Thesis

The Renewable House is an exhibit showing the timeline of different energy sources and how they have developed. The goal of this exhibit is to educate viewers on the different sources of energy, and putting an emphasis on renewables. In order to understand renewables and how they help our planet, we first need to understand how we have come to this point in energy production.

Solar Power, Interactivity, Activated Learning

MSI Solar Energy Exhibit

Research & Inspiration

• "History and Development of Photovoltaics"

• "History and Development of Photovoltaics"

• "How Does Solar Work?"

Solar Panels

Inspired Design Choice

Inspired the timeline and historical aspect of the project.

Inspired Design Choice

Refererence for the data that appears in the virtual exhibit

First Concept Sketches

Inspirational Image

Build a renewable city

Timeline

Renewable Energy in the home

Room show different times

Image

What Worked?

What Didn't?

1. Furniture layout
2. Spacing layout

1. Creating just a living room instead of an apartment

Brief prototype description

First Prototype

Prototype 1

This prototype was a modern house, deigned in Unity

We added the solar panel images into our final project, and we changed the furniture aspect.

We added the basic floor plan into our final project, and we changed the way the rooms look to fit each era

Change #1

Change #2

Prototype #2

Final

Reflecting & Looking Forward...

Something to add if there was more time would be more rooms including how solar panels would look in the future

If our group started over, we would change how the user moves throughout the space

Questions?

Thesis

We wanted to show how renewable energy impacts the environment and the surrounding people. The final project is a museum that educates and discusses how GFP or Green Fluorescent Protein can improve solar panels.

Design Process Flowchart

Sim City

Sim City was an inspiration because in the game you could make a city and see its effects. This inspired the original idea to have different forms of energy and have them interact with the environment.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish have what is known as GFP or Green Fluorescent protein. This can be used as a way to make solar panels much more efficient and effective.

Inspiration

Osamu Shimomura

Osamu Shimomura was the first person to isolate GFP and to find out which part of GFP was responsible for its fluorescence. This jellyfish produces green bioluminescence from small photoorgans located on its umbrella (see figures below). When the rings of twenty to thirty jellyfish are squeezed through a rayon gauze, a faintly luminescent liquid called squeezate is obtained.

 The key lies in a jellyfish’s green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is what gives some jellyfish their eerie glow. This substance reacts to UV light and excites electrons. Consider this in the context of solar panels. Right now, people are investing in solar panels as a way to turn greener, but in truth, it can take around eight years for solar panels to bring a return on investment.

Research

Jellyfish’s (GFP)

First Concept Sketches

The original concept was to have it be more like Sim City. You would place the energy sources and see how they would impact the land and city.

The newer and more refined idea was to turn it into a museum that talked about and explored the idea of GFP and how it is used to help improve solar panels

What Worked?

What Didn't?

1. The concept worked well in that it was a good way to show how energy impacted the environment and the people

1. It was too complicated and was too difficult to make
2. The focus was too broad and had to make it more narrow

First Prototype

The original idea was to have players power a city and manage its resources. the resources would vary in each game and so would the environment

Final Photo

Change #1: Focusing on one form of energy

Change: #3 museum

Originally we wanted to look at all forms of energy but then decided that it would be better if we focused on just one. So we switched to focus on GFP and Bioenergy

In the end we decided to turn the city into a museum to better show how bio energy worked

Change #2: New energy

We then worked to change the surroundings and researched the impacts of GFP but found that it's relatively new. So we changed how the environment was set up.

Prototypes

Final Diagram

Reflecting & Looking Forward...

1. Spend more time elaborating on the museum building.
2. Made a life-size version of Jelly City

Final Result

Final Image

Questions?

Thesis

Nuclear Reactor Simulator is a two-part experience demonstrating the safety of a modern power plant. The goal is to design two very distinct spaces to show that the stereotypes of nuclear reactors are very different from what they actually are. We hope that our project will be able to dispel fears about nuclear power plants and encourage players to learn more about them.

Precedent Image

The idea of learning about the chemistry of nuclear energy was very appealing in the beginning

The Simpsons

A well-known and relatable show that would help the audience connect with the game

Nuclear energy

Research & Inspiration

Nuclear energy

• Complicated, but worth it for the environment

Inspired Design Choice

• The inner workings of a power plant are not commonly known

Power plant design

• Very sterile environment, mostly run by machines

Inspired Design Choice

• Gamify the gray, plain environment for better player experience

• Have players interact with multiple games that simulate a simplified enviroment

First Concept Sketches

claw machine game

coolant release game

original design of a power plant game where players would learn about refining uranium ore into fuel rods

power input/output game

What Worked?

What Didn't?

1. The office
2. The mini games
3. The idea of reality versus a cartoon

1. The claw machine
2. Having all games in one room

First Prototype

Small office-styled room with Simpsons theme

Prototype #

Final Photos

Change #1: a more realistic look

Change #3: redesign of reactor room

The idea of the whole game being a cartoon lost the idea

The room was redesigned to function better and have more detail

Change #2: an easier build

With the addition of a reactor room, the build became a lot more manageable

Multi room game about refining uranium

Too difficult, move to one office and 3 games

Fuel rod disposal, coolant release, and balancing energy

Nuclear

Reactor

Simulator

Added new room for reactor to make building easier

(rated 4.9 on Steam)

Final Result

Reflecting & Looking Forward...

In the middle of the project, we almost completely scrapped what we had and had to sacrifice a lot of the interactive elements because of it, so if we were to go back we would put more into the interactive and less into the environment.

We should have come in with lower expectations. If we had done this, we would have been able to spend less time focusing on elements that we wouldn't use and more time improving upon the ones we would use.

Questions?

Precedents

+

Project Statement

the goal of the project is to teach and show how renewable energy works and affects the ecosystem that it's in. Using VR will allow those interacting see how the forms of energy interact with the ecosystem.

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Prototype 3 (if applicable)

Thesis

Renewable Road Trip is a VR experience designed to marry automotive design and sustainable education. Through a series of sustainable charging stations (i.e., solar, wind, hydro), the user will drive up a virtual mountain side while listening to a radio station that provides history, information and benefits on each type of sustainable energy.

Design process flowchart

We started with terrain section and car body/model.

Then we realized car was hard to work and drive.

We researched how to make the car drive smooth.

Mid-Review feedback made us go from not focusing on terrain visuals as much to wanting to implement some change in the area you are driving in as you drive up the road.

We tweaked more visuals and added some cosmetics to get to our current model

We also added a terrain section with a road to drive on.

Assetto Corsa map

We wanted to create our terrain in the same visual way that this game map was made.

Renewable energy

charge

Implementing renewable energy sources to car charging ports

Research & Inspiration

History of

renewable power

• Water wheels were the first renewable energy source in 200 BC

Inspired Design Choice

We wanted to implement hydro, wind, and solar power to charge electric cars in a virtual reality game.

History of electric

cars

• Electric cars are better for the environment and provide a use for renewable energy.

Inspired Design Choice

Implementing electric cars and connecting renewable energy to them was our preferred design choice.

First Concept Sketches

Twisty roads surrounded by trees.

Start of the road and first renewable energy charger

Evolving terrain as you

drive.

What Worked?

What Didn't?

1. The body worked and didn't fall apart
2. Wheels could turn
3. Had camera attached to preferred interior view

1. Car would not go forward or turn
2. Camera would sometimes fall out of view
3. Car would wheelie every time you tried to go forward along and had no brakes

We made a car from scratch in Unity with some physics to move and steer around.

First Prototype

Change #1: Adding cosmetics and decor

Change #3:

We added some trees, different terrain texture, and charging

Explain what you added / changed for the next iteration

Change #2: Re modeled

Took original frame and re did body, rims, and other cosmetics

Wind Power Charging Station