Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
A personalization mechanism, provided by an external web service, has been
explored to enhance LEY effectiveness, helping people to better understand domestic
energy usage in order to change potential negative habits and potentiate the positive
ones to a whole new level (Madeira et al.
2012
).
4.4
Rethinking Your Attitude on the Move
As referred by Eckles and Fogg (
2007
), mobile phones are an excellent persua-
sion tool, since they became ubiquitous smart objects that most people carry with
them everywhere. In this section, we present some mobile games designed to foster
environmental awareness.
4.4.1
Gaea
Gaea is a persuasive location-based multiplayer mobile game, which prompts people
to recycle virtual objects within a geographical area (Centieiro et al.
2011
). Gaea was
created with the goals of instructing, informing and persuading users to recycle their
wastes. We also intend to reach a large number of people simultaneously, to promote
entertainment and social engagement, as well as to encourage the contact with nature
and the performance of physical exercise. Thus, we decided to combine mobile
devices (allowing players to freely move around) with a public display (allowing
audience awareness and players' social engagement).
Gaea was designed to be played in any open-air space. Players have to move
around and use their mobile phone to locate and collect virtual garbage spread within
their surroundings. These virtual objects are linked to geographic coordinates and
players need to physically go there in order to pick them up. Once grabbed, players
need to bring it near the public display, and place it into the right virtual recycle bin.
Virtual recycle bins are displayed for selection on the mobile device only when users
turn their mobile phones towards the public display (Fig.
4.4
). If the object is placed
in the right container, the player receives, on the mobile phone, useful environmental
information (in addition to the corresponding points) that can help him answer a quiz
displayed in the public display, for all players, at the end of the game. The purposes of
forcing players to bring the virtual objects near the public display are (1) to replicate
the real recycling process, and (2) to stimulate communication between participants
and the audience. The final quiz motivates users to pay attention to the information
provided on their mobile phones when they correctly recycle an object. The audience
can follow the game progress through the public display.
At the end of the activity, the classification of the various players, based on
their performance, is presented in the public display and it can be also shared via
social network Facebook. In order to advertise Gaea and disseminate environmental
information, we used Facebook Connect so that users could login to Gaea with their
