Description: An interactive virtual experience manifested as a serious game is developed to facilitate the teaching of the critical zone (CZ) concept and its comprising components to a broad range of audiences. The game is developed using the Unity3D game engine and is perceived entirely in virtual reality (VR) which promotes immersion and facilitates natural interaction with the environment. The environment of the game can be described as a “model of reality”. I replicated the natural environment that comprises the CZ (Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) in Pennsylvania U.S.A) in a virtual world with a 2-4-meter accuracy with respect to its topography. Furthermore, I used the vegetation elements to populate the virtual environment are a semi-accurate replication of the natural resources found in the actual area using a procedural modeling approach. This digital twin serves as ideal preparation for the actual trail experience of the learners (i.e. transferability of knowledge), in addition to providing an adequate frame of comparison with other methods of education such as Immersive Virtual Field Trips (iVFTs) based on real-world imagery. To create an engaging and meaningful experience, the game uses a rich underlying narrative where the learner assumes the role of a journalist and is sent on a mission to investigate the effect of natural and human processes on the Shale Hills CZ.
Collaborators: IEEE funding/ Timothy White, Janet Swim, Jessica Myrrick, Alexander Klippel, Mahda M. Bagher, Pejman Sajjadi, Tori Zheng Cui
Developers: Mahda M. Bagher, Pejman Sajjadi
Environmental data type(s) used:
http://criticalzone.org/national/data/
DEM: High-resolution Lidar data (average 10 points/m2 with 2-4 cm vertical accuracy)
Digital Ortho Photo
Shapefiles: Watershed boundary, tree points (survey 2016)
Software used: ArcGIS Pro, CityEngine, Adobe Photoshop, Unity, Substance 3D Designer
Resources/packages:
Unity Asset:
Procedural Worlds: Gaia 2 – Terrain & Scene Generator, GeNa 2 Spawner, Path Painter
Enviro
SpeedTrees
My role: As part of the Center for Immersive Experiences, I contributed to the creation of the digital twin of Shale Hills for the game as well as the experience and narration of the serious game. Using LiDAR data, I have created a realistic terrain of the Shale Hills Observatory. Then using unity assets and Substance 3D Designer, I designed and texturized the environment. Environmental factors such as weather, wind, and water were incorporated into the design of the environment.
Workflow/development:
Terrain Generation
Environmental Features
Results: During the pandemic, we created a desktop version and now we are collecting data using a VR headset. We compared the desktop VR compared to a webpage informing about the critical zone. Although participants in both the serious game and website conditions displayed systems thinking and policy support, the game was a more effective educational tool. Participants with less past science education who played the serious game (relative to those in the website condition) reported more connections across various elements of the FEW nexus and increased support for policies that influenced the spread of effects across the FEW nexus. Moreover, the serious game improved some aspects of the learning experience. First, those who played the serious game reported greater presence and awe than those who viewed the website. Second, among those with less science education, the benefits of the game on reflections about their learning were stronger for those with less science education: those with less past science experience reported greater ease and enjoyment and more effective learning than those who viewed the website. These effects of information format were weaker or not significant, respectively, for those with more past science education. The benefit of the serious game on learning experiences contributed to systems thinking and also on policy support for those with less science education. First, the serious game’s ability to increase presence more so than the website helped explain the effect of the game format on systems thinking. It is informative that awe had the same effect, but only when presence was not included in the model, suggesting there is some overlap between the two reported experiences. Second, the game improved their self-perceived learning which then subsequently improved their systems thinking and policy support. It is informative that enjoyment and ease of learning did not mediate the effect of format on systems thinking and policy support. Thus, the benefit of the game on systems thinking and policy support for those with less science education was not because it was fun to play, per se, but because participants believed it was better able to inform and educate them about the CZ.
Publications:
Sajjadi, P., Bagher, M. M., Myrick, J. G., Guerriero, J. G., White, T. S., Klippel, A., & Swim, J. K. (2022). Promoting systems thinking and pro-environmental policy support through serious games. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 1570. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.957204
Klippel, A., Sajjadi, P., Zhao, J., Wallgrün, J. O., Huang, J., & Bagher, M. M. (2021). Embodied Digital Twins for Environmental Applications. ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 4, 193-200.https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-V-4-2021-193-2021
Sajjadi, P., Bagher, M. M., Cui, Z., Myrick, J., Swim, J. K., White, T. S., & Klippel, A. (2020, August). Design of a Serious Game to Inform the Public About the Critical Zone. In 2020 IEEE 8th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/SeGAH49190.2020.9201697
Sajjadi, P., Bagher, M. M., Cui, Z., Myrick, J., Swim, J. K., White, T. S., & Klippel, A. (2020, March). Cz investigator: Learning about critical zones through a vr serious game. In 2020 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW) (pp. 603-604). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW50115.2020.00152
Bagher, M. M., Sajjadi, P., Greenlees, K., Myrick, J., Swim, J. K., White, T. S., & Klippel, A. (2019, December). Extended Realities-opportunities for increasing public awareness of critical zones. In AGU Fall Meeting 2019. AGU.