CSIRO has developed computer software that aims to encourage children to be more active when playing computer games.
Designed as an add-on to popular computer games that do not ordinarily encourage physical activity, it works by exploiting the children’s desire to win.
Through the Preventative Health Flagship, CSIRO experts in information and communication technologies (ICT) took a game that is usually played sitting down and devised a way for them to earn extra points if they jump up and down.
Dr Shlomo Berkovsky and his team developed the concept using the open source game Neverball, where players have a certain amount of time to guide a ball through a maze, and shortened the time.
“The only way an average player can complete the maze and go on to the next level of the game is by getting up and jumping around. Every jump earns a second of game time,” Dr Berkovsky said.
Modified and unmodified versions of the game were tested on 270 primary school children in Hobart, Tasmania. Those playing the modified game jumped an average of 257 times in the 20 minutes they spent playing the game.
Dr Berkovsky said the trials showed children playing modified games spent 25 per cent of their gaming time being active, whereas those playing unmodified games were active for just 3 per cent of the time.
“The children enjoyed playing the modified game as much if not more than the unmodified version and their parents were particularly pleased with how much exercise they seemed to be getting,” he said.
CSIRO’s approach can be applied to any game where there’s a parameter that can be measured, like time, and which it makes sense to reward, in the context of the game.
The work recently won the research and development (R&D) category of the 2010 Tasmanian iAwards, sponsored by the Australian Information Industry Association.
Source: CSIRO
Old buildings take the green lead
Improving the energy efficiency of Australia’s existing commercial buildings is one of the fastest, most effective ways to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, reports the April-May edition of ECOS magazine.
The everyday electrical services of both residential and commercial buildings – such as lighting, air-conditioning, lifts and hot water – account for close to one-quarter of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Projects encouraging the industry to upgrade existing buildings in preference to constructing ‘green’ buildings from scratch – thus avoiding massive hidden ‘embodied’ emissions from construction, materials, and waste – are springing up in the nation’s capitals, involving government agencies and key players such as the Green Building Council of Australia.
Next-gen cars: they’re almost here
After our decades-long love affair with petrol and diesel-powered vehicles, the era of greener cars and trucks is almost here, thanks to escalating environmental concerns, the recent oil-price spike and the global financial crisis.
Around 15 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions are generated from transport, although a 20 per cent decline in new car sales over the past year and a growing buyer preference for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles are motivating car-makers to develop products that reduce our reliance on oil.
ECOS reports that electric cars in particular are becoming more attractive as consumers realise that fully charged batteries have more than enough ‘range’ to cover the 120km daily distance travelled by the average driver.
And watch out for the ‘air car’ – compact compressed-air-driven commuter vehicles that can seat four and travel as far as 300km on one tank of compressed air.
Sea-level rise: the view from ground zero
According to the World Bank, tens of millions of people in 84 developing countries, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Jamaica and the Maldives, will likely be displaced by rising sea levels over this century.
In our region, a rise of one metre would effectively put the small Pacific Island nations of Kiribati and Tuvalu at or below sea level, a prospect that raises issues not just for the people of these islands, but for their larger and wealthier neighbours, Australia and New Zealand.
ECOS talks to scientists and aid agencies about their respective concerns: Is the increased flooding experienced by Pacific Islands due to sea level rise? How can Australia best help? And what are the options for these seafaring nations if sea levels do rise?
Further Information:
ECOS 148 online
http://www.ecosmagazine.com/
