Titulo Estágio
DIY Tangibles for Science4Pandemics mobile game
Local do Estágio
DEI
Enquadramento
See https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zdH7MRObVhkxFfRlLTaDpJ-IvJD8axhKdhwNUxQzgbM/edit?usp=sharing for a full document on this proposal.
Science4Pandemics (S4P) aims to create a gaming platform to engage young citizens in learning about pandemics, while engaging as citizen scientists in research activities. A strategy of Game-based learning aims to ensure that the educational process is efficient and engaging. This can be achieved by exploring game designs that empower citizens young and old through meaningful life scenarios everyday life and based on theories of behaviour change.
The purpose of this project is to design, develop, and evaluate a Do It Yourself (DIY) kit for augmenting the gameplay of the Science4Pandemics game with tangible objects, similar to the Nintendo LABO kit (Figure 1). In this kit, the assembled object(s) should be made to incorporate the smartphone, which will trigger some kind of response into the game when users perform a physical action with the object.
What kind of device(s) to build, the physical actions performed on them by players, how the smartphone can detect those actions, the context of use in the game, and the outcome are all issues to be addressed by this project.
Possible devices
The device(s) to be assembled must be related to objects or devices found in laboratories used in relation to vaccine development, clinical testing, or consumer devices (thermometers, blood pressure devices, syringes, etc.) used in the context of a pandemic disease. A few (non-exhaustive) examples of possible devices: centrifuge, water bath machine, microscope, incubator, laminar flow, thermal cycler.
Materials
The kit should use low-cost materials such as cardboard or wood.
Interaction
To allow the smartphone to detect user actions the kit can make use, for example, of movement (accelerometers) [1], marker-based (vision) [2], magnets (compass sensor) [3].
Objetivo
The objectives of this project are:
- To try out different materials and fabrication techniques for creating a DIY laboratory device that couples with a smartphone
- To try out different strategies for allowing the created device to interact with a smartphone (type of user motion, degrees-of-freedom, technical approach)
- To develop a proof of concept DIY kit (including visual design and packaging) of a laboratory device that can be assembled by the user
The resulting kit should be usable with a wide variety of smartphones.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
- Study DIY kits including LABO, KiwiCo, etc.
- Study construction techniques and materials (paper/cardboard folding, wood, etc.)
- Study interaction approaches (accelerometer, compass, vision)
- Develop prototype devices
- Write intermediate report
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
- Develop proof-of-concept kit including
– device parts
– assembly instructions
– packaging
– visual design
– interaction demonstrators
- Write dissertation and scientific paper
Condições
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Orientador
Jorge Carlos dos Santos Cardoso
jorgecardoso@dei.uc.pt 📩