“Insight Wat Pho” social innovation by a Chula Architecture lecturer is a companion application that helps visitors plan their visit to Wat Pho with other fun features, such as an AR floor plan of Wat Pho, a “Yak Wat Pho” hunt game, and many other forms of knowledge.
“Wat Pho” is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangkok and Thailand, with around 10,000 – 15,000 tourists each day!
Inappropriate tourist behavior that has been a problem for this important tourist attraction prompted Dr. Wilasinee to initiate the social innovation project “Insight Wat Pho” to mitigate the impacts. As an architecture professor who has been continuously working with the local community, professor Wilasinee reflects that effective solutions to environmental problems should tackle their root cause by promoting environmental education.
“If people are knowledgeable about the environment, they will know what causes the problems and how to solve them. How we, as part of the environment, can contribute to mitigating the problems in a more sustainable approach”, she explained.
“Insight Wat Pho” consists of 3 main features that provide basic information, and 4 more fun features that will educate visitors while they have fun:
Plan Your Visit helps visitors plan their visit including how to get there, opening hours, how to buy tickets, etc.
Visitor Map helps navigate visitors through the temple’s complex layout.
Wat Pho in History shows Wat Pho in three periods: King Rama I, King Rama III, and the present day in 3D.
Wat Pho from the Sky shows Wat Pho from every corner by looking for the markers placed on the ground inside Wat Pho, once scanned, an AR diagram of Wat Pho will be displayed.
Explore takes you to explore not-to-be-missed spots in Wat Pho with multimedia
Freeze-Frames – Pictures of different angles in Wat Pho from about 100 years ago for visitors to find, and compare. It’s great for photography enthusiasts.
Yak Wat Pho (Wat Pho‘s Giants) – This feature has the coordinates of many giants in Wat Pho for visitors to find in a “Yak Wat Pho” hunt.
Read the full article at https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/128940/
Those interested in trying the Insight Wat Pho app can download it for free on the App Store and Google Play, or follow the app on Facebook: Insight Wat Pho.