T a x a

L A B
2016
conTenTs

sAfe cATs, AnimAL

RewiLding gLAss fines sAfe wiLdLife TRAcking
page page page page page
8 20 28 40 32

conclusion....................57
List of figures...............58
Bibliography..................59
heLLo.
Through a series of agile design sprints, this report aims to rapidly develop solutions to
four issues relating to biodiversity and climate change. Agile design is comprised of four
stages: discovery, development, design and testing. Through this process, the designer
can choose to repeat and redevelop at any stage in order to advance further. This report
will outline the methods of agile design in greater depth and how it has been applied to
develop solutions for the following topics: Rewilding in Urban Melbourne, repurposing
materials from glass fines, domestic cat management as well as animal tracking devices
used in captivity environments. Each topic is elaborated upon in four different sprints,
and an additional sprint hones in on one of the topics at a greater depth. Throughout the
report, the methodologies and frameworks for design will be discussed and supported by
precedence as a measure of plausibility as well as discussion for further investigation.
 rewilding spRinT 1

pokemon go
9

Re wi L d i n g
uR BA n
me LB o uR ne
The Agile Design approach was first used to
complete a Rewilding Design Sprint. This first
sprint entailed developing solutions for issues
surrounding rewilding in urban Melbourne.
Rewilding is “the scientific argument for restoring
big wilderness based on the regulatory roles of
large predators”. Upon learning about the idea
of rewilding and how it can connect cities back
with wildlife, observations made about existing
rewilding solutions were used as a
foundation for the discovery and
design stage of the agile design process.
10
discove Ry +
pRecedence RewiLding
Despite the notion of rewilding largely being
associated with predation and balancing food
chains within specific areas, attempts have been
made at a social level to introduce this idea of
rewilding into our everyday lives. Communities
forming to promote rewilding have been seen
online, for example a “Honey on Tap” Kick-
starter campaign making backyard beehives
(Fig.1) easier to manage and a ‘Permablitzing’
movement turning local backyards into edible
gardens. These examples made it apparent that
people are open to the idea of rewilding our city.
The way we connect with our environment and
how this can become a more educational and
immersive experience was an idea which shaped
the direction of this rewilding sprint. For the de-
velopment and exploration of this idea, exist-
ing apps and websites were looked at as prece-
dence. This was the second stage of the discovery
where existing design solutions were used as a
guideline moving forward into the design stage.
Fig 1. Flow Hive
11
 Th e m eLB ouR ne u R B An f oR e sT
vi su A L
The Melbourne Urban Forest Visual is an online
interactive mapping system that shows the life
expectancy of trees in the City of Melbourne
which is determined by environmental factors
including age, drought and extreme heat. Fig-
ure 2 shows how the map can be used to identify
the species of a particular tree in the City of Mel-
bourne region and its predicted life expectancy.
Fig 2. Melbourne
Urban Forest Visual
Using technology that is interactive can make
the experience we have with the trees in our
surrounding more intimate. People also have
the ability to send emails to trees in which are
then responded to individually by the people
running the sire. This anthropomorphic view
of natural entities in our urban streets can be
shifted with the use of technology, as seen with
the work of The Melbourne Urban Forest Visual.
This existing technology was a form of inspira- Fig 3.
tion for the design solution for this design sprint. Pokemon Go User

pokemon
go
During this period of research, the Pokemon Go
phenomenon was well and truly underway and
had become the default screen across smart-
phones in many countries. The game itself is a
“location-based augmented reality mobile game
that allows players to capture virtual creatures
throughout the real world”. Despite the momen-
tum of the game having slowed down, its phe-
nomenal success (players have used the mobile
device so much that their combined footsteps
have “..circled the equator 2,724”) has paved the
way for the future of augmented phone games.
The users (Fig.3) are only required to have a
smartphone device, which is their tool to explore
the natural and built up spaces in their surround-
ings that they may have otherwise overlooked.
“The idea that the Pokemon Go craze has drawn
people to new parts of their cities is an incredi-
ble precedent for future technologies to come”.

12 13
de s i g n +
The anthropomorphic relationship that society
de ve L o p m e nT
currently has with our ecosystem often
Gamifying an augmented experience like
Pokemon Go has shown a positive response separates individual entities from the greater
to people actively engaging in their surround-
ings. For this rewilding design solution and whole. The aim of the app is to amalgamate
the design portion of the agile design pro-
cess, this gamified idea was taken into consid- data from trees, wildlife and flora in a visual
eration. The question of ‘how can we engage
people with their natural urban environment way to counter this anthropomorphic view by
in a way that is educational but also shifts
their anthropomorphic perception of nature?’. connecting several aspects of our
From this stage, all previous information dis- ecosystems.
covered during the research stage was used
to inform the design and development of an
app. The idea for this app was to create a por-
table encyclopedia for smartphone users who
had to first collect information about their en-
vironment in order to save the gathered data.

14 15
 pRo ToT ype +
Tes Ting
The app is a sightseeing, informative, gamified
networking system that allows people to learn
more about their surrounds as well as engag-
ing with friends. It can be used either individu-
ally or can be connected to people in your so-
cial network. The name given to the app was
‘Cyclops’, alluding to both the encyclopedic
nature of the app as well as the eye through
which the users see their surrounds with.
Users can hold their phones in front of them,
click on the ‘+’ symbols in their vicinity to re-
veal animals, plants and landscapes which can
then be added to their encyclopedia. Users can
also leave notes and respond to notes that are
visible to their facebook friends in the location
they are written. This means that anyone mis-
using the app is not visible to the public and it
is thus a controlled environment. The social as-
pect of the app is similar to The Melbourne Ur-
ban Forest Visual which, as aforementioned, al-
low people to communicate with trees via email.
The app was mapped out as a set of slides rep-
resenting the different pages of the app, this
was part of the design phase. Prototyping the
navigation of the app was done using Marvel
Ap p App which plotted several buttons connecting
pR o ToTpye different pages together. The way this would
/ be tested would require User Interface testing,
cycLops
surveys of how people currently use their phones,
their relationship to the environment and wheth-
er they would even want to use the app, as well
as electronics testing. Recognition software
used by Facebook as well as Google Photos
would be an example of software that could be
applied to this sort of identification technology.
Connecting Pokemon and rewilding to explore
ways to engage people with their natural, ur-
ban environments is not as far fetched as it may
seem. The augmented reality game has already
achieved this level of engagement, yet the goal
for this app is to use gamification to make learn-
ing about birds, trees, native plants and other
data a fun experience with the reward being
knowledge and intimacy with nature. Rewilding
urban Melbourne will gradually create a para-
digm shift in the way we interact with our ur-
ban landscape. Using technology to make this
shift seamless is an imperative part of our future.
18 19
Cherry Lake, Altona
 glass fines spRinT 2

“glass which has been

recovered but is considered
unsuitable for use in glass
manufacturing due to the
particles being too small or
contaminated with ceramic,
stoneware, pyrex
and plastic”

-sustainability victoria

crushed glass Rooftop

20 at momA (new york city) 21
discoveRy
wh A T AR e
gL As s f i n e s ?
Large quantities of glass are recycled and re-
manufactured to form usable glass products,
yet we are left with mounds glass fines which
have been deemed unfit for the recycling pro-
cess. Due to contaminated objects surrounding
pieces of glass or even glass in close proxim-
ity to ceramic material, this glass is added to
piles of glass fines. Finding an alternative solu-
tion to sort, recycle and reuse these mounds
of glass was the challenge faced for the sec-
ond design sprint. During the research stage,
several suggestions were made as to how
this glass could be better used, for example:
• greenhouse windows
• Land Reclamation
• glass Tiles or Bricks
• pLA waste glass composite
for 3d printing
• Affordable housing building
materials
• Robot brick making system
• Building of housing and dis-
tribution
• sound proofing highways
• Rooftop garden Top soil
22
Recyc L ed
gLA ss
gLAss
fines
Roof Top
From here, the idea of creating a rooftop garden
was further investigated. Growing cities have
the space to create rooftop gardens, which, as
hypothesised, could potentially have insulating
benefits to buildings. The design was proposed as
followed using diagrams (Fig.4) and a written aim:
Using recycled glass as a replacement for
sand in topsoil - combining glass with soil
as an aggregate does not reduce the effec-
tiveness of plant growth and is an alternative
to sourcing new materials for plant growth.
Using recycled glass instead of sand with-
in the topsoil is a cost saving initiative.
The reflective properties of glass would
act as a thermal insulator for the building
whilst providing a surface for plant life to
grow and blossom in an urban environment.
Fig 4. Rooftop Glass
23 Garden Diagram
 For the testing of this proposal, a fellow class-
mate was set the task of designing the tests and
experiments that could prove or disprove its ef-
fectiveness. The purpose of this experiment is small -scale portable
to determine the effectiveness of glass particles Test modules
in reflecting heat from the surface of rooftops,
particularly urban garden beds. The idea is for
glass to provide a reflective surface to lower with glass without glass
overall building and environment tempera- particles particles
tures while not interfering with plant growth.

These small scale test modules are de-

signed for portability and can be implement-
ed in an unlimited range of rooftop and other
outdoor environments.

T e sT i n g The surface area of each module (Fig.5) is 1

x 1 square metre. One module features typ-
p Rop os A L ical topsoil, while the other a thin layer of glass top
glass. The glass particles are melted or tum- layer
bled into smooth pebble-like forms that
are no smaller than a square centimetre.
soil
Temperature is monitored electronically at layer
3 significant points on both modules: the
top surface, box interior, and the plant it-
self. This data is recorded over the course of
any given time frame to determine tempera-
ture differences between the two modules.

With the exception of the thin glass layer, hollow timber

both modules are otherwise identical in terms box
of their construction and vegetation to help Fig 5. Rooftop Glass Garden
ensure accuracy of temperature monitoring. Testing Diagram
24 25 (Marlin Spencer)
 As another student designed the testing for
the design stage of this sprint, the design test-
ing for another student was reciprocated. One
student suggested using the glass from glass
fines as breakwater blocks and anchors for
floating farms. Both breakwater blocks and an-
chors for floating farms are currently made of
concrete. The floating anchor farm does not
specify which sort of farming is involved on the
land, is it renewable energy farming, aquacul-
ture or food farming. Each sort of farm would
BR e Ak w A T eR require a different structure which would involve
different weights and tensile strengths. For ex-
BL o c k s + ample, a wind turbine as a floating farm would
require a larger structure to support its weight.
fL o A T in g fA Rms Testing Stages:
Firstly, a comparison between the different
materials to mix with the recycled glass would
need to be set up: is it formed with concrete,
an organic material or a resin material to form
its shape? How does the weight of this com-
posite material measure up to the concrete cur-
rently used? Would it still be viable to use this
material? Would it require a stronger material
like steel? Testing corrosion (Fig.6) over time of
glass in water + if it affects the strength of the
material testing could involve putting an aggre-
gate of recycled glass in rough water conditions.
26
Also using equations and testing the pH of seawa-
ter. Despite glass being a highly corrosion-resistant
material, certain chemicals can cause corrosion.
A study comparing the use of waste glass with
concrete:
“For example, it is known that the concrete
strength is typically controlled by the bond
strength between cement matrix and ag-
gregate. If natural aggregate with relative-
ly rough surfaces is replaced by crushed glass
particles with relatively smooth surfaces, one
would expect a drop in strength and in par-
ticular a reduction of an already low ductility.”
The study referenced above disproves the ben-
efits of using recycled glass as an aggregate of
concrete for floating farm anchors. Knowing this
information, further testing need not be applied
physically as it is already available in the form of
a research report. Understanding that existing
tests and ideas have been disproven in the past
is a crucial part of the agile design process as
it eliminates the need to do unnecessary test-
ing. The cycle of the agile design process can
then be repeated with this knowledge in mind
and can move toward an entirely new direction.
Fig 6. Testing
Diagram
27
 safe cats, spRinT 3
safe wildlife
domesticated cats are becoming a seri-
ous contributor to a decline in wildlife
diversity. keeping cats safe indoors and
out of reach of their prey was the de-
sign problem for the ‘safe cats, safe
wildlife’ campaign being run by the mel-
bourne Zoo. The Zoo is hoping to promote
the safety of domestic cats and wildlife
by campaigning for cats to be kept in-
doors. The attraction of owning a pet cat
is that it is considered low maintenance,
allowing it to roam free at its own will
and return for food when needed. how can
we ensure that cat owners will know that
their cat is as healthy and active in-
doors only as it was as a roaming cat.
The aim of this project is to investigate
whether a cat jacket is a viable solution
to the indoor cat campaign and whether it
affects an indoor cat’s well being in a
positive way.

29
cA T
cA LL s
The outcomes of the cat jacket project would
ultimately determine whether or not cat own-
ers feel peace of mind with leaving their cat in-
doors all day. Creating a shift in the way people
perceive cats as pets is part of the campaign’s
objective, therefore it is important for neces-
sary products and services to be available to
better support the maintenance of indoor cats.
What is it?
A communication jacket for your feline bud-
dy which indicates its “indoor” status.
The jacket can be used as a sensory de-
vice to interact with your cat whilst own-
ers are out working/travelling/playing chess.
Why would I need this?
You don’t want Barry to feed your cat pick-
les for the hundredth time this month, do
you? No worries, just text your cat and vicari-
ously lay down the law with Barry. Do you see
your cat’s heart rate increasing rapidly? Give it
TeSTinG JACKeT PRoToTYPeS
Do certain designs immobilise the cat’s move-
ment?
• sizing of jacket - varying
sizes of breeds
• Testing sensory responses to
vibrations, do these improve
to any extent
• Testing volume of the sound -
cats don’t like loud noises
a virtual stroke (pressurised) or say hello! Let
that little fur ball know you’re thinking of it.
The sensorial qualities of the jacket aim to:
• Reduce the cat’s indoor
angst
• keep track of it’s heart
rate and monitor symptoms
of anxiety
• is a form of an ‘indoor
identity’ - your local com-
munity can identify that
your cat should be indoors
should it be caught roaming
the streets.
• finding the right solution
- is this product neces-
sary?
• Allows interaction with
your cat while away
M o n i T o R i n G B e H AV i o U R A L
CHAnGeS
Does the jacket improve heart rate?
Ease of use
Can the cat be easily reached, does it respond
to the “virtual petting”
Change in aggressive behaviour, feces con-
sistency or any other applicable symptoms of Cat Calls
distress. Proposal
 animal spRinT 4
tracking

The melbourne Zoo’s

Resident otters
33
TR Ac k i n g
As iA n s mA L L
cL Aw e d
oT Te R s
The outcomes of human-based animal obser-
vation can vary due to the following factors:
• different interpretations
of animal expressions and
behaviours
• fatigue from observing
repetitive behaviours for
long periods of time, which
leads to inaccuracies in
data collection and results
• Time limitations; animals
can’t be monitored 24 hours
of the day
Using people to translate their animal observa-
tions into data may not be the best method to in-
form animal care and behavioural management.
As a result, many technological solutions have
been developed in order to automate this ob-
servation work. How this data can be translated
in a zoo setting was the challenge for this Animal
Tracking design sprint. For the focus of this de-
sign sprint, the two resident Asian Small Clawed
Otters at the Melbourne Zoo were observed
and their enclosure was used as an example set-
ting for the tracking and observatory devices.
34
oTTeR
o B s e Rv A Ti o ns
Initially, the Otters were observed for rough-
ly half an hour while in their enclosure. This
observation was measured by activities and
behaviours (i.e. sleeping, eating, running)
which were recorded every 30 seconds. Tak-
ing a 30 minute snapshot of the Otter’s day
was a way to familiarise with their behavioural
traits and social interactions with one another.
After observing the otters, further research
was undertaken online to understand more
about the otters and their behaviours. Many
of the physical traits of the otter such as their
instinct to stay coupled with another otter and
its incredibly buoyant fur that makes swim-
ming effortless, helped in understanding the
enclosure requirements for them in the zoo.
Through researching the Asian Small Clawed
Otter, it was found that their vulnerability in
the wild was their reason for being in captivity.
c o n s eR vA T i on
Through this research, the following discov-
eries were made about the Otters and why
their habitats are endangered in the wild
(listed on page 33).
AnimAL
TRAcking
• nearby tea and coffee plantations, increase in aquacul-
ture and human settlements increase water pollution and
release harmful pesticides into wild otter’s habitats
• without shelters or places to hide, otters are vulnerable to poach-
ers looking for their soft, lush pelt. This happens in india and
parts of southeast Asia and is a threat to otters in the wild.
• deforestation near rivers causes rain water to carry
silt and clay downstream after rain- storms. The silt-
ation and polluted water decreases fish species which
otters enjoy hunting and rely on as a food source.
The importance of keeping track of animals in
their zoo enclosures is to ensure any compromise
to their health and safety can be easily attend-
ed to. Tracking this information is crucial yet, as
previously discussed, it is not viable to have zoo-
keepers and volunteers monitoring each breath
the animals take. involving the visitors to the zoo
is a potential way to not only control the data
that is recorded and monitored, but is a way to
engage visitors in a way that is exciting and in-
formative. From this, an idea was formed around
visitor interaction, animal conservation edu-
cation and data translation of animal tracking.
35
p + o
App prototype
P + o is an interactive ap-
plication that visitors can
use as an education tool at
the otter enclosure. The app
will use ethovision monitors
to track the movement of
the otters within the enclo-
sure at the zoo and bring
up a tracked map onto a
touchscreen in the viewing
areas of the enclosure. The
otter’s movements will be
updated throughout the
day, and allows visitors to
see what they have gotten
up to even if they aren’t vis-
ible from the viewing areas.
The visitors can remove certain parts of the hab-
itat (trees, water, shelter, stream, otter partner)
and see what happens to their tracking when
they lose vital parts of their environment. This
aims to use the movement of the otters to raise
awareness for issues of deforestation, overfish-
ing and the role humans play in animal endan-
germent while also educating people about the The game will use ethovision monitors to track
need for their captivity. The map on the left can the movement of the otters within the enclosure
be screen captured and saved with the date and at the zoo and bring up a tracked map on the
time for zoo specialists to see how the animals screen (left slide). The otter’s movements will
are getting around in their space. A gamified be updated throughout the day, and allows vis-
way for people to have a greater appreciation itors to see what they have gotten up to even
for the conservation work being done at the zoo! if they aren’t visible from the viewing areas.
37
 T o p s c An
T e c h n o Lo g y
meeting with a technician
from the florey institute

Initially, the app was designed to be part of a

system with Ethovision technology. However,
after further research, a newer, more efficient
technology was discovered as a better form of
data tracking. The TopScan technology uses
contrast differentiation to detect the nose, cen-
tre point and the tail end of the mouse. For ex-
ample, during a water test experimenting with a
dark coloured mouse, the base of the water tank Ethovision
would be painted a light colour in order to cre-
ate contrast. The technology uses a camera that
is suspended above the testing enclosure, but
there is also a similar software that can be used
at a side angle, at eye level with the mouse.

Although the testing is used at a smaller scale

and in a controlled experiment setting, learning
about the way the data is translated and how
it is able to be collected was invaluable to ob-
serve. Understanding the technology that is cur-
rently being used in a similar way gives plausi-
bility to what may be possible at a larger scale
with the otters or any of the animals at the zoo. Top Scan

38
 cat
napp
gps Tracking jacket
and pet management App

finAL
41 spRinT
 Moving forward, the aim for this project is to design a
successful prototype of a cat jacket.
Developing an appropriate design of a cat jacket is the first
stage: will it be comfortable to be kept on all day, does it
correspond to certain touch points or sensors around the
home or neighbourhood? How will owners see the difference
in their cat’s well being with and without the jacket? Do they
use apps on their smart phones? Would they prefer a more
visual involvement in their cat? Developing for both the cat
and the owner are crucial in the methodology stage as the
cat’s well-being is dependent on both of these factors.

43

disc ov e Ry +
pRec ed e n c e
Of the four design sprints previously discussed,
Safe Cats, Safe Wildlife stood out as a project
to develop further for the final sprint. Previously,
a cat jacket was proposed as a product design
solution for a Melbourne Zoo campaign to keep
Australia’s cats indoors. For this final sprint,
44
this proposal was developed and explored at
a greater depth. From the initial design of the
cat jacket, more research and redesigns have
dictated the making and testing of the jacket.
The Cat Jacket started as tool to relieve stress
and anxiety symptoms that cats may experience
in the home environment. An issue that arises
when campaigning to keep your cat indoors for
the sake of wildlife conservation, is cats devel-
oping cabin fever. ‘The main concern with an
indoor environment is that, compared with the
outdoors, it is relatively impoverished, predict-
able and monotonous and may cause the cat to
experience boredom and stress’. This is an ex-
cerpt from a 2005 report outlining the housing
requirements of domestic cats kept in the home.
An anxiety and stress relieving jacket would
require short term, minimal usage. An exist-
ing product, The Thundershirt, is used for cats
and dogs in stressful, unfamiliar situations such
as going to the vet. Hence, creating a prod-
uct that did almost exactly what another prod-
uct does would not solve any issues. From
this discovery, further research into feline be-
haviour in the home and the requirements for
them to be healthy both mentally and phys-
ically was undertaken. How can cats be en-
riched in the home using apps, toys and GPS
monitors? Therefore, the objective of relieving
stress and anxiety was made redundant and the
idea began to focus on an active indoor cat.
The following are examples of products that
currently exist to aid indoor cat enrichment.
pAwTRAck
Pawtrack is a GPS tracker that can easily be
attached to your pet’s collar. The device con-
nects to an app which can be download-
ed on iOS or android phones. The purpose
of the device is to be able to locate your
pet when it’s missing and receive a live feed
on your mobile device anywhere you are.
Apps
The Cat Food giant Purina have launched a se-
ries of game apps designed for your cat! The
Friskies games can be used by your pet in the
home to keep it entertained. The games are
not unlike the action of hunting, redirecting the
cat’s natural hunting instincts toward the iPad
screen instead of the neighbourhood birds.
univeRsiTy of souTh
AusTRALiA ReseARch
cAT TRAcking pRojecT
Researchers at the University of South Australia
used GPS collars to track suburban cats over a
five day period. The objective of the project was
to ‘find out more about their behaviour and per-
sonalities - their relationship with their owners
and community attitudes about cats’. The track-
ing of cats has become a citizen science project
which is dependent on community participation.
Discovery Circle, the group in charge of the proj-
ect, also have ongoing projects regarding edible
garden education, bioblitz events and a ‘Goan-
na Watch’ project. By involving the community,
these projects are not limited to researchers at
universities and organisations alone, making the
management practices more widely educational.
“People who want to participate will fill out
an online survey first, which includes a cat
personality test. Then, if they would like to
track their cats, we’ll send out the GPS track-
er. once they have completed the track-
ing, we will give them a report on their
cat’s personality and where their cat goes.”
A s u R ve y f oR
cAT o wn e Rs +
non cA T
owne R s T o
gA i n in s i g h T
in T o cu R Ren T
ATT i T ud e s
Tow AR d c A T
owne R sh i p A nd
mA n A ge m e nT
Looking at the previous examples of existing track-
ing and enrichment products, it’s clear that the tech-
nology is already burgeoning. Therefore, it was de-
cided that the development of the cat jacket would
work in partnership with the work already being
done at the University of South Australia. The Paw-
Track product is only in use and available in north
America, so by bringing the focus to a local level,
perhaps a similar product could be set in motion.
Once it was decided that the project would be a fol-
low on from an existing one, a survey was sent out
as part of the testing phase of the project to ascer-
tain people’s current views on cats and technology.
In order to collect more data and test the validity of
this idea, a 10 question survey regarding cat owner-
ship and management was sent out to close family
and friends. The questions varied from ‘Do you think
cats need to be better managed in the home? i.e.
setting curfews, monitoring via GPS, training etc.’ to
‘Would you be interested in knowing where your cat
goes when it has left the house?’. The aim of the
survey was to collate data about people’s current
attitude towards cat ownership and how open they
would be to the idea of a cat GPS tracking system.
The results concluded that people are fairly confi-
dent in their pet management capabilities but there
is scope to introduce cat GPS tracking technology
into their lives. The results are discussed below.
it is first important to state that the survey was not
restricted to cat owners - it also asked of those
who are not cat owners or who have had cats in
the past to participate. Opening the survey up to
a large variety of people ensured that there was no
bias toward cat owners and their confidence in their
cat management. Gaining a perspective from the
non-cat owners was important for balancing these
views, particularly as citizen science and communi-
ty involvement is an essential part of this project.
In total, forty people responded to the survey via a
Facebook post. of the people surveyed, 37.5% an-
swered ‘yes’ to the question ‘Do you currently have
a pet cat?’ A further 22.5% elect-ed the third op-
tion ‘Yes, but it is only allowed indoors’. This meant
that the majority of the surveyed participants were
cat owners. The remaining 12.5% have had a cat in
the past, making their experiences and opinions just
as valuable as the current cat owners. When asked
if they were ‘aware of the risks posed to wildlife
when a cat is permitted to roam outdoors?’, 57.5%
responded with ‘Yes, I am well aware’ while anoth-
er 27.5% said that they were ‘Somewhat’ aware. monitoring app or device. However, it appeared
that their personal health monitoring behaviour
Understanding the participant’s awareness of threats did not affect their interest ‘in the idea of using a
to wildlife due to predation of cats was important similar technology for their cats’. 43.3% of people
when then asking if they believed that ‘cats need agreed that they would be interested in a fitbit style
to be better managed in the home? i.e setting health monitoring system for cats. A further 35.1%
curfews, monitoring via GPS, training etc’. 50% said they would be interested ‘only if it was afford-
of respondents believed that they manage their able’. One person commented saying they would
cats just fine meaning more than half (65%) of the be interested only “If it was relatively maintenance
cat owners (including past cat owners) believed
that they do not need to change their manage-
free, i.e. cat proof (obvious design decision, hope-
fully), weather proof, and less battery changes”.
ment. One argument for not needing to change
cat management was “i feel as though we are al- From this survey data, several ideas driving this cat
ready domesticating the animal enough”. A per- GPS project can be supported. Despite many cat
son who selected ‘Yes, Cats are poorly managed in owners agreeing that they do not necessarily feel that
my neighbourhood’ said that having better man- they need to better manage their cats, most people
aged domestic cats “...would put the owner’s mind were open to the idea of using a technology similar to
at ease”. In hindsight, the question was worded a fitbit on their cats. While this survey did not directly
quite poorly and could have had additional options ask questions about the design user experience of
for people to select in order to gain clearer data. the app, the responses regarding the interest in the
The second half of the survey was centered around
technology are a positive indication to move forward
with its design and development. Had this survey
GPS and health tracking. Firstly, the respondents been unsuccessful, the next steps of the project would
were asked ‘would you be interested in knowing need to be altered according to the data patterns.
where your cat goes when it has left the house?’.
30% selected ‘Yes, Very interested’ and 20% said
they would be ‘Somewhat Interested’. A further
17.5% said that their cat ‘doesn’t leave the house’
(despite 22.5% initially stating that they had an ‘in-
doors only’ cat) and 7.5% believe they ‘know exactly
what their cat gets up to’. The remaining 25% agreed
that despite not having a cat, the idea of knowing
where cats go outside the home sounded interest-
ing. Nobody selected the ‘not interested’ option.
One question was directed to the participant them-
selves and asked if they ‘currently use a fitbit or oth-
er type of health monitoring device’. 80% of people
answered that they do not currently use a health
Designing and developing the prototype of
the Cat GPS app was the first part of a series
of design sprints. While the goal is to devel-
op an app and jacket device working sys-
tematically, the functions and features of the
jacket could be better informed by first de-
veloping the app. Once the aforementioned
research and surveying had prompted the
direction of the project to continue forward,
the features of the app were considered.
Multiple cats can be added and tracked, each
have their own profile and activity updates
Some features of the app are highlighted over
these next pages, aided with images of the app
itself. The App was prototyped using Marvel
App and has been tested on close family and
friends. Feedback from the apps functionality
and objective have been varied, one person said
‘If I had a cat, I would use it’. Moving further with
this app would require more user testing and
would need to be testing with the jacket itself.
Home screen allows you to see live updates,
check on your cat’s health and even go to a
live GPS feed
 Connection to GPS made once the Cat napp Live GPS tracking to see where your cat goes
jacket is on if it leaves the home. Also acts as a way to
monitor activity within the home and garden

Management updates correlate to changes in

activity. Large variation in heart rate or hunt-
user Testing
ing patterns for instance can be supported
with information and products or tools to
improve your cat’s health.

50 51
 The jacket was designed and made with agility and overheating in mind. Cats overheat

c AT quite easily because of their thick fur, so they have little trouble keeping warm. They
tend to lick themselves to cool down, meaning they can’t have their fur fully covered
for long periods of time by a jacket, particularly in the warmer months. The reason for

j A cke T designing a jacket and not a collar is so that the cat can be a token “indoor cat” and
easily identifiable. Collars can be removed by clever cats and GPS collars are often
quite bulky, they do not necessarily deserve to be treated like guilty drink drivers. De-
signing a jacket instead a collar meant that the physical requirements of the cat then
needed to be considered. Will the cat be able to run freely, will the cat suffocate if it
tries to take it off, will the cat overheat, will the cat get teased by the other cats? These
were all design considerations which lead down to the activewear path. Activewear is
used to counteract all of these factors for people, perhaps if an owner sees their cat in
active wear, they will feel better about leaving it indoors for extended periods of time.

Available at
www.safecatssafewildlife.com

hand sewn using a ribbed cotton

fabric, mesh for breathability and a
race stripe for speed
52 53
sToRy
B o AR d
This is a diagram of each of the systems working togeth-
er. The Cat Napp system is designed to help cats and their
owners communicate better with GPS tracking, health moni-
toring and pet management advice. To assure cat owners
that their indoor pet is active and healthy despite not being
able to roam outdoors freely, this combined jacket and app
system can be used. The jacket is designed for high perfor-
mance, so your cat won’t overheat! You can keep track of
your furry friend’s heart rate, daily activities and where it goes
when it sneaks out of home - all from your mobile device.

54
 c o n c Lu s i o n
The Cat napp system is still very much a work
in progress. While preliminary testing with cat
owners and non-cat owners has been done, suf-
ficient data proving that a cat jacket is a viable
solution for the Safe Cat campaign is not yet
present. Many surveyed participants were inter-
ested in the idea of a Cat GPS tracking system
similar to a fitbit. However, much of the active-
wear/fitbit thinking is still theoretical and not
supported by reliable data. It has been assumed
that by humanising a cat by giving it clothing
and technology desired by us as people, keep-
ing a cat indoors could be an easier transition
for cat owners. The physical nature of cats hav-
ing thick fur leading to them easily overheating
makes it unlikely that having a jacket on all day
56 would give them or their owners peace of mind
about being indoors all day. While the jacket
has not successfully been tested on cats, an al-
ternative to using the Cat napp GPS system in
partnership with the University of South Austra-
lia would be developing the existing product.
Another factor that was not discussed in this re-
port is the electronic components of the jacket.
While it is hypothesised that existing technolo-
gy (i.e. Fitbit) could be used within the jacket
to have health, mapping and daily activity data,
the benefits of using a jacket over a collar or
similar device are not clear. Recommendations
for the future of this project would be to de-
velop a harness system that would be both a
tracking device and a method of identification
of its “indoor cat status”. This type of design
would be easier to test, safer for the cat’s health,
cheaper and, most importantly, would still sat-
isfy the objective this project set out to reach.
 BiBLiogRAphy
Rewilding:
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“Life Span What Happens When Trees Age?”. Melbourne Urban Forest Visual. n.p., 2016. Web. 1 Sept. 2016.
Lynch, Patrick. “21St Century nolli: How Pokemon Go And Augmented Reality Could Shape our Cities”. Arch Daily.
n.p., 2016. Web. 16 oct. 2016.
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Weedon, Alan. “The Trees That Return Your emails”. Broadsheet Melbourne 2015. Web. 1 Sept. 2016.
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LisT of figuRes Glass Fines:

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Figure 1…...Flow Hive - Successful Kickstarter product making backyard honey produc- posium concrete technology unit of ASCE and University of Dundee, Dundee. 2001.
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Animal Tracking:
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Figure 3…...Pokemon Go User - A person uses the PokemonGo App
Figure 4…….Rooftop Glass garden diagram
Figure 5…….Rooftop Glass garden testing diagram (By Marlin Spencer)
Figure 6…...Breakwater blocks and floating farms testing diagram
Safe Cats:
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nPR,. “Who Says You Can’t Train A Cat? A Book of Tips For Feline-Human Harmony”. Fresh Air. n.p., 2016. Web. 15
Sept. 2016.
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