The educational app Cyber Safari was officially launched yesterday evening. During a launch event at Nüü the project team presented the app and looked back on a development process spanning roughly two years: from the initial idea in the spring of 2024 to the finished beta app in the spring of 2026.
Cyber Safari was funded through the 3rd Rapid Action Call and was developed into the finished app through many stages: recruiting partners, designing the storyline and checkpoint concepts, selecting real-world locations in Zurich, defining learning objectives, design and UX, gamification logic, prototype development, and finally, testing phases with young people, whose feedback was incorporated into the optimization. In parallel, content production, videos, and alpha and beta versions were created before the launch in spring 2026. At the event, Céline Külling-Knecht and Gregor Waller (both ZHAW) presented the project and the live app. Franziska Oehmer-Pedrazzi (FHGR) provided an outlook on the next steps.
Cyber Safari demonstrates what digital education can look like when research, design, and urban space come together: Zurich becomes an interactive learning space where young people aged 14 to 18 acquire skills for responsible use of digital media in a playful way. Working in small teams, they explore downtown Zurich while solving challenges on topics such as disinformation, cyberbullying, data protection, and digital balance.
The app was developed in close collaboration with researchers from ZHAW, UZH and the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons. The project was supported by DIZH, the Department of Education of the Canton of Zurich, the Sanitas Foundation and the Ernst Göhner Foundation.
The project is not complete with the launch. The focus is now on distribution and outreach through schools and other institutions, as well as ongoing operations: keeping content up to date, technical maintenance, and optimization. The website will offer teachers background information for use the app with a scool class. In the medium term, further developments and expansion to other Swiss cities are planned.
Cyber Safari is available now!
Participation in the Cyber Safari is free and open to everyone at any time. In addition to teenagers, adults can also take part in the digital scavenger hunt—for example, with friends or family.
