Eco Catcher
Concept Project
A Walking Toy for Nature Education
Overview
Children often experience nature only during scheduled weekend classes, creating a disconnect between their everyday lives and the natural world. Eco Catcher is a walking toy designed for children aged 5–12 that brings nature education into their daily routines. It uses biometric scanning to identify creatures, connects to the National Gene Database, and displays interactive audio-visual information. Kids can collect bio cards, engage through touch and projection, and even collaborate with others, turning everyday walks into playful, educational adventures.
Methods
Interview, Journey Mapping, Ideation, Sketching, 3D Modeling, Product Design, User Flow, Information Architecture, UI Design
This is an extended concept building on my earlier project, neosi, which explores how to bring outdoor learning into children’s daily lives.
My Role
Self-Initiated Designer
Tool
Figma, Rhino, Keyshot, Adobe Photoshop
Duration
6 weeks, 2022 Mar. - May
At a Glance
Background
Bridging Nature & Innovation through Play
Eco is a children's toy design organization that collaborates with experts in nature education, child development, and product design. Within the neosi ecosystem, Eco acts as both a creative hub and service provider, offering interactive learning products like the Eco Catcher, which integrates smart contracts and digital currency to promote nature-based education in everyday life.
Define
Disconnection with Daily Life
To uncover the gap between nature education and everyday learning, I conducted 6 interviews with families and followed up with informal conversations with 3 children.
Journeymap revealed key opportunities for designing more continuous, engaging natural learning experiences.
Uncovering insights
Children thrive through playful, hands-on exploration. Dongdong’s curiosity and desire for control are best met through active engagement with nature, which enhances learning and confidence.
Nature education is disconnected from everyday life. The weekly cycle shows a clear drop in motivation and retention once Dongdong returns to homework and school—highlighting an inconsistency in learning environments.
Design Opportunity
Create interactive, daily touchpoints that extend the impact of nature education beyond weekend classes. By embedding playful technologies into children's routines, we can close the experiential gap between home, school, and nature—fostering consistent learning, stronger motivation, and a deeper emotional bond with the environment.
Prototype
