Evaluation einer Augmented Reality Biodiversitätsmission für Kinder

Die Erhaltung der Biodiversität ist eine unserer wichtigsten Zukunftsaufgaben. Je früher Kinder dafür sensibilisiert werden, umso selbstverständlicher wird für sie der nachhaltige Umgang mit unserer Umwelt. Um auch Kinder zu erreichen, welche nicht besonders umweltaffin sind, wurde ein innovativer, niederschwelliger Ansatz des Kommunizierens ausprobiert, bei welchem Unterhaltung und Wissensvermittlung in einer Augmented Reality Outdoor Mission (AROM) miteinander verbunden werden. Dieses Scientainment-Angebot soll Familien und Kinder zwischen 7 und 11 Jahren ansprechen und wird auf einem Smartphone oder einem Tablet in den Gärten des Campus Grüentals in Wädenswil gespielt. Rund eine Stunde haben die Spielenden Zeit, um durch das Lösen von verschiedenen Rätseln die verschwundenen Helden der Biodiversität zurückzubringen. Die AROM wurde nach einem User-Centered-Design-Ansatz entwickelt. Eine begleitende Evaluation wurde in zwei Phasen gegliedert. In einer ersten Phase wurden Prototypen der Mission durch qualitative, formative Studien mit drei Schulklassen und einer Familie bewertet und bis zur finalen Version weiterentwickelt. Diese iterativen User-Tests beinhalteten Befragungen und qualitative Beobachtungen. In einer anschliessenden, zweiten Phase wurden fünf weitere Schulklassen für eine Feldstudie mit der finalen Version der Mission eingeladen, um den Lerneffekt sowie die Lernmotivation zu untersuchen. Über 100 Kinder haben dabei die Mission in den Gärten gespielt und vor und nach dem Erlebnis einen Fragebogen ausgefüllt. Die Ergebnisse der User-Tests aus der ersten Phase trugen jeweils zur Verbesserung der Qualität der nachfolgenden Prototypen bei und resultierten schliesslich in einer finalen Version, welche für die Zielgruppe ein positives Benutzererlebnis bietet. Aus der zweiten Phase ging hervor, dass die AROM die Kinder in einen Lernzustand versetzen und sie motivieren konnte, sich aktiv Wissen anzueignen. Es wurde ein signifikanter Lerneffekt festgestellt. Zudem wurden Herausforderungen – wie kann die Anwendung gestaltet werden, damit das Naturerlebnis immer noch im Vordergrund steht? – und Weiterentwicklungsmöglichkeiten, wie zum Beispiel Personalisierung des Spiels, und Raum für weitere Forschung identifiziert. Schlussendlich bietet sich Augmented Reality für weitere Scientainmentprojekte an und so sind bereits Folgeprojekte in Planung.Preserving biodiversity is one of our most important tasks for the future. The earlier children are sensitized to its importance, the more natural it will be for them to treat the environment in a sustainable manner. In order to reach children who are not particularly environmentally aware, an innovative, low-threshold approach to communication was used, in which entertainment and knowledge transfer are combined in an Augmented Reality Outdoor Mission (AROM). This scientainment offer is intended to appeal to families and children between the ages of 7 and 11 and is played on a smartphone or tablet in the gardens of the university campus in Wädenswil. The players have one hour to solve various puzzles and bring back the missing heroes of biodiversity. The AROM was developed according to a user-centered design approach. An accompanying evaluation was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the prototypes were developed and evaluated through various qualitative formative studies with three school classes and one family. Furthermore, in a second phase, a field study was conducted with the final version of the mission to investigate the learning effect as well as the learning motivation. This involved over 100 children playing the mission in the gardens and completing a questionnaire before and after the experience. The results of the user tests each helped to improve the quality of subsequent prototypes and ultimately resulted in a final version that provided a positive user experience for the target audience. Furthermore, the AROM was able to motivate them to actively acquire knowledge. Also, a significant learning effect was found. In addition, challenges and opportunities for further development were identified. Conclusively, augmented reality appears to be suitable for scientainment projects and follow-up projects are already being planned

Virtual reality as a tool for political decision-making? An empirical study on the power of immersive images on voting behavior

One of the strengths of virtual reality (VR) is to provide a highly realistic user experience. How would VR's power of realism affect political decision-making, for example, when experienced by citizens before they cast their vote on an issue? We set out to empirically assess if and how voting information presented in VR would influence people's voting behavior, compared to the traditional text presentation format. In a 2 (format: text vs. VR) × 2 (argumentation: pro vs. con) between-subject factorial experiment, we assessed participants' voting behavior on a fictitious popular initiative. We first asked all participants (N = 179) to cast their vote based on a brief text, inspired by the traditional Swiss voting booklet (baseline). We then randomly assigned participants to one of four experimental conditions containing the same pro or con arguments concerning the voting issue. Participants could then adjust their previously-cast vote. This was followed by retrospective interviews (N = 32) to gain deeper insights into the decision-making process of the participants. Our study shows that the presentation format has a reinforcing effect, that is, leading to more YES votes for the VR group, and fewer YES votes for the text group. Irrespective of the pro or con arguments, participants show an overall increase in YES votes in VR, which is not the case for the text group. We identified six factors that may have led to this positive change with VR: (1) the affirmative power of images, (2) the vividness of immersive images, (3) first-person storytelling and storyliving, (4) the greater affordances of VR for engagement through interaction, (5) the design of the VR environment, and (6) the novelty of the VR technology

Enhancing Citizen Participation through Serious Games in Virtual Reality

Recently, an increasing number of cities are in the process of developing new strategies and concepts to become Smart Cities. Participatory approaches that include all stakeholders are essential for urban developments to be smart and widely accepted. Nevertheless, only a few cities have linked their citizen participation with city planning. This is where this innovative Virtual Reality (VR) project comes in.Technological progress in VR now enables people to be virtually integrated into an emerging future. Incombination with gamification methods, educational tools with long term impacts can be created. As of yet, gamification in a non-VR environment has been successfully applied in different projects. This project aims to unlock the untapped potential and examines how a serious game in a high-end VR environment can increase citizen participation in a Smart City. To create the VR application, a user-centered design method was applied. In a first step, a prototype, the serious game “Virtual Energy Hero”, was developed, which addresses energy and sustainability topics. The game was very well received by more than 90% of approximately 250 players (by the end of 2018). The storyline of the game, as well as its game mechanics to enhance interactivity and immersion, are the main areas for improvement, as identified through interviews, a literature review, tests and surveys. Theselearnings were considered when designing the second game "Virtual Smart City Hero". By creating virtual scenarios of the Smart City Winterthur, based on the city’s 3D model, people are offered the opportunity to dive into the topic and interact with current and future Smart City elements. Through interactive mini-games, the players are given an immersive experience. The “Virtual Smart City Hero” is currently under development and still in the design phase. It is planned that after playing the game, the players are encouraged to join a web based innovation platform. There, they can conceptualize and discuss new ideas and participate in bottom-up initiatives. The platform will promote collaborations between different actors - citizens, administrations, research institutes and the private sector. Impact assessments will be made and it will be analyzed how the platform has to be designed for citizens to become active Smart Citizens

How to save the world with zombies? : a scientainment approach to engage young people

When trying to sensitize adolescents for sustainability, innovative communication approaches are needed. In the outdoor escape “Zombie mission”, players follow a story and try to save the world by solving puzzles about sustainability topics with scientific information found in the university gardens. This study investigates to whom this scientainment approach appeals and whether it can impart knowledge and raise interest in science and the environment. A mixed methods approach was adopted using questionnaires and interviews. The results suggest that the game is a promising tool for communicating sustainability to adolescents, even those who may not have had prior interest in the environment or science. Participants enjoyed the activity and gained new knowledge as a result

Combining business model innovation and model-based analysis to tackle the deep uncertainty of societal transitions : a case study on industrial electrification and power grid management

Creating new business models is crucial for the implementation of clean technologies for industrial decarbonization. With incomplete knowledge of market processes and uncertain conditions, assessing the prospects of a technology-based business model is challenging. This study combines business model innovation, system dynamics, and exploratory model analysis to identify new business opportunities in a context of sociotechnical transition and assess their prospects through simulation experiments. This combination of methods is applied to the case of a potential business model for Distribution System Operators aiming at ensuring the stability of the electrical grid by centralizing the management of flexible loads in industrial companies. A system dynamics model was set up to simulate the diffusion of flexible electrification technologies. Through scenario definition and sensitivity analysis, the influence of internal and external factors on diffusion was assessed. Results highlight the central role of energy costs and customer perception. The chosen combination of methods allowed the formulation of concrete recommendations for coordinated action, explicitly accounting for the various sources of uncertainty. We suggest testing this approach in further business model innovation contexts

Targeted Genomic Sequencing of TSC1 and TSC2 Reveals Causal Variants in Individuals for Whom Previous Genetic Testing for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Was Normal

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is caused by inactivating variants in TSC1 and TSC2. Somatic mosaicism, as well as the size and complexity of the TSC1 and TSC2 loci, makes variant identification challenging. Indeed, in some individuals with a clinical diagnosis of TSC, diagnostic testing fails to identify an inactivating variant. To improve TSC1 and TSC2 variant detection, we screened the TSC1 and TSC2 genomic regions using targeted HaloPlex custom capture and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood of individuals with definite, possible or suspected TSC in whom no disease-associated variant had been identified by previous diagnostic genetic testing. We obtained &gt;95% target region coverage at a read depth of 20 and &gt;50% coverage at a read depth of 300 and identified inactivating TSC1 or TSC2 variants in 83/155 individuals (54%); 65/113 (58%) with clinically definite TSC and 18/42 (43%) with possible or suspected TSC. These included 19 individuals with deep intronic variants and 54 likely cases of mosaicism (variant allele frequency 1-28%; median 7%). In 13 cases (8%), we identified a variant of uncertain significance (VUS). Targeted genomic NGS of TSC1 and TSC2 increases the yield of inactivating variants found in individuals with suspected TSC.</p

Replication and validation of higher order models demonstrated that a summary score for the EORTC QLQ-C30 is robust.

Objective: To further evaluate the higher-order measurement structure of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) questionnaire, with the aim of generating a summary score. Study design and setting: Using pretreatment QLQ-C30 data (N=3,282), we conducted confirmatory factor analyses to test seven previously evaluated higher-order models. We compared the summary score(s) derived from the best performing higher-order model with the original QLQ-C30 scale scores, using tumor stage, performance status and change over time (N=244) as grouping variables. Results: Whereas all models showed acceptable fit, we continued in the interest of parsimony with known-groups validity and responsiveness analyses using a summary score derived from the single higher-order factor model. The validity and responsiveness of this QLQ-C30 Summary Score was equal to, and in many cases superior to the original, underlying QLQ-C30 scale scores. Conclusion: Our results provide empirical support for a measurement model for the QLQ-C30 yielding a single summary score. The availability of this Summary Score can avoid problems with potential Type I errors that arise due to multiple testing when making comparisons based on the 15 outcomes generated by this questionnaire, and may reduce sample size requirements for HRQL studies using the QLQ-C30 questionnaire when an overall summary score is a relevant primary outcome

Technology transfer offices as boundary spanners in the pre-spin-off process: the case of a hybrid model

Over the past decades, universities have increasingly become ambidextrous organizations reconciling scientific and commercial missions. In order to manage this ambidexterity, technology transfer offices (TTOs) were established in most universities. This paper studies a specific, often implemented, but rather understudied type of TTO, namely a hybrid TTO model uniting centralized and decentralized levels. Employing a qualitative research design, we examine how and why the two TTO levels engage in diverse boundary spanning activities to help nascent spin-off companies move through the pre-spin-off process. Our research identifies differences in the types of boundary spanning activities that centralized and decentralized TTOs perform and in the parties they engage with. We find geographical, technological and organizational proximity to be important antecedents of the TTOs’ engagement in external and internal boundary spanning activities. These results have important implications for both academics and practitioners interested in university technology transfer through spin-off creation

Profiling Trait Anxiety: Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Cathepsin B (Ctsb) as a Novel Candidate Gene for Emotionality in Mice

Behavioral endophenotypes are determined by a multitude of counteracting but precisely balanced molecular and physiological mechanisms. In this study, we aim to identify potential novel molecular targets that contribute to the multigenic trait “anxiety”. We used microarrays to investigate the gene expression profiles of different brain regions within the limbic system of mice which were selectively bred for either high (HAB) or low (LAB) anxiety-related behavior, and also show signs of comorbid depression-like behavior