Biodiversa, 3Bee's game app: how does it work?

The naturetech 3Bee has launched Biodiversa, the free game app for monitoring biodiversity and protecting ecosystems that allows users to easily "collect" and identify the plants and flowers they encounter during an outdoor walk. An ambitious citizen science project that aims to create a cooperative archive dedicated to flora (and in a second phase fauna) in Europe, involving player users with challenges to catalogue species, some of them rare or endangered. Leveraging the most advanced photo-recognition and machine learning technologies, Biodiversa allows users to enrich their knowledge of European biodiversity and actively contribute to its conservation through a game dynamic, which is the real driving force behind the scientific objective.

Available for iOS and Android, Biodiverse has a dynamic similar to that of some well-known free-to-play video games that encourage moving and travelling in the real world to 'collect' characters. In fact, the app made by 3Bee offers a playful experience in which the plants, the flowers and the pollinators - available in the next version of the app - are all to be 'collected' and identified. With Biodiversa, every snap from the smartphone allows a plant to be collected and gives experience points, allowing users to level up and climb the ranking. From 'Sprout Scout' to 'Biodiversity Superhero', each level passed allows one to conquer kingdoms and habitats, advancing one's contribution to the preservation of biodiversity. The Biodiversa app represents a bridge between technology and conservation, involving citizens, organisations and businesses in a European citizen science project that has a real impact on the environment.

After login, you can start playing the game: by clicking on the middle button at the bottom, you can take pictures of the plants around you and receive instructions on how to take a perfect photo directly by clicking on 'how to take a picture' at the bottom right. In this regard, it is necessary that the photo is well focused, that it frames the species you want to recognise well (not too close or too far away) and that there is not more than one species in the frame. Once you have taken the shot, the recognition screen will appear and you will find out whether you have succeeded in capturing that species or only in identifying it. What is the difference? You can conquer a species in a specific location if no one else has ever done so. If that species has already been conquered by another player, you will only be able to identify it and thus recognise it, obtaining detailed information about it, including rarity, risk and distribution.

In the Deck section, you can view the plants you have collected, as well as the points obtained for each conquest and the level of rarity (abundant, common, medium, rare, unobtainable). In the Conquests section, you can view the map of Europe and consult the conquered kingdoms: an entire state, a region, a province or a city. By accessing the Rankings section, you can see where you rank among the users of the Biodiversa app, but also among your teams. Finally, in the Biodiversa Score section, you can see the level you have reached, the habitats (low mountain - conquests made at an altitude of between 500 and 1000 metres, mountain - conquests made at an altitude of between 1000 and 1500 metres, low mountain - conquests made at an altitude of less than 500 metres) within which you have made conquests and their rankings (yes, each habitat has its own ranking!) and your teams.

In the Biodiverse Score section, you can also view your bottom: these are the points accumulated thanks to the achievements made in the reigns, which players can redeem once a week, thus increasing their score and advancing in level. Please note: the redemption of these points is not automatic, but must be done manually. Let us now move on to the levels: the levels of the Biodiversa game app are crucial for the user's growth, which goes hand in hand with the growth of the impact in terms of biodiversity and thus contribution to it. Starting from Scout of the Sprout (level 1) and moving on to Guide of the Undergrowth (level 4), Flora Analyst (level 14), Species Guardian (level 18), you arrive at becoming Superhero of Biodiversity (level 23).

Within the app Biodiversa, each player has a power, that of identification, which allows them to identify species and plants already conquered by other users, earning points for the identification made. Players, however, can also acquire a new power depending on the level they have reached: the catching power. This improves the quality of the shots taken by the player, thus earning more points and advancing in level. Finally, there is the power of inheritance, which allows the player to accumulate points each time other players identify species he has already conquered. The inheritance power then increases each time another player identifies an already conquered species. In addition, the power of vision (coming soon) is coming soon, which allows, based on the level reached by the player, to visualise how many plants to conquer are around you, thanks to an ad hoc map.

In addition to acquiring experience points depending on the rarity of the species conquered, the Biodiversa app will soon also allow players to accumulate bonus points. When? For example, if the conquest made is the first of the day, if a pollinator is present on the photographed plant, or if a flower or a fruit also appears in the shot, or if a player makes a double conquest or identification or if he or she conquers or identifies a certain species first. Bonus points are arrival by the end of June 2024.

The biodiverse app, entirely conceived and developed by the naturetech team 3Bee, transforms everyday activities into educational and conservation opportunities, adapting to a wide range of interests and passions. For families, a simple trip to the park becomes an opportunity for discovery and learning through direct observation of nature. Even travellers and adventurers use Biodiversity as a tool to enrich their explorations, turning each destination into an opportunity to study and conserve biodiversity. In addition, school trips are transformed into open-air classrooms, where teachers and students become true biodiversity explorers, using the app to identify and catalogue local flora and promoting a hands-on approach to science.

The app serves as a strategic tool for companies to organise innovative and sustainable tteam building activities. Through catalogue challenges and outdoor educational adventures, corporate employees can improve their teamwork and raise environmental awareness. It is also a useful activity to promote corporate values related to sustainability and corporate social responsibility, demonstrating the company's commitment to protecting biodiversity. That's not all: companies can sponsor challenges within the app or offer rewards and rewards redeemable through accumulated points, complementing products or services with an outdoor experience that promotes health, wellness and sustainability. Even natural parks or tourist boards can use Biodiversa to tell the story of biodiversity, quickly surveying the hundreds of species in their area with the help of visitors, tourists and citizens.

The biodiverse app is currently available in its first version and errors or bugs may therefore occur. At this launch stage, feedback from players is very valuable and can be reported directly on the dedicated Telegram channel where we share exclusive content directly from the world of Biodiversa every day and where we exchange views on how to co-create the app better and better. The app is also constantly evolving: upcoming releases, as explained, include the integration of new powers, bonus points and more. Start playing with Biodiversa now and participate in the collection of crucial data for the conservation of ecosystems, contributing to a true collective mapping of biodiversity.