Gaia Mission App: developing a mobile application for science outreach
M. Clotet, E. Masana, et al. (ICC-UB / IEEC,Spain)
Connecting with the public on a frequent basis is becoming increasingly important in science outreach. In view of the ubiquity of smart devices, mobile apps provide researchers with a new channel to reach out to the general public. However, this platforms are limited in many aspects including screen size, memory and processing power. Therefore, it is a challenge to take into consideration this limitations while providing the public with all the desired information. The Gaia Mission app provides information about the mission in an interactive, user-friendly and engaging way. The app features an interactive 3D model of the satellite and multimedia content and interactive parts designed to demonstrate complex concepts. The app also features live information and news about the mission progress to keep users engaged.
In light of the usage statistics of the application, just one year after it's first release, it has proven to be an effective way to do outreach. We managed to get thousands of downloads from more than
5 countries and maintain users interested.