TAIPEI, Taiwan — National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Distinguished Professor Huang Chong-ming has developed a mobile application that could guide travellers when exploring the historical sites around Taiwan.
Either by Internet login or downloading the free App on phones, travellers can navigate themselves based on where they are, according to Prof. Huang.
The mobile application called “Demodulating and Encoding Heritage (DEH)” App, developed by Prof. Huang from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, has launched recently, and is linked to the Chunghwa Telecom hicloud CaaS.
Already, it has accumulated more than 6,000 stories about the historical sites in the database, and is continually increasing.
“DEH combines Netcom with cultural and historical areas,” said Prof. Huang.
He also said, “It applies a digitization program to organize the appropriate humanities contents into the information database. It uses Netcom information technology to develop cultural and historical stories, to be utilized in Taiwan tourism industry and other innovative wireless mobile internet applications and service industries.”
The project began in 2008, and is the product of the combined efforts of 7 universities and more than 12 teachers in the field of information, another 5 teachers from 4 universities in the field of cultural history, and 1 teacher from a university specializing in the field of industrial design.
According to Prof. Huang, the education system puts great emphasis on interdisciplinary integration, but it is difficult to span the gulf between engineering and history.
Students from the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology and the Communication Technology Department in particular can study advanced technology but do not know how to use it?
Whilst students from the Departments of Humanities, History and Social Sciences have discovered much humanities context, yet fail to utilize its worth and value in the professional field.
Through his entreaties, both sides endured continuous discussion, finally combining both of their expertise and, working together, they completed the DEH, which was initially used for interdisciplinary learning and personnel training programs.
Once a considerable amount of resources had been accumulated, Prof. Huang decided to place all resources out in the open, to be shared with all.
What's more, the database is continually growing. All one has to do to access the information is to search for “Demodulating and Encoding Heritage” on the Internet, or simply type in http://deh.csie.ncku.edu.tw/trip to visit the website.
For smartphones, one would need to download the “DEH Mini” app from Google Play, and set to go.
Prof. Huang explained, using the Small West Gate remains of the NCKU campus as an example, once people have travelled to the Small West Gate, they just need to login and utilize GPS positioning, and you would be able to see photos and detailed history of the Small West Gate, as well as search for nearby attractions.
The App allows people to plan a full itinerary beforehand, simply by logging in before setting out, noted Huang, and in the future, it can also be expected for the app to add a personal blog platform, in order to share personal travel stories.
