River Patrol at Your Fingertips: Exploration that Transcends Time and Space
By: Gan River Waterkeeper
Written and photographed by Gan River Waterkeeper
Translated by Katherine Olson, Waterkeepers China Communications Associate
Originally published by the Qinggan Environmental Exchange Center
2020 was destined to be an out-of-the-ordinary year. First came the pandemic, then came a barrage of floods.
River patrol volunteer activities took a big hit due to the pandemic, then as the pandemic cleared, the volunteers’ enthusiasm was dulled by the overbearing summer heat.
But none of these obstacles could stop Gan River Waterkeeper’s volunteers from patrolling the river. Faced with various challenges and inspired by the concept of “using knowledge to change the environment,” Gan River Waterkeeper got to work on developing an all-new method of river patrol that relies on VR and internet technology.
Thanks to computer technology, 720-degree interactive real river scenes can be accessed by volunteers, transforming “onsite river patrol” into “online river patrol.” Volunteers can now break through the limitations of time and space, allowing more individuals to learn about their local rivers in a more convenient way.
River Patrol at Your Fingertips isn’t restrained by time or space. Anytime, anywhere, you can patrol the river at any location you want: just take your phone out, slide your finger along the screen, and you can see the river – not just the banks or the surface, but a full panoramic view. Look at whatever you want to see: it saves time and saves effort, and it’s perfect for patrolling the river!
From now on, all that river patrol volunteers have to do is flip through their phone to clearly and easily view images of the river and riverbanks. The image quality is so high that even tiny debris floating on the surface of the river is clearly visible. Imagery of the entire river is captured from start to finish, with nothing left out.
With River Patrol at Your Fingertips, volunteers can analyze river conditions rain or shine without having to take a single step. With this new technology, everyone can be a “little river chief.” The new era of healthy and eco-friendly river patrol is now a reality.
River Patrol at Your Fingertips didn’t just improve the Gan River Waterkeeper team’s work efficiency and enthusiasm, it also made it easier for people to participate in river patrol work. The river patrols of the past were something that only a small portion of the population was involved with. With this new technology, people who are concerned about the status of the river can easily and quickly obtain information via a QR code. Those who are unfamiliar with using a QR code can also access a River Patrol application on WeChat: click on “VR imagery – Touchable River” on the front page to enter a new visual world. Some users, upon discovering the river was polluted near their home, even learned how to report the incident through the River Patrol application.
River Patrol at Your Fingertips makes it possible for volunteers to investigate the river from their own homes. Don’t you want to give it a try too?
Take your phone out, scan the QR code, and then you’ll hear a “ding” sound and you will enter the VR panoramic river patrol interface.
Scan this code
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