This week we stayed at Parsons and communicated with our team over Zoom. The main focus of the day was to get the kids’ opinion on the questions and involve them as much as possible in developing the structure of our game.

The kids rated the questions Raquel and I finalized (which consisted of questions the kids came up with as well as questions we ourselves came up with). We decided to allocate 1 point for every right answer to an easy question and 5 points for every right answer to a difficult question. Below are the ratings.

 

TRASH TRIVIA QUESTIONS

Trash Trivia LCCS team edited questions

1. (2) Name a species affected by water pollution… | Fish, Crabs, Birds, Sea Gulls, Dolphins, Sea Turtles, Sea Lions, and Manatee
2. (3) Name a commonly found form of pollution that lies within the ocean… | Plastic bags, food wrappers, plastic bottles, beverage cans, cigarettes
3. (3-4) What countries are most affected by waste? | Ghana, Philippians, Vietnam, India, China, Pakistan, Somalia, Indonesia
4. (3) Name something affected by air pollution… | People, crops, animals within the ecosystem, trees, the soil.
5. (3-4) What are the main causes of water pollution? | Human activity, Rapid Urban Development, Dumping of Chemical Wastes by Factories, Throwing plastic into the ocean, Oil spills, Use of Toxic Chemicals for the Plants (pesticides and harmful fertilizers)
6. (1) Which indoor home activities use the most water? | Toilet, Water from the tap, dishwasher, showering, Clothes washing
7. (3-4) Name an item that cannot be recycled… | Plastic shopping bags, Batteries, Styrofoam, Tires, Takeout containers, Disposable napkins and paper towels, plastic packaging (ex. candy wrappers), anything that is smaller than a post-it note (even if it is recyclable)
8. (2) Name something that can be recycled… | Paper, Glass, Plastic bottles, Tin and aluminium cans, cardboard
9. (3) Name a common species that is endangered or threatened by human activity… | Bees, Coral reefs, Sumatran Elephants, Birds, Whales, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Mountain Gorilla, Black Rhino
10. (3) Name the causes that reduce the population of bees | Climate change, Habitat loss, Unsustainable agriculture, Pollution, Pesticides
11. (1) Name something you know about the earth… | Very old, Mostly water, Beautiful, Polluted, Round, full of humans
12. (1) Name something a visiting alien would say is a huge problem on earth… | Plastic/Waste/Landfills, Pollution, War, Human greed/Humans
13. (2) What are some things people can do to be more earth friendly? | Recycle, Plant trees, Use less paper / plastic, Use canvas bags instead of plastic, reduce water waste, Start a compost pile
14. (1) Oysters – single answer question?

We also received many interesting questions (both multiple answer ones and single answer ones) from the NY/NJ Baykeeper team and decided that the following questions are worth considering including in the Trash Trivia:

Family Feud-style questions sent by Elana (Baykeeper):

Question #1:

(3) An oyster reef, or living shoreline:

1. Protects the coastline against erosion
   2. Serves as speed bumps for waves during storms
   3. Acts a natural water filter.
   4. Creates habitat for marine life

Question #2:

(2) Protecting natural habitat and open space is essential because:

1. It protects water supplies.
   2. Improves water quality.
   3. Protects flood-prone areas.
2. Creates and improves parks.

Question #3:

According to the United Nations, plastics pollution impacts 267 species of marine life including:

1. seabirds
   2. whales
   3. turtles
2. sea lions
3. fish

 

Single-answer Baykeeper questions:

What is the first stage of life called for an Oyster?

• Larvae

What is an Oyster called once it has permanently attached to a surface?

• Spat

How many Oysters is NY/NJ Baykeeper incubating for 2019?

• 1.5 million.

How can Oyster reefs help prevent coastal flooding?

• During a storm, underwater oyster reefs act as a natural breakwater, absorbing wave energy before it hits the shore.

How do Oysters help improve water quality?

• Oysters are filter feeders, consuming phytoplankton and improving water quality while they filter their food from the water.

How many gallons of water can an oyster filter in a day?

• 50

According to NY/NJ Baykeeper research, about how many plastic particles are there polluting the Estuary?

• 165 million!

What type of plastic pollution was the most present, making up 38%, according to NY/NJ Baykeeper’s study?

• Foam.

How many single use styrofoam products are thrown away each year worldwide?

• 14 million tons.

How long does it take for styrofoam to biodegrade?

• Styrofoam never fully biodegrades.

What landmark is at the head of tide of the Hudson River?

• Troy Dam.

In what city is the head of tide located?

• Troy, NY

Where are the headwaters of the Hudson River located?

• Upper New York Bay.

Why is land conservation important for water quality?

• Land conservation is vital for water quality. Open space provides flood control, storm protection and clean air. When land is developed, permeable surfaces are replaced by impervious surfaces such as roads, roofs and parking lots and less permeable surfaces such as lawns. This increases stormwater runoff and is one of the most significant impacts to natural water systems.

What year did NY/NJ Baykeeper start fighting pollution and polluters?

• 1989

(2) In what ways can you reduce waste on a day to day basis?

• We can reduce our use of non-recycle-able products, reuse what we can, and recycle! Invest in reusable cups, totes and other household and travel products, and try to avoid single-use plastics such as straws, plastic cups, bags, cutlery and containers.

What is a more eco-friendly decoration to replace balloons?

• No balloons is definitely the way to go! Try reusable flags, banners and streamers instead!

(2) What is a good way to be chic and pro-green when shopping?

• Buy local– this reduces the amount of energy it takes to transport food to your table!
• Use resuable shopping bags.
• Try to buy products that are in recycled packaging.
• Shop less and avoid impulse shopping!
• Buy in bulk, which translates into less packaging.

Why are plastic straws out, and reusable cups in?

• Straws are one of the top single-use plastics that end up on our beaches and in our waterways. Reusable cups are a relatively inexpensive and eco-friendly way to go.

Why is going BYO with reusable products fun and eco-friendly?

• By using reusable products, we can reduce waste and reuse what we already have. With the dangers of plastic pollution on the rise, there are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives that can be stylish and convenient.

What is the largest a bog turtle can get?

• 4.5 inches.

When was the bog turtle listed as critically endangered?

• 1974.

What is a black skimmer?

• The black skimmer is a seabird.

When was the black skimmer first listed as endangered in New Jersey?

• 1979

Where does the black skimmer get its name?

• Its stark black and white plumage.

How does plastic pollution in the environment heavily affect the black skimmer?

• Seabirds like the black skimmer ingest plastic particles that end up in the ocean.

Why is it a good sign to have osprey around?

• Ospreys are a sign of a healthy habitat and ecosystem.

What is often found in an osprey’s nest that end up injuring these bird or their young?

• Plastics.

 

PROGRESS ON TRASH TRIVIA ASSETS

Richard’s drawing in the progress of being turned into an animated, enchanted forest. All the other drawings will also be animated and used in the game.

After allocating tasks to the students in Week 8, Raquel and I were excited to see what the students have come up with. A few of the kids were tasked with coming up with a slogan, a few with ideas for a logo and others were tasked with doing more drawings. Everyone was told to come up with a question that we can use in the trivia.

To our delight, when we got there, everyone on our team was drawing! Some were drawing trees, some a scene from the ocean. Below are some of the drawings.

ASSETS

The tree with moustache:

The enchanting forest:

An imaginative anime character and a cat:

The Trash Trivia showtree, logo and slogan: “Just Do It”

The gentlefish host:

An ornate tree out of a folk story

Iba’s poetic slogan…

Copy of the contract we made for the following weeks:

Everyone was tasked with a job to do on Earth Day and also for homework. Jeet and Veer were both assigned the researcher’s role.

 

USER TEST

We had the incredible opportunity to play one round of our game using the PowerPoint we prepared. It took around ~25 minutes and provided us with lots of good insight into what we should work on for the next iteration.

The kids suggested the following:

• make some questions more generic and easier so that people don’t get completely stuck on one question
• allocate different points to questions depending on level of difficulty
• have a cheat sheet for the PowerPoint operator so they know where the right answers are

Prototype 1 screenshots:

Kamali’s trash drawing was used to create a scene of a forest with polluted river. The tree background is an image I found elsewhere and used for testing/ideation purposes. The resulting image was used as the main background of the game until more drawings of trees/forests were done by the students.

Richard’s logo drawing was used as a test Trash Trivia logo. The logo was animated to have flashing effect where the letters alternate from cyan to white.

A tree picture from the internet, decorated with Kamali’s trash drawings was used as the tree of trash that appear behind every question.

The cross pattern from Kamali’s trash bin drawing was used as a background for the questions. Pressing on Show Question displays a new question.

Pressing on Show Answers displays the answers hidden behind black boxes. Clicking on each box reveals the answers behind.

 

SOUND EFFECTS

The entire team participated in series of recordings for sound effect for Trash Trivia. The result of this session will be posted in the next post.

HERO’S JOURNEY

I and Kristiana teamed up to improvising the heroes journey story.

 

 

 

PlayTech was fun and visitors enjoyed our Oceanic Odyssey experience. Although I thought yesterday would be out of control because the number of people, it turned out great. LCCS students helped us guide visitors and offered glasses to them. While visitors were in the dome, they were a bit confused about where to look at in the beginning, we have to tell them “stand here and look at that direction”etc., it would be nice have some kind of instructions first or even verbal guide them before they enter the dome. Another thing I noticed was their reactions after wearing glasses, it was a bit hard for people to think and read at the same time surprisingly. When they read “cover your left eye”, they usually need a moment to think about which one is left and which one is right. So for Monday, we plan to have LCCS students help us narrate these stories and instructions for a better experience. Overall, It was a nice user testing yesterday.

This week is Playtech and we spent class testing the projection inside the dome and combining aesthetics of student drawn work and unity. I will be animating the drawing and creating the underworld for Fuad to apply to skybox and project onto the dome. We finally saw the dome this week and to be honest, it was smaller than what I had expected. It was very hot during class and being inside the dome added to the humidity. We hope it will be cooler when we present on Earth Day.

The first big day arrived and it was FUN!

In regards to the Oceanic Odyssey I was really excited to have people experience it. I even had two friends come over to test it, and they said they liked it.

My first impression was that the thing has yet to be polished. Maybe it was the little amount of things showing on screen, maybe the very low volume, maybe that the mirror wasn’t on the tripod, maybe that some light was leaking, maybe that the AC wasn’t working, maybe that the colors were not there for full disappearance, maybe all of those. But to be honest there was more positive things. The number of smiles, the good comments, just the fact that it was working…

It was great to have this experience and it gets my excited to finalize this project and have it ready for Earth Day!

🙂

Hello Class-

It has been many weeks since I posted and I apologize. The Verizon 5G project has been quite a distraction.

Getting ready for Play Tech required us to do one more trip to LCCS on April 1st. We thought that we could do this trip through the collaborative VR classroom in rumii. It turned out to be much less intuitive and more complicated to make experiences in rumii than we thought. We could have taught you all how to access your rumii account but it was already difficult enough to communicate in Zoom. Soon we will have enough Oculus Go HMDs so that we can attempt to communicate with our teams.

Progress on all projects continues and we will all be testing our projects at Play Tech tomorrow, April 13th.

Trash Trivia is testing their full Family Feud-style game (Bolor and Raquel with a team of enthusiastic game designers).
Greener Grass will test pre-visualization of Farmer John’s troubles with farm run-off pollution made with Co-spaces (Milo, Zhane, Gingerale)
Ocean Odyssey will test their projection in the dome that Jose de Jesus put up on the 12th floor of 6 E 16th Street (Qiyao, Olivia, Fuad, Harry and Jessica) .
Polluters and Protectors will be testing their field game (Evan and Owen from LCCS).

We will also be testing the Under the Hudson Bay Scavenger Hunt experience in rumii.

It will be really busy day but it will help us make our projects really great user experiences for Earth Day two weeks from now.

Break a Leg everyone!!!

Visiting LCCS was very productive this week. This was the first time our full dome group met and when we showed them our ideas of having two worlds, they were really excited about it. They felt that their original scrip were going to become irrelevant but we explained that their script could be slightly altered to become the intro of our experience. The students split into the scripting/narrating team and the artist team. We were lucky to have a few great artists to create the assets. For the coming weeks, we will be combining the assets and putting them into an underwater environment. The Parsons students also split into teams for physical building, editing the drawings, and building the underwater environment. I look forward to seeing the results.