alt Hacker NewsShow HN: Wildex – Pokémon Go for real wildlife
Dear HN,
My wife and I both love nature and have always wanted a Pokémon go style app, to collect and learn about different species we find.
All the usual species identifying apps were didn’t feel fun enough, so we designed and built one together!
Would love for you guys to give it a try and share any thoughts you have.
Comments
Please do not build apps that allow people to specify the locations of wild animals, even in parks. Poaching remains at extremely dangerous levels, and every wildlife park I know of in vulnerable areas specifically asks visitors not to use those kinds of apps or groups because it gives location information to poachers.
Some wildlife parks have ‘daily sightings’ maps at rest stops and lodges, but those are monitored by park officials who remove the most at-risk animals and are cleared at least daily.
Aside from that, apps like this encourage bad behaviour from visitors in parks that allow self-driving, as dozens of people rush to the next leopard, lion, etc sighting. That not only creates its own risks but ruins the experience for everyone else.
In short, don’t do this.
Consider just doing dropping the global leader board. Who benefits from it? For most, it’s a passing curiosity. But for some, it’ll be an obsession which ends up endangering them, animals/plants, and others. These kinds of contents can encourage someone who may not tromp through a delicate bog normally to decide to step off the boardwalk and recklessly go get that picture for the app points. And for 99% of the world, it’s just an additional screen with no chance of being relevant.
Replace it with a leaderboard amongst phone contacts/friended users
Use the excellent eBird and Merlin apps instead.
Ha, no way, I also built this: https://www.mikeayles.com/#zookeeper
I wasn't incentivized enough to actually make it into a proper native app or submit to either store, but it's cool to see something taken to the next step.
Consider just doing dropping the global leader board. Who benefits from it? For most, it’s a passing curiosity. But for some, it’ll be an obsession which ends up endangering them, animals/plants, and others. These kinds of contents can encourage someone who may not tromp through a delicate bog normally to decide to step off the boardwalk and recklessly go get that picture for the app points. And for 99% of the world, it’s just an additional screen with no chance of being relevant.
Someone asked for the model you use but I am also curious how you handle ambiguous IDs. Not everything is clear cut especially when it comes to fungi and bugs.
Inaturalist uses second opinions what's your solution?
Edit: cool idea for the app btw, I always call inaturalist my Pokémon deck already so I think it's a nice new angle :)
It appears the Wildex user in your 2nd screenshot is about to get mauled to death.
I really don’t understand silent mode on the iPhone (and I’ve used iPhones since the OG!) but your app is one of those that ignores it.
Either obeying silent mode or having an option to disable the, admittedly pleasant, sounds would be very welcome.
iNaturalist kind of did this already right? So it's like that with more fun dopamine hits and gamification? If it gets kids outside I think that is good.
Just as an example, we are currently at lady bird lake in Austin, tx and saw a turtle on the bank. It turned out to be a red eared slider turtle. The app informed us that they can breathe through their bottoms! Who knew!
Thinking back to 2016 when Pogo launched there were news stories about trespassing, people getting hurt etc for virtual creatures...
I could easily see someone be foolish enough to go up to predators
I mostly use iNaturalist for foraging mushrooms, and have found it’s somewhat unreliable unless I already have an idea of what I’m looking for. How is this app set up for mushroom IDs? Sounds really fun and I love the concept but given some mushrooms are quite dangerous correct IDs are vital. I assume this also applies to plants?
From the screenshots to the text feels AI slop. Haven't tried it but the store page doesn't give a good vibe and there are quite a few like this out there to make a quick buck.
Hopefully it will not result in too many animals being harassed all day long.
Cornell'd Merlin Bird ID and eBird are real life pokemon go!
1) I love the idea, but there's not a lot of confidence building, "I'm not going to harvest and sell your data" vibe here.
2) I should get extra points if I discover a new species
Dude... unstoppable ads as first thing experience I see after collecting first plant completely killed the vibe for my daughter.
How does it identify the animals/plants? Is there a specialized model for that?
Gamifying encounters with wildlife... an idea that disrupts ecosystems.
Leave wildlife alone.
Has ads. Better to use Inaturalist or Seek.
You have a snow leopard in your app screenshots. The Chinese woman just made the latest news cycles about being mauled by attempting to get a selfie with one. I hope those who use your app will ensure they are taking photos from a very safe distance.
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It's all porn. Sigh, I hate this world. I really do feel like 2020 was the timeline alternating enigma event and we can never go back
Have you taken a look at Picture Insect and Picture this (for plants, original). the incumbents are very specialized, making a simple app for all nature sounds ambitious. I never did find one for bird sounds, but that would be an interesting niche.
Can we get a paid version with no linking? Your 3rd party ad / tracking isn’t compatible with my desires.
Otherwise looks fun!
It’s an interesting idea but don’t like the focus on actually endangered animals. Why not encourage people to engage with the often ignored wildlife all around them? There are plenty of common birds and critters in your own town that you can enjoy spotting and learn about without trekking across the world.