Renewable Design Space

Energy Tycoon

Keenan Gray and 2 OthersNick Thorn
Wyatt Gold

Energy Tycoon

By Wyatt Gold and Nick Thorn

Energy Tycoon is a VR game made to educate and instruct people on how to manage renewable energy and prevent pollution. Observing charts and percentages provided from ISO-NE, we noticed that managing energy is a very complex and difficult process. It is an immersive VR experience where the user creates and spends energy to build their very own renewable space, while also managing pollution and a minimum rate of energy generated.

Beckett Brief

Beckett Munson and Jasmine Horowitz

Heatseeker


Heatseeker is a VR experience designed to help the user visualize, experience, and develop a better understanding of geothermal energy. In Heatseeker, the user is hired to work on the fictional Nevada Institute of Energy Research, Facility 10. While working on the site the user completes an arrangement of mini-games and puzzles each designed to further the user's knowledge about geothermal energy.


Due to the resounding push for renewable energy in recent years, many people are learning about new energy services for the first time. Geothermal energy in particular is undergoing a large boom in popularity specifically in Massachusetts. Heatseeker is designed to bridge the gap for those who want to begin their research into geothermal energy. By creating an engaging and fun experience Heatseeker can appeal to a wide range of users, thus increasing interest and knowledge of renewable energy.

Jasmine's Brief

Jasmine Horowitz and Beckett Munson

“Heatseeker” is an innovative, and interactive way for users to learn about geothermal plants, and how they work. The user is tasked with exploring different aspects of a geothermal plant via minigames in virtual reality. Using the medium of VR, users are given more freedom of movement that allows them to immerse themselves in the world of the geothermal plant, as well as learn about the impact of decisions they make to the overall performance of the plant.


The project is designed to be both educational as well as being fun, giving users a first-hand look at the various systems involved in the plant. Our target audience is people in either a school setting or interested in learned. The "Heatseeker" project is a unique and effective tool for those seeking to understand geothermal energy and its complexities.We used the game engine Unity, anad the Universal Render Pipeline to make this VR experience look as good as it could be.

Heatseeker

Jasmine Horowitz and Beckett Munson

Heatseeker is a innovating world designed to help the user visualize, experience, and develop a better understanding of geothermal energy. In Heatseeker, the user is hired to work on the fictional Nevada Institute of Energy Research, Facility 10. While working on the site the user completes an arrangement of mini-games and puzzles each designed to further the user's knowledge about geothermal energy.

Mid review

Jasmine Horowitz and 2 OthersJasmine Horowitz
Beckett Munson

Heatseeker



Beckett, and Jasmine

Mid-Review

11.9.21

  1. Mid Review
    1. Sketches
      1. Layers
      2. Side
      3. First Person
    2. Prototype
      1. Prototype of game
    3. Mood board
    4. Next Steps

Clash of Clans City

Wyatt Gold and Nick Thorn

Clash of Clans City 





Nick and Wyatt

Mid-Review

1/25/23

Energy in the Sky

Gabe Murray and Coffy lessig

Energy in the Sky

Gabriel M and Coffy I

 Not many people know how windmills work and how long they have been used. Energy in the Sky is a VR game where you can go watch the development of windmills over time. The player starts in a room full of paintings. Each painting leads to a different time and island. On each island is a windmill and a description that the player can look at. Each description explains how the windmill works, what time it was used, and why it was made. 



The oldest windmill is around 1,000 years old. Energy in the Sky is an immersive VR project that teaches people about windmills over different times in history. Not many people know how old windmills are or how they work. Knowing this knowledge can be very beneficial for many people based on their jobs and what they are learning.     

    

Energy in the sky is focused on people learning to become renewable energy engineers. As the user steps in they can teleport to different islands. Each island has its own windmill and a stand with a description that explains how old the windmill is, how much power it creates per hour, and many other interesting facts. Additionally, the player can move around each island and can see why the windmill was built in that region. This is due to the island's environment which is similar to the region where the windmill came from. TO build this we used unity for the code and for the modeling we used blender and rhino.

Brief

Keenan Gray

Renewable Design Space

Winter 2022 S2

In this studio, students will explore the medium of Virtual Reality in order to inform and educate others about renewable technologies. Virtual Reality allows users to step into virtual spaces and engage with novel experiences that are otherwise constrained by the physical world we inhabit. Students in this studio will create experiences that enrich our understanding of scientific principles, renewable technologies, and complex systems by designing there own virtual spaces.

In this course students will begin exploring fundamental physics principles, exploring real world physics examples as well as virtual physics simulations. Students will conduct research into renewable technologies, study the evolution of green tech, and hear from guest speakers working within the energy industry. In the end, students will create projects that use VR to tell stories, educate others, and realize the potential of fossil-fuel alternatives. Potential projects might include a gamified comparison of current energy tech, a virtual tour of an offshore wind farm, or a simulated "solar city".  

Installing Unity

Keenan Gray

Visit Unity 3D's Website


Notes:

if you do not have enough space to install Unity, then de-select the checkbox "Visual Studio" on the appropriate screen. This will reduce the size of the installation considerably and is an optional component.