Bridging the Digital and Natural Worlds: Interactive Landscaping

Our students were tasked with enhancing the visitor and learner experience across four key zones: the Pond, the Polytunnel, the Vegetable Garden, and the Rock Garden. To do this, they designed beautiful, informative infographics using Canva, detailing the flora, fauna, and maintenance of each specific area.

Rather than using traditional signage, the team leveraged modern maker technology. They 3D-printed custom, durable markers embedded with hidden NFC (Near Field Communication) microchips. Mounted securely in each of the four areas, these tags act as digital gateways.

How It Works: Visitors and fellow students can simply tap their smartphones against the 3D-printed tags to instantly load the student-created infographics. This seamless integration of technology into nature not only showcases the hard work of our Landscaping students but creates a dynamic, interactive learning environment for everyone who walks through our gardens.

Students did the following: - Designed the Infographics to be loaded onto the NFCs - Designed the NFC Tags in TinkerCad ready to be 3D printed - Designed and fabricated the wooden plynths that the NFC tags will be mounted too