INFO
Abstract
A VR game to experience real-world data of Tuvalu to spatially see and feel the time on the climate clock
We explored ways of putting time in perspective to promote climate change awareness by leveraging temporal-spatial dimensions in VR. On this basis, we designed, tested, and developed a first-person perspective VR game, Oblivion, to demonstrate its potential to visualize real-world data in a new way.
Timeline
May 2022 - July 2022
Role
Technical Designer, Unity Developer, 3D designer, User researcher
methods
Playtesting, Semi-structured Interview
tools
Unity, Maya, Figma
collaborators
3
Recognition
CHI PLAY 2022.
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OVERVIEW
Problem

Raising awareness about climate change is a challenging task because individuals often fail to recognize or realize the immediate effects of climate change due to the psychological distance between the impacts of climate change and the human mind.

Design Question

How can we translate real-world data into an immersive experience to visualize temporal-spatial dimensions of climate change in VR?

Goals

Create a first-person VR game that focuses on:

Enhancing Credibility

Incorporate real-world data from Tuvalu island to add authenticity and a persuasive layer to the experience

Leveraging temporal-spatial dimensions

Highlight the slow and often imperceptible effects of climate change by using time-lapsed environmental shifts and spatial cues to reveal the gradual, cumulative impact on the world around them

Personal meaning-making

Allow users to explore and interpret the experience at their own pace, fostering a deeper, personal connection to the theme of climate change

INTERACTIONS

Adding credibility with real-world data

To enhance the persuasive impact, we utilized real-world climate data from Tuvalu, a sinking island nation in the Pacific Ocean.

To create a VR environment grounded in real climate data, we collected four data types from Tuvalu spanning 1994 to 2021: sea level, temperature, ocean surface acidity, and mangrove coverage1.

Leveraging temporal-spatial dimensions in VR
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We visualized these data within spatial-temporal dimensions in the 3D space:

  • Sea-Level: Adjusted ocean terrain height seven times a day
  • Ocean Acidity: Visualized through color changes in the sea
  • Temperature: Represented by changes in the sun’s color
  • Mangrove Coverage: Removed foliage from mangrove trees
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Personal meaning-making

Disguised as an exploration game, the concept of climate change is kept subtle, allowing players to discover and interpret its meaning at their own pace.

At the start, players are informed they have won a four-day trip to an island. Their primary task is to document their experience by taking landscape photos with an in-game camera.
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Exploration Mechanics

Facilitating exploration with a camera




Each morning, a new daily photo mission is revealed, listing specific items for the player to capture.




As players complete these missions, they naturally encounter and photograph subtle signs of climate change on the island, creating a gradual awareness of the environment’s transformation.




The players receive a photo album on the last day containing information that reveals that the virtual island is Tuvalu. With this, the players make sense of the photos they took on the island in the climate change context and reflect on the slowness and remoteness of climate change effects.

PLAYTESTING

The participants (n=5) were first introduced to the game and asked to think out loud while playing Oblivion2. After experiencing the game with a VR device, we conducted a semi-structured interview3 asking about their thoughts on the game concept and overall experience.
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Findings
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Participants reported positive feedback on the visual and ambiance of the island4. Also, all the players succeeded in completing daily missions. Most of the players spotted relatively apparent changes like the change in color of the sun and sea level rise. ‍

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However, no one managed to identify all the visual elements of climate change on the island and link them to climate change in the gameplay experience.

All players reflected on the changing climate through an explicit before and after comparison using the photo album, commenting that it was surprising, and connecting their time on the island with real-world climate change was thought-provoking.
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NEXT STEPS

Moving forward, we plan to refine Oblivion based on the further feedback:

  • Add camera functionalities, such as zoom in/out and selfie mode
  • Incorporate more diverse climate data to enrich the experience
  • Reduce motion sickness by offering alternative modes of locomotion
Prev project
Eyes of the Wild:
A VR nature Experience
Next project
Stop the poachers:
AR Game
Index
  1. Sea Level (PSMSL) / Temperature (Climate Change Knowledge Portal) / Acidity (European Environment Agency) / Mangrove Coverage (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme)
  2. We designed and developed a first-person perspective VR game to promote climate change awareness. Oblivion is developed using C# on the Unity3D platform (version 2021.3.5f1) with the Oculus Integration SDK (41.0) and runs on Oculus Quest 2.
  3. Semi-structured Interview for 20 minutes asking the following questions
  4. Especially being able to hear the ocean waves and see flying birds. They reported the overall exploration part as a visually pleasing and fun experience and felt a sense of presence while playing the game.
Jisu park @ 2024