Computerised critters tell their story

At the National Geographic museum in Washington DC a Crittercam exhibition is showing how computing technology is helping to give greater insight into the world as seen by animals. In this field (actually mostly sea) the link between computing and sustainability is most appealing . I always try to be careful not to get carried away with the low hanging fruit (we don’t want people to think that unless they’re working in an environmental area such as this then sustainability doesn’t concern them), but sometimes work such as this is really inspiring.

The whole experience is very well designed – it is impossible not to engage with the stories – both of the animals and of the people.

I also liked seeing the evolution of the tool. I especially liked seeing how the designers went to so much trouble to makde the first one look and feel like a fish, but then to realise that there were so many other factors to take into account. That, and this duct tape sign will pose useful questions for our software engineering classes.