Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby to launch new Rate my View smartphone app
Broadcaster and journalist Jonathan Dimbleby is to launch an innovative new smartphone app that enables people to capture and comment upon landscapes in and around the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Rate my View has been developed by the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in partnership with Plymouth University as part of the European cross-border project Cordiale, and is designed to gather pictures and feedback from people ‘out in the field’.
Users will be able to take pictures of scenes and features in the protected landscape and automatically upload them with their comments to the website, where they’ll become part of a continuous social media consultation process.
Mr Dimbleby, who is the patron of the South Devon AONB, will officially launch Rate my View at the South Devon AONB annual open forum at Malborough Village Hall on Wednesday 10 July.
Roger English, Project Officer at South Devon AONB, said: "We’re delighted that our Patron Jonathan Dimbleby is formally launching Rate My View. The app’s simple nature enables a participative approach to collecting, sharing and understanding a range of public perceptions of local landscapes in and around the South Devon AONB. We’re hoping that over time it will enable us to build up a picture of how the AONB is perceived."
The South Devon AONB is one of 46 in the country, and stretches from Brixham to Wembury, and includes towns such as Kingsbridge, Dartmouth, Salcombe and Modbury in addition to the spectacular coastline, estuaries and farmed countryside.
The app – which is free, and available on both Apple and Android platforms – automatically uploads pictures taken on smartphones or tablets to the Rate my View website. It uses GPS technology to pinpoint user location, establishing that they are in or near the AONB area, and can even detect the direction the person is facing. Users then rate their view from zero to five stars, and they can submit words or short phrases that sum up their opinion. This could include descriptive landscape features such as “network of Devon hedgebanks”; qualities like “tranquil”; feelings like “inspiring”; or active events such as “battered by waves”.
Dr John Martin, of the University’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, said: “The app helps to burrow into public perceptions, finding out what people really think about the area’s coast, estuaries, countryside and villages. Over time, with the changing of the seasons, and as change takes effect, it will enable us to better understand how we view our landscapes and discover what we particularly value.”
Dr Martin said that other AONBs had expressed an interest in the technology, as well as two of the Regional Natural Parks in France – an equivalent protected landscape designation, who have been working on projects with the South Devon AONB team.
The website can be viewed at http://www.ratemyview.co.uk
The App can be downloaded from:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rate-my-view/id569016588?ls=1&mt=8 (iOS) or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.threeequals.ratemyview (Android)
