Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children

The slides I used at my presentation at JCSG (Joint Conference on Serious Games) 2022.

Transcript

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   ඈͼࠐΈ 0, Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children Kenji Saito, Kayo Kobayashi, Hirotsugu Ikeya, Naoki Yoshioka, Suzuna Shibasaki, Asuka Takahashi, Atsuki Hashimoto, Yuma Kawanobe, Waki Takekoshi, Asuto Mano, Tomoyasu Hirano Waseda University / Academy Camp / STARHOUSE JAPAN Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.1/41
2. The slides can be found at : https://speakerdeck.com/ks91 “ks91” is the username of my email address on the paper It is also my VRChat username, and you can use it to find the worlds we have created in Academy Camp VR (open to the public at Community Labs now) Or you may simply want to search the web with the title of the paper Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.2/41
3. In This Presentation, We share our experiences of creating serious games with children In particular, Academy Camp VR Cells, in which the immune system of the human body is turned into a serious game About Academy Camp (https://academy-camp.org) Series of play & learn camps for children in (especially Fukushima,) Japan since 2011, after Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami and the nuclear accident Non-profit activities and organization Going mostly online for the past two years and a half Doing Academy Camp VR for the past year and a half About the presenter Kenji Saito is the Representative Director of Academy Camp, a computer scientist, And a professor at Graduate School of Business and Finance, Waseda University Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.3/41
4. First, Let’s Watch the Video Video (less than 2 min.) https://youtu.be/ZHdP9BKuQX8 How the created game looks and how to play it Academy Camp VR Cells is a VRChat world https://vrchat.com/home/launch?worldId=wrld_2f8602af-a7ea-42a4-833b-789261f55205 Please visit if you are a Steam and/or Quest 2 user Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.4/41
5. Making Academy Camp VR Cells How the children gave form to what they had learned Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.5/41
6. September, 2021 3-day online camp 9 elementary and 4 junior-high school students / 5 adults Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.6/41
7. Started with Zoom Meetings At this camp, we learned about the immune system and considered the challenges of space medicine One outcome of the camp is VR Cells, but another outcome is an experimental facility built on a virtual moon to demonstrate how high it takes to place an intravenous drip on the surface of the moon Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.7/41
8. Talked about DNA replication (including Okazaki Fragments) Okazaki fragments appear within a complex process in DNA replication We learned that DNA replication, which is often explained simply, is in fact a complex process Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.8/41
9. Talked about Transcription and Translation We learned how proteins are synthesized using genetic information and how viruses take advantage of the mechanism We investigated the code of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and how a human body would react against it Slide above illustrates how codon (sequence of nucleotide triplets) can be optimized for more efficient protein synthesis, as seen in the design of the vaccine Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.9/41
10. 3D-Painted DNAs Then children 3D-painted what they had learned, as our goal was to create a virtual reality world Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.10/41
11. 3D-Painting DNA Replication/Transcription Some child even tried to reproduce Okazaki fragments for DNA replication Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.11/41
12. 3D-Painted Red Blood Cells We have not yet reproduced those nanoscale phenomena involving DNA and RNA in the VR world, but we are using this model of red blood cells in the game Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.12/41
13. Started with a Single Virus Meanwhile, the VR world started with a single virus and a single cell Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.13/41
14. Single Virus and a Single Cell Quite an empty space The cell is 200 m in diameter (20 µm in reality) Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.14/41
15. Viruses Started to Fall Viruses started to fall out of thin air, but later an infected cell was added above, where the viruses are supposed to be replicated Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.15/41
16. Group Photo on the Cell That concluded the 3-day camp, but it was only the beginning Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.16/41
17. December, 2021 Two-week online preparations and 1-day hackathon in Shibuya, Tokyo The goal of the hackathon was to make some improvements to the VR world during the event 3 elementary, 3 junior-high and 1 high school students / 5 adults Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.17/41
18. Mitochondria at Minecraft mitochondria The children began designing cells and their components using Minecraft, a tool with which they are more familiar Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.18/41
19. Dendritic Cell and B Cell at Minecraft dendritic cell B cell In many cases, children preferred literal designs according to the names or functions of the cells For example, they made a dendritic cell tree-shaped Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.19/41
20. Antibody and the Gun at Minecraft antibody helper T cell antibody gun (fictitious) Antibody and antibody gun were made large in Minecraft and scaled down in the VR world Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.20/41
21. Antibody Gun at Blender These models were exported from Minecraft, converted in Blender, and imported into Unity Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.21/41
22. Antibody at Blender Antibody has also been converted to be handled as a particle in Unity Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.22/41
23. Deploying Antibody Guns This is me, but I was holding the antibody gun facing the other way Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.23/41
24. Implemented Antibody Guns Backwards wrong end I did not realize I took the design wrong until the child who designed the antibody gun told me at the hackathon! This happens because I am the only one in charge of integration in Unity for Academy Camp VR at the moment But I like this situation as if I am like a human Midjourney or a human Stable Diffusion for children The hidden theme of Academy Camp VR is to familiarize children with automated production systems Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.24/41
25. Virtual Meeting at the Hackathon Venue So the orientation of antibody guns suddenly became an agenda to be solved at the hackathon Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.25/41
26. Fixed the Problem in Virtual Meeting correct end Even though we were all there, we shared a Unity screen in the virtual meeting room while we fixed the firing ports of the antibody guns in the proper orientation Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.26/41
27. Antibody Gun Works as Intended Now it works! (At this time without sound effects though) Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.27/41
28. Trying It Out at the Hackathon Venue This was part of MUTEK.JP Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.28/41
29. Different Macrophage Designs macrophage macrophage (alternative design) red blood cell (alternative base) After the hackathon, we set about designing our remaining major character, the macrophage Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.29/41
30. Macrophage The total length of macrophage is 500 m Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.30/41
31. Macrophage and Red Blood Cells The characters are now all here on a macro (or shall we call it micro) level We also had to build in a bit of nanoscale mechanics Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.31/41
32. ACE2 Receptors ACE2 receptors Receptors have been added so that viruses can infect the cell underfoot When the virus approaches the receptor, the viral core goes beneath and begins to reproduce the viruses using ribosomes Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.32/41
33. Antibody can be Grabbed and Used This is the size of the antibody (15 cm) You can also fight the viruses with an antibody you have on hand instead of secreting them from a gun Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.33/41
34. February, 2022 3-day online camp (invitation-based) 4 elementary and 3 junior-high school students / 5 adults Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.34/41
35. Let’s Play the Game The goal of this 3-day camp was to create rules for this VR world as a serious game and eSport Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.35/41
36. Shooting Antibody Guns in a Game This world involves shooting, and it is fun, but probably this is not a shooting game Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.36/41
37. While We Kept Fixing Problems . . . reported problem proposed solution hypothesis While we kept fixing problems, an important question was raised about the game design Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.37/41
38. The Game Design If the more viruses you make disappear, the more points you get, Then this would be a shooting game The more viruses you infect a cell with, the more viruses are produced that you can eliminate, and you earn more points That would be odd if the goal is to maintain the health of the host human body ⇒ To this question, one child proposed to define this as a participation game, In which the more different experiences a player has, the more points should be scored That was more than what we (as the organizer) expected, because we were only thinking about the shooting score issue Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.38/41
39. Raw Score Board of the Game Number of Viruses (less is better) Participation and Experiences (more is better) To allow for further experimentation with scoring, we have placed only raw event count records in the game world Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.39/41
40. Conclusions With children, we have turned workings of the human immune system into a serious game A constructionist approach was taken, where the children were left to construct their own without excessive decision-making by the adults This eventually led to children deciding the rules of the game itself If you think this led to an interesting serious game, we all would be happy! Further work includes measuring the effectiveness of the games we create with children or the process of creation itself In any case, we hope to have a constructionist evaluation We would like to observe what children build on their experiences Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.40/41
41. Taking off to Another World to Play This happened after the first three-day camp for creating this VR world At VR camps, as at physical camps, children go out to play with their new friends after the activities are over Academy Camp VR: Serious Game Constructions as Active Learning Experiences for Children — 2022-09-22 – p.41/41