EpiCollect collates data from mobiles on various topics, such as disease spread or the occurrence of rare species, in a web-based database. The data is statistically analysed and plotted on maps that are instantly available to those same phones.
Researchers can report back to the EpiCollect database with results from experiments they do in the field, and amateurs can send back photos or videos of certain species from their own back yards. The phone's GPS system automatically logs the user's location, which is plotted on Google Maps. Anyone can access the database online or from their phones.
Lead researcher on the project David Aanensen of Imperial College, London, said that the full integration into a central and widely accessible database makes EpiCollect particularly useful by making it easy for researchers to look at any of the data in almost real time.
He said that there was particular potential for using the approach with school projects like the typical "quadrant" experiment in biology, in which schoolchildren set out a fixed area and count the number of species in that area.
The team is working to develop an iPhone-compatible version of the app.
