Rising

Project Description

The sea level of New York has risen 9 inches since 1950 due to global carbon emissions, and New York adds to global warming as the third-largest carbon-emitting city. In 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Project. At the beginning of 2022, Rutgers professor Jason Barr proposed an expansion of New York City —” New Mannahatta”—as a single solution to expensive real estate and increasing issues of global warming-related climate threats.

Rising is a collaborative, interactive game installation based on real-world environmental crises. This project involves scientific modeling, interactive installations, and card games. The interactive installation features animated projections and lighting that provide changing visuals that reference the projected climatic data for New York City and the Polar Regions from 2022 to 2042. The audience—the micro-society—participates in the experience through a card game and social class role-playing. During the gameplay, participants are guided to choose activities to combat global warming or prioritize individual benefits. The installation’s visuals change based on the micro-society’s carbon emissions.

During times of the day that are designated “play times,” power will activate the game, and people can enter. One person can stay in the middle, given a projector powered by a computer that displays information about how to play the game and interact with the users. Surrounded by ambient sound, users will play a card game that will trigger a lighting system to display their decisions’ effect on a rising global sea level. The game will continue until it can no longer be played, and a system will activate to restart once the members leave and new members come in.

By interacting with Rising, participants understand environmental issues and see two decades of scientific prediction in New York and the polar regions. They also experience real-time climate change and face the dilemma of protecting the environment and personal interests. Designed as a collaborative experience, Rising participants are prompted to work together to save the environment.

Creative Director & Game Designer

Collaborated with Annie Li, Ruijie Sun, Henry Haoyu Wang, Marjorie Yang, and Leo Ji

Medium: Arduino Uno, Unity, Python

Date: 2022.9

Presented in Cumulus Conference Detroit 2022

Presented in “This Is Not A Drill” Exhibition at NYU Bobst Library

Research

Interaction Mechanism

Total Time: 5 Minutes

Time for Each Round: 30 Seconds

Five Players Required

1. Working Class Citizen

2.Middle Class Citizen

3.Upper Class Citzen

4, Business Owner

5. Policy Maker

Start

1.Players should take their seats and put on their headphones accordingly.

2.Press the Start button.

3.The character in the animation begins the tutorial.

In The Round

1.Each player taps one card on the card reader in each round.

2.The players' card choices change the value of their personal benefits and CO2 emissions.

3.The LEDs representing the sea level rising gradually light up according to the previous training data model of CO2 emissions and New York region sea level rise predictions.

4.The character who represents people living in polar regions responds to the accumulated results of the five players (e.g., sad or satisfied emotions and languages).

End of the Game

The final result will be represented by showing:

1.Each player's contribution and living situation.

2.The final amount of sea level rise,

Dilemma

The players have to make moral decisions to balance their personal benefits and CO2 emissions in a short time.

They have to communicate to understand each other's position and cooperate to achieve the better result.