LONDON.- The Natural History Museum, in partnership with Dell EMC and in association with Intel and Microsoft, today launched Dippy’s Naturenauts, to encourage children to venture outdoors and interact with the natural world.

Designed with the concerns of parents in mind, the new technology means data usage will be limited, the app will work in areas of low internet connectivity and users’ privacy is fully protected.

The educational app has been created to support the Museum’s two-year, UK-wide tour of its iconic Diplodocus dinosaur cast, Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure. The tour aims to instil a passion for nature in children and encourage families to explore green spaces wherever they live - in countryside or urban environments.

Designed for children aged four and above, characters’ Dippy and Fern the fox lead the user through a series of fun exploratory games created to encourage them to interact with the natural world around them. The activities include:

• A ‘tree safari’, in which children are able to make virtual bark rubbings from different trees by using the cameras on their phones, swiping their fingers across the screen which captures the image which can be annotated with additional observations to build their own digital scrapbook.

• ‘Feathered friends’ which introduces key features of birds appearances and songs to assist children in the identification of UK native species.

• ‘Colour hunter’ utilising the devices built in camera to find things in nature, from the sky and rocks to feathers and flowers, that match selected shades and tones on a digital colour chart. This super-accessible activity will inspire children about the many amazing colours that exist in nature all around them.

• ‘Petal quest’ will guide children to use scientific identification techniques to compare their photographs of flowers to a library in the app and set them on the path of identification.

Children will be encouraged to create their own avatar to personalise the experience. By completing the tasks and challenges throughout the interactive adventure children and families will unlock special Dippy’s Naturenauts badges and fun facts about UK wildlife. As the tasks are completed the players will unlock new pages in a digital storybook that features their avatar and photography alongside Dippy and Fern the fox as they explore the natural world together.

Piers Jones, Chief Product and Digital Officer at the Natural History Museum says, 'Research has consistently outlined the major benefits for children from being outside in nature from improved sleep and mental wellbeing to a natural absorption of vital Vitamin D. - yet more than 90 per cent of the population has been urbanised and the chances of any child visiting a green space having halved in a generation. Studies have also found that if children rarely encounter even common species of plants and animals, they will have low expectations of the natural world, low appreciation of the rich diversity of flora and fauna in the UK - and little support for its conservation.

'For all these reasons, the Museum believes finding new ways to ignite curiosity in and understanding of the natural world has never been more vital. This progressive web app, like Dippy on Tour, will help engage children with the nature on their doorstep and encourage them to explore, discover and want to protect the world around them.'

The progressive web app technology enables ‘app-like’ functionality on a wide variety of devices from smart phones or tablets, through a web browser. Once the browser has loaded the content the app will be fully functional offline allowing the user to limit data usage and use the app in areas where connectivity may be low. The Dippy’s Naturenauts app also takes no data away from the handset, protecting the user’s privacy.