Looking Ahead
almost 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 02, 2018 at 06:44:38 AM

Dear backers

We hope that the summer has started off great for everyone, and for our friends in the Southern hemisphere, that you are keeping warm.

It’s been a while since our last correspondence, and I want to give you an update on two very important topics - rewards and the release schedule for Safari Central.

First rewards. We’re happy to say that everyone should have received all their rewards. We had a delay in fulfilling the data visualization posters for our backers in the US, and we’re very sorry for that. I’ll spare you the logistical details that got in our way, but all the posters have now been sent and you should have them by now. We hope you will proudly display them in your home or office.

The only caveat to the above is for those of you that are eligible to have your name appear in the credits of the game. This will of course be fulfilled upon the first full release of Safari Central. Speaking of which, read on to know what we’ve been up to and when exactly that will be.

When we originally ran the Kickstarter last year, we had indicated that we were building towards a ‘Pokemon Go’ like game, except with dozens of animals running around cities around the world based on the real movements of real animals in the wild. Nothing has changed from that vision, and we’re happy to report that the first private release of the game will be ready in the 1st quarter of 2019, with a more public launch coming in the 2nd quarter of the same year. The first version will feature the stories and movements of great apes in the Congo Basin in Central Africa and in Indonesian Borneo. And then we’ll build from there by including additional animals and stories and move towards realizing the full potential of the game.

As interim steps towards that release, we’ve done a few things.

First, we upgraded all our existing animals with new tech into a new demo app. This is better than Safari Central in a few ways:

1 - You no longer need to use a currency ‘marker’ to activate the animals! Modern phones can automatically detect most any surface and let you activate the animal with a few small waves of the hand. 

2 - The animals are now life size. No more tiny elephants walking on your table and fiddling with perspective to make the animals look larger. They are life size from the beginning. 

3 - The animals persist. You can activate Lola the rhino in your back yard, put your phone away, go inside, and come out later and she will still be there. You can walk around her and examine her from all sides. And you can still move her around and she’ll walk at the pace she walks at in the wild.

The new demo app is not available through the public app stores, but if you would like to try it out and see the difference we would be happy to share with you. Just drop us an email ([email protected]) and we’ll get you set up to check it out.

Second, we created a prototype of how these animals could be integrated with GPS data to have them actually move around your city and demonstrated it at the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco. You can see a quick glimpse here: https://toucharcade.com/2018/03/23/gdc-2018-safari-central/

We’re now working on the overall storyline for the game, the different game mechanics, and how to build in stronger user engagement for conservation, and will begin development on the 1st release in October of this year. So, we're moving forward.  A little slower than we would have liked, but also with a smarter plan than we had before. We would never have been in this position without your support for the Kickstarter.

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date as we get further along. Thanks again for all your help.

Gautam and the IoE team

New year, new possibilities
about 8 years ago – Tue, Jan 16, 2018 at 07:47:15 AM

Dear Backers, 

We're excited to share an update with you about what we are up to at Internet of Elephants!

As you might have noticed, 2017 brought lots of advances for Augmented Reality because of the launch of Apple's AR kit. This allows us to really invest in pushing what is possible with AR!

Instead of creating more virtual animals on the technology that was created over a year ago, we decided to take advantage of the six amazing animals we already have, and really push what is possible with this new tech and how it can aid the storytelling about wildlife.

Take a look behind the scenes at what Jake, Evans, Raff and Gautam are creating!

We can now make animals appear at their real-life size and speed: You might know the fact that Cheetahs can reach a speed of 60 miles per hour, but you don't really know how fast that is, until you see a cheetah take off and run to the end of your street! 

We can ditch the scanning targets: Only eight months ago, in order for our AR animals to walk straight on a floor, street or other surface, we needed users to scan a target like a banknote or logo. With the new technology, we will be able to bring the animals to life without hassle, when inspiration strikes. Like it did on Christmas Day in Uhuru Park, Nairobi.

We have more ways than ever to show the majesty of nature: With markerless, real-life sized versions of the natural world, we have more ways than ever to show people who might never be able to go on a safari, or visit an ancient forrest, how precious the natural world is. The majesty of a redwood tree becomes all too real when you can find one on your doorstep. 

If you want to dive deeper into this, we wrote an entire essay about what AR can do for conservation in Scientific American.   

What's next?

We are currently building the gamified version of Safari Central with this new tech, and we'll release an "MVP" which we plan to release early spring. We'd love for you all to be involved in testing it, and we will reach out to recruit testers in specific locations across the world when we have the product ready. 

After the MVP testing, we will start adding more animals to the mix, increasing features, and improving production values to introduce the full game. 

Thanks for following us on this journey!

Raff, Evans, Jake, Abhilash, Gautam, Anne, Bas

For more behind the scenes updates, follow us online: Twitter | Instagram | Youtube 

Rewards update #2
over 8 years ago – Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 09:59:51 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Rewards fulfillment update
over 8 years ago – Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 06:09:19 AM

Hi everyone

Let me get right to the point about where we stand in fulfilling everyone's rewards.  We've received most of the survey responses, and so we're now in the process of getting everything ready to get out to you.  If you haven't already filled in your survey, please help us get you the right stuff by filling it out here.

Otherwise, read below to see what you can expect for each of our rewards:

Backer Wallpaper, Sound and Animation Pack, Lemur Ringtone - Delivered
You should have received an email (to the email address you used when you made your pledge) already from Internet of Elephants ([email protected]) with instructions on how to download any of the above. If you didn't get it, perhaps check your SPAM, and if you still don't have it or have any difficulty with the downloads, let us know and we'll get you sorted.

Lola Thank You Card - September
We're just putting the finishing touches on these now, and you should receive an individual email with the thank you card attached to that email before the end of the month. Look out for it soon.

Elephant collar wristband - October
We quickly learned that we're in the tech business and don't know that much about accessory design, so we're still working through the design and workmanship and details to make you a product that you would be proud to wear.  We expect to have this done and the majority of the wristbands shipped in the month of October and coming to you soon after.

8x12 Photography Print - October
Expect to receive these in October too

IoE Long Sleeve T-shirt - October
October is a busy month!

Data Visualization Poster - November
We have an initial design of the poster we think you'll like.  We should have them all designed and ready by late October and shipped out to you by early November

3D CAD file - October/November
We have the files ready, but need are looking for a good 3D printer here in Nairobi to test them out and make adjustments as necessary.  There's a good chance that you'll receive these by email or digital download before end of October, but it might be early November.

Your Name Etched in the Wild - December/January
We expect to have the rocks chosen and engraved by November, after which we need to get them to the appropriate wilderness, spread them out and get you the GPS info and photograph of their location.  Logistically we might have bit off more than we can chew here, but we'll have a plan, and make this happen by January at the latest.  Those of you that chose Ol Pejeta as your location of choice will definitely have this done by the end of the year.

Elephant collar Keychain - TBD
We're focusing on the wristbands right now and then need to evaluate how much collar material we have left over before we design the keychains. We expect to have these delivered by November, but probably need another few weeks to come up with a definitive date.

20x30 Wildlife Prints - November
We could get these out in October as well, but the tricky thing here is that I said I would sign them and I'm in Kenya and our preferred printer is in the US. I'll reach out to everyone that ordered one of these personally to see if you would prefer to wait a little longer to have it signed, or are happy to get it earlier unsigned.

Thanks so much for your patience and we really hope you enjoy your rewards. We've been having a lot of fun making them.  Phyllis has been our star at managing this whole process and if you have any questions, please email her at [email protected] and she can help.

And don't forget to download the preview app at www.safaricentralgame.com and take your shot at winning a safari for 2 to South Africa.  More updates soon on what Safari Central 2.0 will look like too....

Gautam!

BackerKit surveys are coming!
over 8 years ago – Tue, Aug 29, 2017 at 08:46:32 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.