Digital Trails

Digital Trails

Trailblazers

Honours Bachelor of Computer Science (Mobile Computing)

12/08/2020

The Oakville Heritage Trails are a great resource for education, transportation and well-being, but not all residents are utilizing them to their full potential. Some barriers exist in the areas of accessibility and engagement that hinder the experience of being on the Heritage Trails. Many residents do not even know the trails exist, or have taken the time to visit them.

The Digital Trails mobile app helps residents plan out trips that meet their personal needs, educate them on the history of the trails and the Town, and provides residents with an engaging and fun experience on the trails. The software accomplishes this by utilizing live navigation, shared user experiences, interactive stories and augmented reality. The Oakville Community Foundation utilizes the Digital Trails website to educate and engage residents with interesting and accessible information on the history of Oakville and the surrounding areas. The Digital trails system as a whole fosters connections between residents, community members and local government centered around the use of the Oakville Heritage Trails.

The Digital Trails app and web app utilizes Esri's suite of Geoinformation system technologies to present trail data and other information on maps. The app uses Apple's ARKit to deliver an engaging experience. The app also uses the IBM's Watson Assistant to develop the app's virtual assistant. Other technologies include, ASP.NET Core, IBM Cloud Foundry. The app currently delivers trip planning features like trail maps, trail accessibility information, live navigation, point of interest sharing, trail utility information as well as an engaging learning AR experience, and an experience featuring a virtual assistant.

The Digital Trails website currently delivers mapping and content administration features. Future plans include community building features like trail events creation, user profiles and a unique directions system as well as other exciting features.

The Digital Trails' core idea is the brain child of the Town of Oakville and the Oakville Community Foundation. They sort a solution that uses the trails in Oakville to increase residents sense of belonging. The Capstone team then brainstormed possible use-cases and built out what would become the Digital Trails system.

The team is made up of Kenneth Uyabeme, Cory Da Silva and Mike Banks, three well-rounded, dedicated students in their fourth year of study in the Honor’s Bachelor of Computer Science (Mobile Computing) program.