Virtual Energy Hero: Virtual Reality Gamification of Smart Energy - Smart City Technologies

Virtual reality has been labelled as the gaming technology of the future for its ability to place the player in an immersive game experience. Its expansion has pushed into several subjects, including education. This project recommends ways of improving a virtual reality demonstration game, called Virtual Energy Hero (VEH). VEH’s aim is to increase public awareness on smart energy, smart city, and renewable topics in the city of Winterthur, Switzerland. We conducted expert interviews, workshops, and surveys, with the purpose of gathering information on VEH. By analyzing the available data and responses, our IQP team provided recommendations for the continued improvement and success of the game, such as improved interactivity, optimized knowledge transfer, and extended accessibility of VEH

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

Programmatic Thermal Neutron Flux Calibration for Neutron Generators

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) allows for precise and accurate measurements of isotope concentrations within a sample. The technique is versatile in its applications in nuclear research, materials science, etc. A major constraint in NAA is calibration time, which currently requires a full sample activation and gamma spectroscopy analysis. This project addresses calibration time by applying a programmatic activation function that allows for instantaneous flux measurement of the generator. The iterative method discussed in this report shows promise to reduce calibration time to a fraction of the current industry standard while maintaining high accuracy and precision