UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Squeezy Green Balls: Promoting Environmental Awareness through Playful Interactions

Jennett, C; Iacovides, I; Cox, AL; Vikhanova, A; Weigold, E; Mostaghimi, L; Jones, G; ... Rogers, Y; + view all (2016) Squeezy Green Balls: Promoting Environmental Awareness through Playful Interactions. In: Cox, A and Toups, ZO and Mandryk, RL and Cairns, P, (eds.) Proceedings of ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY '16). (pp. pp. 389-400). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): New York, NY, USA. Green open access

[thumbnail of Squeezy_FINAL.pdf]
Preview
Text
Squeezy_FINAL.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (481kB) | Preview

Abstract

We need collective action to tackle global warming. However, research shows that people switch off from being concerned about the environment because they are often too busy, or fail to appreciate their ability to make a difference. An alternative approach is to run campaigns that are able to engage large numbers of people and engender feelings of concern and empowerment. This could then kick-start a range of pro-environmental habits. We present the development and evaluation of a playful installation that aimed to attract attention, and stimulate discussion about environmental issues amongst university staff and students. The first prototype was shown to successfully attract people to engage and interact with the installation. The second prototype was deployed in-the-wild, over the course of a week. We evaluated the extent to which the installation was successful at attracting attention, and in encouraging people to interact with it, to reflect on their habits and to discuss environmental issues with others. We found the Green Ball Kiosk was a fun way to raise discussions about green issues, to encourage the adoption of new environmentally friendly behaviours and to prompt people to maintain existing ones. We suggest that interactive installations such as this can be effective at promoting awareness and generating a "social buzz" about environmental topics when exhibited as a temporary installation.

Type: Proceedings paper
Title: Squeezy Green Balls: Promoting Environmental Awareness through Playful Interactions
Event: 3rd ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY '16)
Location: Austin, TX
Dates: 16 October 2016 - 19 October 2016
ISBN-13: 9781450344562
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1145/2967934.2968102
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1145/2967934.2968102
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright is held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.
Keywords: Physical computing, environmental awareness, public spaces, engagement, play
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > UCL Interaction Centre
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1508269
Downloads since deposit
64Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item