Can virtual reality save the planet?

Can virtual reality save the planet?

On August 9, the United Nations announced the severe climate Report, For the first time since 2018, it warned that the planet is getting warmer faster and made the headlines of the red alert all over the world.It takes great power to bring the earth back from the edge work in team, The author of the report wrote. However, despite the increasing urgency of information in the public domain, scientists, journalists, artists, and creators have yet to effectively communicate it to a large number of global citizens. Some of them are now pinning their hopes on virtual reality (VR) to convey information.In fact, a lot of research at Stanford University Virtual Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory It has been shown that using virtual reality to change human behavior is effective. But how does it work, and what kind of VR experience can most effectively reach the most people and have the greatest impact? Where can these VR experiences be delivered to people? Is VR just a communication tool, or is it something more?

To answer these questions, we interviewed part-time associate professors, registered architects, Teka Studio She founded an award-winning design company in Brooklyn in 2003. Keith is particularly interested in design-oriented solutions to climate change and is currently building a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and open virtual world. From her book “2100 A Dystopian Utopia: After Climate Change city ​​of”. Keith’s book was published in 2017 by the late Michael Sorkin’s Terreform ONE. This is a non-profit architectural and urban think tank focused on ecological design. Keith’s book reimagines the world 14 cities have adopted emerging technologies to cope with the climate crisis. Keith hopes to release a beta version of the game within a year, including virtual renderings in New York City and Moscow. Its trailer is narrated by a tour guide named Violet, showing a city shrouded in fog, haze and neon lights, full of flying taxis, gleaming tall buildings, and fantastic gardens and parks. It is reminiscent of the iconic futuristic noir film in “Blade Runner”, but the life of plants is much longer. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

Kristen French: What attracted you to work in virtual reality?

Vanessa Keith: Well, I have always been interested in new technologies and presentation models.But in 2016, we and Glimpse Group, A virtual and augmented reality platform company, they took part of our New York case study from the book to VR. This is really interesting. They asked us to walk a simulated springboard 200 feet above the city, and then let everyone jump off. Many people couldn’t do it, even if they were really just in the office. I did it, it’s incredible, how real it feels.

I am called an eco-futurist, but in fact, my whole goal is: How can I reach people? VR is a powerful tool. For example, the Virtual Human-Computer Interaction Lab at Stanford University found that if a person has a VR experience of cutting a tree—feeling a chainsaw vibrating and hearing a tree fall—the person is more likely to save paper. This is really interesting. The immersive nature of the medium affects all your senses and overwhelms the physical space around you. It’s almost a cliché now, but it’s called an empathy machine, and for me, this is really what connects it to the climate.

Cave: How do you use virtual reality in your work now?

VK: Our goal is to develop the concepts in my book “2100” into a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, an open virtual world in which people operate avatars, and the task is to create a way to protect our city from the threat of climate change new method. Players in this multiverse complete tasks of points and expertise. They can choose different roles: explorer, creator, destroyer, poacher. For example, explorers chase storms and help cities prepare for the storm. Creators design solutions to mitigate climate change, such as carbon dioxide capture, and can even communicate with real inventors or learn technical skills in the virtual world, such as how do I repair or maintain solar arrays? Vandals recycle abandoned or unsustainable elements of the city. We even provide space for poachers who will steal things and destroy climate solutions because there will be people who want to do evil. But if they are caught, they will give up all points.

Editing from the alleys of New York at night in the virtual reality world “2100”. Credit: StudioTEKA

Cave: What kind of impact do you hope your VR multiplayer game will have?

VK: One thing I always find in my research is that we do not lack solutions to climate change, we lack political will. At the same time, I think the people who invent things and those who think about solutions are still in isolated islands, in different fields in different countries, so I really hope that this place can be a place where people can connect and share ideas. In addition, a lot of information about climate change is very negative. Maybe it didn’t reach people because it was so intimidating. Maybe we can get more people involved through fun, because fear doesn’t seem to work. People just shut down.

Now, what if you enjoy this by-product of an online multiplayer game that actually plays a role in a world outside of the game?I think we can do things together Proof-of-stake non-fungible token (NFT),this needs Much less energy to maintain Compared with traditional NFT. Just as we can raise funds to fund real-world efforts to address climate change, such as tree planting, carbon sequestration, and support for the efforts of non-governmental organizations dedicated to addressing the climate crisis. Some environments in the world are like digital art works, right? Therefore, there may be moments in the world where someone can buy and accumulate points. Many such games, especially MMORPG, have begun to have their own ecosystem.

It is also very important for us that we have a green server to support this. We are not washing green, right? We really want to realize our vision for a new type of ethical and socially conscious multiplayer game. We hope it can expand Metaverse, greatly expand its audience, connect the virtual world and the real world, and have a real impact on the future of our planet. Our vision for “2100” is one of continuous expansion, community building, and a large number of practical applications. “2100” will become a community meeting place for ecologically conscious people, and at the same time transform the gameplay from mere pastime to transformative adventure.

Cave: The immersive nature of the virtual world seems to make it a very useful tool, not only for communicating the impact of climate change, but also for imagining the future of the city?

VK: Yes, because you have a one-to-one relationship with space. This is an incredible tool. I have taught design at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania for 15 years. For a beginner in architecture, one of the most difficult things to understand is that the thing you are designing is not a toy. Half of the effort is actually being able to imagine yourself as a small and tiny person in that space. Using headphones, you can immediately see its scale. It can help solve what I think is a crisis of imagination, and it is impossible to imagine the world as anything different from the present.

The interior of the vertical farm in Moscow in the game “2100”. Credit: StudioTEKA

Cave: Are there any VR climate change projects that really inspired you?

VK: The marshmallow laser feast is great. They did two pieces. One is “in the eyes of animals.” The other is the “sea of ​​air”. Winslow Porter and Milica Zec of Stanford University did a “tree”, which I have already mentioned. I have been working with Tamiko Thiel, a VR artist based in Munich. She did something called “Evolution of Fish” and “Unexpected Growth”. She did a lot of VR work. Participants in the media and conditions said “This is climate change”. The Yale University Hackathon is great. So I think a lot of people have started to use VR because of its persuasiveness and ability to project you into a different future.

Cave: Where should VR experiences and games be provided to get the most impact? Museum of Art? School? How do you get a large number of people to use them?

VK: I think VR needs to be available on multiple platforms because not everyone can afford virtual reality headsets, so this means mobile phones, laptops or desktop computers. We also want to provide a way for people to form communities outside of the VR experience, perhaps in social media. Some of these VR experiences may only exist in the Oculus store, so it is a game you download. The enhanced version might be in a museum or school. The art exhibition will allow us to test other types of technology, such as tactile technology. Therefore, not only will you feel the vibration of your hands, but if you are wearing a vest, the vest is synchronized with the earphones so that you can really feel what is on your body.

Cave: As a medium, virtual reality has experienced so many intermittents. Do you think the pandemic has increased the potential to attract a wide audience?

VK: The pandemic actually accelerated the potential of VR because we realized, hey, guess what? It doesn’t matter where my body and your body are, because most people’s bodies just stay at home. I got my first headset during the pandemic and it was great. You can be in a small space, you can wear headphones, you can have unlimited space. You can suddenly stand on the top of the mountain and look into the distance. In addition, it is no longer only for children or gamers. People of all ages are joining.

Cave: What role do you think augmented reality (AR) should play in combating climate change?

VK: I think AR and VR have different uses. With AR, I imagine being able to walk around and pick up my phone and get indicators and information that I didn’t have before. For example, we can have a data field where I can use my mobile phone to understand in real time what my carbon footprint is, or what is happening in my city. If you think about how we changed, change is a habit you make every day. We arrive here one point at a time, gradually, so on a personal level, we can all have an impact. I always say, start where you are. Every point is important.

Cave: Do you have any other dream projects about VR?

VK: This game is indeed my main focus now, but I think one thing I really want to do is to connect with inventors and people who develop different tools to combat climate change in a meaningful way. These things can be in VR, In the context of the game.

I think VR is a very good way for people to envision a potential alternative to the future, because we don’t have a crisis of tools and technology, we have a crisis of imagination. We have a feeling of depression, everything is in vain, we are all going to hell. This is not true at all.

We created this world, we can transform it, but the first thing we have to do is to imagine it in a different way.