching all these things before their trip, but with the growth in online services and communication in remote areas it is becoming feasible to deliver the latest local information while travellers are on their journey, just when it is required,” Prof Jones says.
Importantly, the system will be two-way, meaning visitors can log their experiences into it for the benefit of others and chat on virtual bulletin boards. “We think these ‘informal sources’ will be increasingly important, with travellers sharing advice, warnings, pictures and experiences as they go along. However there is an issue to be solved to prevent the posting of misleading or dangerous information,” he adds.
iVisit™ will also enable emergency services to keep track of individual 4WDs and for drivers to post a travel plan, so that failure to arrive at the next destination would trigger an alert. Internet cells along the route can automatically record the entry and exit of a vehicle if its computer switched on.
A major benefit of iVisit™ will be in helping to improve the desert experience. Information gathered from visitors can be used by local government, tourism enterprises and Aboriginal communities to better understand and cater for visitor needs.
The spread of internet coverage and of the use of navigators, laptops, mobile and satellite phones by drivers for staying in touch means the communication revolution is already coming to in the Outback. “The real challenge will be assembling all the travel information in the right architecture to deliver it to visitors in a form they can use easily and rely on,” Prof. Jones says.
“But with predictions that domestic tourism is poised to gain from the global downturn and with fuel prices currently back to reasonable levels, desert travel and demand for the vital information that accompanies it is likely to grow rapidly. iVisit™ could be just what is needed.”
A pilot version of the iVisit™ system is due to begin trials on South Australia’s Oodnadatta track in the first half of 2009.
A DKCRC paper on the iVisit™ project will be presented at the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education conference to be held in Fremantle, WA from Feb 11th-13th, 2009.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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