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Gamification in Urban Planning: Participation Through Minecraft

Laura von Puttkamer

November 03, 2020 |

Urbanet |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Sweden

Urban planning using gamification is a viable way of engaging diverse parts of the population and placing people and communities at the center of the process. “Block by Block” is a collaboration between UN Habitat and the game company Mojang that holds participatory workshops, where people design public spaces using the game Minecraft. Over 25,000 people from diverse backgrounds and age groups have participated. Professional advisers are present and they adjust the designs for implementation. The method has been used by the City of Stockholm and to create the first skatepark in Kosovo.

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Twitch-inspired live streams could be the future of political fundraising

Steven Melendez

October 28, 2020 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Hovercast is a technology startup helping democratic organizations add interactivity to virtual events. The model, which has been used by prominent political candidates such as Bernie Sanders, uses interactive live-streaming features like on-screen highlighted comments, real-time donation meters, trivia questions, polls, videos, and animated GIFs to collect donations, sign up campaign volunteers, and encourage other types of voter engagement. The model is inspired by video gaming platforms that are geared towards younger audiences, which is one of the demographic groups engaging in the virtual events.

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EdNext Podcast: Teaching the Declaration of Independence with a Video Game

Marty West

October 21, 2020 |

Education Next |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Nationally, civic courses lack rigor, partly because few states require coursework in civics. A new video game called “Portrait of a Tyrant,” based on the Declaration of Independence, could change that. “Let’s gamify a story,” said Danielle S. Allen, director of the Democratic Knowledge Project. In this episode, the creators of the video game share the challenges that exist for creating civics curriculum and the way this game can bridge that game between students and history.

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This game can stop people from falling for COVID-19 conspiracies

Ruth Reader

October 13, 2020 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Cambridge, England

To combat the spread of conspiracy theories, researchers at Cambridge’s Social Decision Making Lab have created an interactive game that puts users in the shoes of "manipulators" to teach them how to "question social media posts that have the hallmarks of engineered virality." Although experts say playing the game just one time will likely not result in sustainable change, a similar game that focused on understanding how fake news was created found that users' beliefs in fake news decreased by an average of 21%.

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Building Trees in the Metaverse Might Actually Save the Forest

Teresa Carey

August 02, 2020 |

Freethink |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Southern Pines, North Carolina

By building scientifically accurate virtual tress, NatureXR is providing an opportunity for scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders to use virtual reality to understand ecosystems and model conservation impacts. Creating an authentic 3D-version of a tree can be challenging, but by developing a “procedural” tree, the software can generate a forest of trees that are unique, accurate, and realistic. VR nature can also make the environment accessible for people who might not be able to experience it due to disabilities, distance, or even fear.

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Through PIF^2's social impact mobile game platform, users are playing it forward for charity

William Bleier

July 27, 2020 |

Generocity |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

The startup PIF^2 is a “social impact mobile game platform” that partners with charities to raise money through ad revenue and in-game purchases. It hosts “game-a-thons” that target a younger demographic who can generate money for a charity by downloading and playing a game. The “game-a-thons” usually last about a week, after which charities receive a check from PIF^2 for up to 50% of the revenue that was generated. The game apps are currently created by independent developers, but the startup hopes to create its own games so that it can donate even more of the revenue proceeds to charity.

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The making of a virtual museum

Celina Colby

June 11, 2020 |

The Bay State Banner |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Boston area museums have launched virtual tours since closing their doors to the public amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Although it is hard to create a museum experience that fits every user’s individual preferences, the 3-D tours have been very popular. The Peabody Essex Museum was already working with Matterport, a virtual tour maker, who had photographed their "Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle” exhibition that is available online. The Boston Children’s Museum found their virtual tours to be so popular that they are creating a new product that will allow children to create their own virtual museums.

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This tool is helping cities find the neighborhoods most vulnerable to coronavirus

Adele Peters

March 24, 2020 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A new urban planning tool called Urban Footprint is helping governments to map out their most vulnerable neighborhoods and populations. Originally designed in 2018 to help city planners make sense of large data sets and understand the implication of potential policies on traffic, energy use, or multiple other factors, Urban Footprint was easily adapted to pull in data from the CDC and other inputs for COVID-19 considerations.

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From surgery simulators to medical mishaps in space, video game tech is helping doctors at work

Elise Favis

January 09, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

An orthopedic surgeon, software developers, and medical experts have teamed up to create a virtual reality headset that helps eliminate unpredictability during surgical procedures. Although this is one of many technological advancements that's being used to bridge a gap in health care, both virtual reality and video games have helped to assist not just during procedures but also in "highly irregular situations or those that would be impossible to replicate.

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Airbus is making planes lighter with technology we barely understand

Mark Wilson

November 20, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Hamburg

An engineering company called Autodesk uses the concept of "generative deisgn" - design facilitated by Artificial Intelligence to create structural renderings unimagined by the human brain - to create lighter and more durable airplanes. Generative design uses the calculations of artificial intelligence software to create thousands of ergonomic designs, based on an input of desired force and shape of the plane part - or other architectural puzzles pieces.

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