Lookout points and observation towers are ideal opportunities for a Geopark to inform visitors about geology and the history of landscapes. By giving them the chance to get an all over view on a different scale, it is in many cases far easier to explain geological facts in a bigger context. Many geological fieldtrips start on lookout points, for they are the best places to give an introduction. On guided tours it is easy for the tourguide to give all the necessary information to a small group. But what about people, who visit the lookout points or observation towers on their own? In these cases, panels with pictures and written information about the panorama are the classical way of interpretation. These installations often face problems involving vandalism, lack of space on tower-platforms, high costs if contents have to be changed and other technical details. TERRA.vita therefore decided to try a new way of giving information, based on the fact, that nearly everybody is carrying a mobile phone today. The system is based on short texts and dialogues that are read out to visitors, who call a toll-free number at the lookout. The texts and dialogues tell the visitor, what he or she can see from up there in an interesting and amusing way. As in any other case, information on geology, earth history and cultural history are combined in the content.

The advantage of this kind of edutainment on one side is that the hardware that has to be installed at the platform is minimized to a little panel with just two sentences for explanation and a phone number. In some cases an additional compass rose has to be installed. On the other hand, contents can be changed easily by uploading a new or reworked audio file.

In the case of TERRA.vita , information-audios have been produced and installed for 10 observation-towers and two lookout platforms in a first step. Across a monitoring system it is possible to count the calls to find out if the system works successfully