Where GNSS Meets the Easter Bunny
April 1, 2009 By: Stephen Colwell
This past winter holiday season proved a tad disappointing for GPS consumer device manufacturers and retailers, after the astonishing boom in holiday season 2007. Now let’s look to another holiday, likewise rooted in religious (and likely pre-religious) observances to see how technology — to some the modern religion — mixes it up, new and old.
The Mass Market for GNSS products is not built overnight. It takes a score of years positioning the devices and solutions to find homes amongst the hearts of the various user communities. Yes, even the Easter Bunny has fallen for GPS, which provides a new sense of adventure and enjoyment to both young and old alike. Granted, Easter has a mirage of symbolism, religious and whimsical, attached to it, but is has symbolized the coming of spring, rebirth, and colored eggs hidden carefully amongst the tall grass. Sprouting spring bouquets and children dressed in colorful pastel colors are icons of Hope and well being for things ahead. The Easter Bunny is the Grand Master of Ceremonies ringing in the joyful event. The story behind the Easter Bunny and GPS is a good one and shows us the benefits of technology and tradition.
According to Wikipedia, “The Easter Bunny is a mythical character depicted as an anthropomorphic rabbit. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, cand,y and toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. The Easter Bunny will either put the baskets in a designated place or hide them somewhere in the house for the children to find when they wake up in the morning. The Easter Bunny is very similar in trait to its Christmas holiday counterpart, Santa Claus, as they both bring gifts to good children on the night before.” Hiding the eggs and surprises (more importantly finding) is where GPS comes in. Let’s take a look around the world and see where GPS and the Easter Bunny meet… By the way, it’s called geocaching and there are roughly one million participants spread among 100 different countries.
Easter Roots
This quintessentially Easter custom was probably first introduced to America in the early 1800s by German immigrants, who brought with them to the new country their old tradition of the Oschter Haws. For German children, the Oschter Haws — or Easter Bunny — was the highlight of their Easter celebrations. The Haws would arrive on Easter morning, delighting them by laying colored eggs in nests.
Southern California: Students Helping Students
The News & Observer of Orange County reports that at New Hope Elementary School, first- and third-graders were in hot pursuit of the plastic eggs not by using their keen eyesight, but by checking the coordinates on a GPS unit. The group of New Hope students ran back and forth across school grounds in search of a dozen eggs while fifth-grader Patrick Wooton called out position numbers.
"It can't be that egg. It says 90 [feet]," Patrick said. "Now we're getting a lot lower!" he continued. "30 feet away."
Once the eggs were found, the students cracked them open and had to answer questions related to spring, such as estimating the temperature outside.
First-grade teacher Stacy Lee teamed up with fifth-grade teacher Amy White and the school's technology specialist to hide the eggs and load the information into the GPS devices before they began.
As GPS units become more common in schools, teachers have come up with some innovative way to incorporate them into curriculum. The Orange County School District bought 32 handheld GPS devices in December with a federal grant.
Germany: Easter Bunny Position Art
Peter Rullmann of Saarbrücken, Germany, writes in his blog: “Fascinated by the beauty of position art by the mighty Stavros, Hirvi, Mr.Stahl, and I decided to use this special Easter Sunday evening to create our own magnificent masterpiece. And since it's Easter, the motif was going to be an Easter rabbit.
“By coincidence, Mark Guim posted a tutorial on how to make your own position art using Nokia Sports Tracker this morning. The artists used a trusty old Magellan GPS unit and a standard digital camera.”
Virginia: Bunnies and GPS
A GPS Easter Bunny Rescue At Occoneechee State Park in Virginia offers the following invitation, sponsored by Virginia State Parks:
Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009
Time: 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Visitor Center
Description: Help find the Easter Bunny! The Easter Bunny was hiding Easter Eggs in the park and can't find its way back. Find the Easter Eggs using GPS, and use the clues inside each egg to find the Easter Bunny. The hunt begins at Occoneechee State Park's Visitor Center on Saturday, April 11. Arrive anytime between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. We'll loan you a GPS receiver, show you how to use it, and then you can start hunting Easter Eggs. $3 per person, or $8 for the family.
Louisiana: Easter GeoCaching Unit
Tangipahoa Parish School System teachers have discovered a new tool to improve teaching and learning and motivate students to master geography and mapping skills: GPS. The School System reports that for Easter, School Tech Facilitator Melissa Ryan created an Easter GeoCaching Unit for the first-graders in Lisa Sander's class at Tucker Elementary in Ponchatoula. The students had to use the GPS units to locate hidden eggs — each egg had a treat and letters — then they had to move the letters around to spell an Easter word.
Macquarie Island, Antarctic: Easter on the Great Green Sponge
The Australian Antarctic Division describes its Easter unique celebration:
“How do you celebrate Easter in the middle of the southern ocean, far from the normal accoutrements of ready-made confections and gaudy commercial products? About the only traditional Easter symbols we have on Macquarie Island is an abundance of bunnies… Following Easter Breakfast, the team departed for its Easter Egg hunt using GPS.”
The Australian Antarctic Division leads Australia's Antarctic program. As a division of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, its charter is to ensure Australia's Antarctic interests are advanced.
Houston, Texas: Adult Only
The adults in Houston are planning their own GPS-Easter Egg hunt followed by a GPS-directed pub crawl, through OpenStreetMaps:
“It's Easter Sunday and what better way to celebrate with the family but with an Easter Egg Mapping event! We'll strategically hide Easter eggs around the town and when you find them, create a waypoint, pick the egg up, and bring it back to Salento Coffee. The team with the most finds wins a prize! Then on to the Pub Crawl!”
United Kingdom: Hunt Easter Eggs with Your GPS!
Wayfinder.com provides ideas on how to host an Easter party using GPS.
“There are many traditions around Easter, amongst them dyed chicken eggs and placing hard boiled eggs. Another tradition is to hunt hidden eggs — which is even more fun with GPS for both children and grow-ups. An egg-hunting party might be both fun and educational, regardless of if you usually celebrate Easter or not: You finally get the chance to learn how to use a GPS; you train your direction finding and team work; and, last but not least, you, your friends and your kids get a chance to enjoy being outdoors."
The Draw of Easter and Your Next GPS Purchase
Don’t think the manufacturers are going to let Easter slip by without testing the waters to make a sale or two. TomTom is offering “Europe for Free” for Easter.
“Families planning a trip to Europe this Easter can save themselves time, money and stress by grabbing a TomTom Sat Nav device with European maps for the price of a UK/Ireland model.”
An Unforgettable Easter Day Discovery
One of the world's most famous yet least visited archaeological sites is Easter Island. Here’s a description from world-mysteries.com:
“Easter Island is a small, hilly, now treeless island of volcanic origin. Located in the Pacific Ocean at 27 degrees south of the equator and some 2200 miles (3600 kilometers) off the coast of Chile, it is considered to be the world’s most remote inhabited island. Sixty-three square miles in size and with three extinct volcanoes (the tallest rising to 1674 feet), the island is, technically speaking, a single massive volcano rising more than ten thousand feet from the Pacific Ocean floor. The oldest known traditional name of the island is Te Pito o Te Henua, meaning ‘The Center (or Navel) of the World.’ In the 1860s Tahitian sailors gave the island the name Rapa Nui, meaning ‘Great Rapa,’ due to its resemblance to another island in Polynesia called Rapa Iti, meaning ‘Little Rapa.’ The island received its most well-known current name, Easter Island, from the Dutch sea captain Jacob Roggeveen, who became the first European to visit Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722.”
Easter and GPS: Building a Mass Market, One Egg at a Time
There you have it, my tribute to one of my favorite holidays. The cold winter is being replaced by sunshine and flowers. The greenhouse is full of blooming things, and sitting on the deck of the boathouse watching the mighty Columbia River go by, I think of all those kids and adults who will have great fun with their GPS devices and their hidden Easter treats.
Happy Easter to all,
Stephen
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