How does a player successfully set up a seismic sensor?

To set up a sensor, players navigate around the city using wide sweeping arm motions to choose a building for sensor installation. After selecting a building, the player is presented with a randomly selected earthquake minigame that they have to complete quickly and correctly. Our 20 minigames cover a wide range of tasks required for each deployment. By introducing these tasks individually, the player learns a single concept for deploying without repetition for each deployment. If they successfully complete the challenge, the sensor is installed in the chosen building. If not, they return to selecting a new building. Once the sensor is successfully installed, the player continues quickly choosing locations and setting up as many sensors as possible. The game ends after the first aftershock. The player's score is calculated according to sensor placement, where sensors placed closer to the epicenter of the aftershock net more points.


Motivated by obtaining a high score on the in-game leaderboard, players automatically begin to test successful deployment theories. There was no need to officially assign players the task of exploring different strategies because the game play structure provided that automatically. Observing numerous people play our game, we noticed many players would hypothesize how to receive the most points. Some suggested deploying all their sensors in a clump in the hope the first aftershock occurred near the clump (i.e., relying on luck not scientific strategy). Others recommended distributing the seismic sensors uniformly throughout the city to increase the probability of a having a deployed sensor close to the first aftershock location.


Who is the intended audience for your game?

We specifically target 8-12 year olds because research indicates early exposure to science is an effective way to refute protests of "math is boring" and "science is hard". The controller-free environment makes the game accessible to players of all ages and is user-friendly to those who don't have videogaming experience.


What is the purpose of your game?

The purpose of the QCN game is to explore to what extent videogames can be used to entice a student to continually play and learn. Our program merges socially relevant topics (what to do when a large earthquake strikes) with scientific topics (how do seismologist study earthquakes). This approach increases our chance to engage students who might otherwise fall through the cracks because of frustration with learning difficulties, and/or students who lack the self-confidence to excel and ask questions. The gaming platform allows the student independently choose where to go and what to do, which increases motivation and potential. This type of learning is particularly important to students who do not excel in traditional learning environments. The overall purpose of our QCN game is to help players enjoy science in an interactive format and learn about earthquakes and the field of seismology. Our goal is to merge laughter and learning within the five minute duration of the game. This short time length allows our QCN game to be deployed in museum exhibits, informal learning centers, afterschool programs, science camps and classrooms.


How does your game make a visual impact?

Our game makes use of a variety of visual media including 3D interactive models, numerous 2D cartoons, and engaging video scenes. These visuals complement the fast paced gameplay. The vast 3D landscape initially shows the earthquake location and then encourages dynamic visualization of potential sensor deployment locations. The 2D images within the minigames each have their own unique art style to help keep player's attention and interest. The video scenes that help explain the details of the seismic topics are comedic and fun to watch. The Kinect takes photographs to capture the players' looks of determination and enjoyment as they play the game. These photos, which are often amusing because the game requires so much physical agility, are then shown to the player as they complete the minigames. With this wide variety of visual media in our game, the QCN game's fast pace competes well with non-educational videogames.


This type of gameplay learning is more appealing to the majority of children in our target age range than lectures, standard homework assignments, and memorization. Although we are aware that earthquakes can cause horrible tragedies, we wanted this learning experience to focus on learning and safety. To inform rather than scare the players, our graphic artist created a unique art style in the form of zany cartoon characters and other brightly colored visuals for our game. These range from the bizarre to the ridiculous to help maintain a very positive and exciting mood during gameplay that is conducive to learning. By practicing deployment and safety measures in a lighthearted environment, students have imprinted the experience of what to do in a real earthquake.


What will a player learn from your game?

Our QCN game allows players to interact with earthquake and seismology themes in a simple and intuitive manner. Similar to today's seismologists, when the player becomes aware that an earthquake just occurred in their city, they must act quickly to deploy seismic sensors to record the impending aftershocks. The gameplay then begins and players must complete a variety of objectives in the form of minigames. Each minigame is designed to interactively teach the players about a seismology related concept. These minigames communicate: safety themes, deployment techniques, information about seismic equipment, and how to read a seismogram. To learn about these concepts the player has to actively participate in the testing and safety procedures by, for example, ducking under a sturdy table, correctly securing a seismic sensor to the ground, and gathering items for an earthquake survival pack. Learning is most effective during these minigames since player interaction is required in the form of both physical and intellectual challenges. There are also minigames that test the player's cognitive abilities through traditional learning techniques such as seismology quizzes.


What makes your game original?

Using brightly colored cartoon characters to engage the players in an urgent time-sensitive response to earthquakes is a novel approach to teaching seismology. Additionally, the Kinect motion sensor provides a unique game experience by incorporating body gestures and movements such as ducking low, jumping high, running in place, and using arm motions for location selection and other game challenges. These physical demands depart from standard educational electronic games that only involve a traditional game controller. Our game requires the player to be physically and mentally involved in earthquake science research with the side benefit of sneaking in some science learning as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

QUIZZES


1. Why do you have to orient the QCN sensor with respect to north?
Because it is a kind thing to do
So all QCN sensors are oriented similarly
Because south is so last year
You don't have to, in fact best if you don't

2. What are good locations to install a QCN sensor?
Away from traffic
Away from foot traffic
Near a known earthquake fault
All of the above

3. What are bad installation locations?
In a tap dance studio
Near a construction site
In a horse riding ring
All of the above

4. Why record earthquake data?
Nothing better to do
To learn more about the physics of earthquakes
Because dinosaurs are extinct
The more earthquakes we record the less earthquakes there will be

5. What if I don't secure my sensor?
The data you record will likely be unusable because it will not measure the ground motion properly
A dog might eat the sensor (i.e., bad for animals)
It doesn't matter, no need to secure the sensor
It might hit you on the head during an earthquake

Score =
Correct answers:

.

Mini Games

To earn credit for properly installing a seismic sensor the player must successfully complete a mini-game. Mini-games are chosen at random with the restriction that no mini-game be repeated within a single game session. These mini-games need to be completed as fast as possible to accrue the most points.

To prepare for large earthquakes requires understanding the complexities of seismic wave propagation. Unlike symmetric ripples in a pond caused by a rock's decent from the water's surface, the propagation of seismic waves from an earthquake have a non-symmetric pattern. This is because seismic waves traverse heterogeneous materials, causing portions of the waves to travel faster in some regions than others. To really 'get it right' in terms of understanding seismic wave propagation requires having a seismic sensor (seismometer), well, basically everywhere. Really, everywhere, ugh!

But, this is a problem that we can solve. Working together we can increase the number of deployed seismometers, increase our understanding of how seismic waves propagate in specific regions, and in turn help seismologists better understand the whys-hows-wheres of the larger quakes.

The more data we have to look at the better.

What if -- every computer in the world could be turned into a seismic recording devise?

What if -- the seismic data from each computer was automatically transmitted back to a data repository?

What if -- the recording and transmission of these data was seamless and non-invasive to the host compute system?

This dream is becoming a reality through a citizen scientist project called the Quake Catcher Network, which is a collaborative initiative to develop a large, low-cost seismic network that uses sensors attached to internet-connected computers in homes, schools and offices.


For additional information see: http://qcn.stanford.edu/

The Quake Catcher Network (QCN)

The Kinect Technology

The Kinect technology allows for hands-free game play, greatly increasing the accessibility of gaming for those uncomfortable using controllers. How it works is the Kinect camera transmits invisible near-infrared light and measures its "time of flight" to reflect off an object and can distinguish objects within 1 centimeter in depth and 3 mm in height and width. The middleware can also respond to body gestures and voice commands.

The Kinect technology allows for hands-free game play, greatly increasing the accessibility of gaming for those uncomfortable using controllers. How it works is the Kinect camera transmits invisible near-infrared light and measures its "time of flight" to reflect off an object and can distinguish objects within 1 centimeter in depth and 3 mm in height and width. The middleware can also respond to body gestures and voice commands. Here, we use the Kinect Windows SDK software to create a game that mimics how scientists deploy seismic instruments following a large earthquake. The educational goal of the game is to allow the players to explore 3D space as they learn about the Quake Catcher Network's (QCN) Rapid Aftershock Mobilization Program (RAMP). Many of the scenarios within the game are taken from factual RAMP experiences. To date, only the PC platform (or a Mac running PC emulator software) is available for use, but we hope to move to other platforms (e.g., Xbox 360, iPad, iPhone) as they become available. The game is written in programming language C# using Microsoft XNA and Visual Studio 2010, graphic shading is added using High Level Shader Language (HLSL), and rendering is produced using XNA's graphics libraries. Key elements of the game include selecting sensor locations, adequately installing the sensor, and monitoring the incoming data. During game play aftershocks can occur unexpectedly, as can other problems that require attention (e.g., power outages, equipment failure, and theft). The player accrues points for quickly deploying the first sensor (recording as many initial aftershocks as possible), correctly installing the sensors (orientation with respect to north, properly securing, and testing), distributing the sensors adequately in the region, and troubleshooting problems. One can also net points for efficient use of game play time. Setting up for game play in your local environment requires: (1) the Kinect hardware (~$145); (2) a computer with a Windows operating system (Mac users can use a Windows emulator); and (3) our free QCN game software (available from http://quakeinfo.ucsd.edu/~dkilb/WEB/QCN/Overview.html).



Kinect Technology Game Play To Mimic Quake Catcher Network (QCN) Sensor Deployment During a Rapid Aftershock Mobilization Program (RAMP)

Kinect Game Overview

FEATURES

  • Hands-free game play using Kinect technolog
  • Incorporation of body movement and mini-games
  • Game-play scenarios based on QCN deployment
  1. Key elements of the game include selecting sensor locations, adequately installing the sensor and monitoring the incoming data.

  2. During game play an aftershock can occur unexpectedly, as can other problems that require attention (e.g., power-outages, equipment failure and theft).

  3. Players accrue points for quickly deploying the first sensor (i.e., recording as many initial aftershocks as possible), correctly installing the sensors, distributing the sensors adequately in the region, and troubleshooting problems. One can also net points for efficient use of game play time.

  4. Many of the scenarios within the game play are taken from factual experiences.

The Quake Catcher Network (QCN) Kinect Game is a role-playing educational game that allows students to learn about seismology and earthquake preparedness as seismologists. The game begins with an earthquake in "seismic city". The player chooses buildings in the city in which to deploy seismographs as quickly as possible so that the first aftershock is recorded. The goal is to predict where aftershocks might occur and correctly deploy as many sensors as close to the aftershock location as possible. The challenge is that an aftershock can occur at any time and place.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number NSF EAR #1027807: Collaborative Research: CDI-Type II: From Data to Knowledge: The Quake-Catcher Network.

This work benefits from a collaboration with EAR-1053376: Collaborative Research: Systematic Analysis of Dynamic Earthquake Triggering Using the USArray Data

And NSF OCI #1135555: CI-TEAM Implementation Project: Cyberinfrastructure for Quality Understanding and Engagement for Students and Teachers (CyberQUEST )