Connected Parks

Intention

Create a connected device that can make playgrounds in East Liberty safer.

Context

East Liberty has a history of violence that over the years has diminished. Unfortunately, it is still not safe enough for parents to allow their children to play in neighborhood playgrounds. Our goal is therefore to create a safe space for children that will allow them to build a community.

Proposal

We want to focus on regulating access to semi-public areas, such as school playgrounds or neighbourhood basketball courts. Specifically, we have decided to narrow our focus to areas regularly used by children. Such playgrounds often carry both real and perceived danger through potential for unauthorized or unwanted access to them. Currently, we are looking at two parks - Kite Hill Park and East Liberty Park, since they are both currently underutilized by the community.

As such, we are designing a system where different groups of people have different levels of access to the park. Our first scenario is where children can gain access to a park as long as there is a chaperone nearby. The second scenario is where adults need to be accompanied by children simultaneously to be able to gain entry to the park.