Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
4.5.2
Ecosystem Room
An enhanced version of the framework mentioned above was used to create the
Ecosystem Room, which is a tangible game system that intends to raise children
awareness regarding how ecosystems work, as well as the impact of our actions
on the environment, aiming at changing their behaviors towards the environment
(Romão et al.
2012
). The application focuses on the different threats that can affect
the environment, such as pollution, deforestation, illegal hunting.
The Ecosystem Room is installed in a room. Upon entering the Ecosystem Room
entrance hall, the user is faced with a projection screen, which shows a movie about
the different ecosystems, their components and some of the threats that can affect
them (e.g., poaching, deforestation, pollution, urbanization, endangered species,
etc.). While the user is watching the movie, a video camera, placed at the top of
the screen, captures user's images and sends them to the face recognition module,
for user identification. Note that the user data (e.g., name and picture) must be
previously inserted in the database. This allows the personalization of the application
with the purpose of enhancing the persuasive effect. After being identified, the user
is encouraged to proceed to the next room (the interaction room), through audio
instructions (with custom messages).
Upon entering the interaction room, the user is faced with a central interactive
table where all the game action takes place (Fig.
4.11
). Tangible objects are used to
interact with the table. These objects are identified by Data Matrix patterns detected
by a camera. By using tangible objects, the child can select, one of five movies,
each one of them related to a different possible threat to ecosystems, or immediately
start the adventure game to save the Earth. When the child selects a movie, she
watches it, returning to the previous menu when it ends. When the child selects
to start the adventure, she is encouraged to save various ecosystems in the world.
For each continent there is a different threat, and the children should save all the
continents, in order to complete and win the game. With that purpose in mind, the
user should start by selecting a continent, placing the corresponding tangible object
in the centre of the interactive table. Then he is presented with three questions that
focus on the threat corresponding to a typical ecosystem of the selected continent.
To save this continent, the user must correctly answer to at least two of these three
questions. When the user fails, he is always encouraged to try again, so he can have
new learning opportunities.
The Ecosystem Room was tested with thirty children, who were all very enthusi-
astic while playing the game. The children were asked several questions regarding
the environmental issues mentioned in the game, before and after playing the game.
Their answers were substantially more correct after playing Ecosystem Room, which
indicates that children also acquired some knowledge about the topics of the game.
This work also allowed us to explore the use of interactive tables to teach environ-
mental concepts and motivate children's behavior changes by offering them a con-
crete platform for learning and awareness through interaction with physical objects.
Two versions of the Ecosystem Room, which only differ in the user interface,
were developed. In addition to the tangible interface version, another version with
