Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game

Serious games are digital games, simulations and virtual environments designed for primary purposes (e.g. teaching, learning and training) other than pure entertainment. They are experiential environments where features such as thought-provoking, informative or stimulating are as important, if not m...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aikaterini Bourazeri, Jeremy Pitt, Sylvester Arnab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) 2017-12-01
Series:EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eudl.eu/doi/10.4108/eai.27-12-2017.153510
_version_ 1818517376097845248
author Aikaterini Bourazeri
Jeremy Pitt
Sylvester Arnab
author_facet Aikaterini Bourazeri
Jeremy Pitt
Sylvester Arnab
author_sort Aikaterini Bourazeri
collection DOAJ
description Serious games are digital games, simulations and virtual environments designed for primary purposes (e.g. teaching, learning and training) other than pure entertainment. They are experiential environments where features such as thought-provoking, informative or stimulating are as important, if not more so, than fun or entertainment. A number of serious games have been developed for energy systems that act as educational tools and help energy consumers to better understand concepts such as resource allocation, electricity prices and grid sustainability. This paper discusses the development of a serious game, the Social Mpower, which visualises a community energy system in which players should avoid energy problems (i.e. blackouts) by individually reducing their energy consumption and sustain the Common-Pool Resource (CPR) of their community. Our experimental hypothesis is that if players are “collective aware” of their individual and community consumption, they consume energy in a more efficient and effective way and therefore, they can avoid potential energy problems (i.e. blackouts). Our experimental results show that Social Mpower can be productively used as an educational tool to bring a desired change in people’s behaviour towards energy consumption.
first_indexed 2024-12-11T00:55:24Z
format Article
id doaj.art-865100c98fb342d8bc6f2658190c0885
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2034-8800
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-11T00:55:24Z
publishDate 2017-12-01
publisher European Alliance for Innovation (EAI)
record_format Article
series EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games
spelling doaj.art-865100c98fb342d8bc6f2658190c08852022-12-22T01:26:29ZengEuropean Alliance for Innovation (EAI)EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games2034-88002017-12-014131710.4108/eai.27-12-2017.153510Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious gameAikaterini Bourazeri0Jeremy Pitt1Sylvester Arnab2Disruptive Media Learning Lab, Coventry University, Gosford Street, Coventry, CV1 5DD, UK; aikaterini.bourazeri@coventry.ac.ukElectrical & Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UKDisruptive Media Learning Lab, Coventry University, Gosford Street, Coventry, CV1 5DD, UKSerious games are digital games, simulations and virtual environments designed for primary purposes (e.g. teaching, learning and training) other than pure entertainment. They are experiential environments where features such as thought-provoking, informative or stimulating are as important, if not more so, than fun or entertainment. A number of serious games have been developed for energy systems that act as educational tools and help energy consumers to better understand concepts such as resource allocation, electricity prices and grid sustainability. This paper discusses the development of a serious game, the Social Mpower, which visualises a community energy system in which players should avoid energy problems (i.e. blackouts) by individually reducing their energy consumption and sustain the Common-Pool Resource (CPR) of their community. Our experimental hypothesis is that if players are “collective aware” of their individual and community consumption, they consume energy in a more efficient and effective way and therefore, they can avoid potential energy problems (i.e. blackouts). Our experimental results show that Social Mpower can be productively used as an educational tool to bring a desired change in people’s behaviour towards energy consumption.http://eudl.eu/doi/10.4108/eai.27-12-2017.153510collective actioncollective awarenessenergy useserious games
spellingShingle Aikaterini Bourazeri
Jeremy Pitt
Sylvester Arnab
Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games
collective action
collective awareness
energy use
serious games
title Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
title_full Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
title_fullStr Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
title_full_unstemmed Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
title_short Enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
title_sort enabling collective awareness of energy use via a social serious game
topic collective action
collective awareness
energy use
serious games
url http://eudl.eu/doi/10.4108/eai.27-12-2017.153510
work_keys_str_mv AT aikaterinibourazeri enablingcollectiveawarenessofenergyuseviaasocialseriousgame
AT jeremypitt enablingcollectiveawarenessofenergyuseviaasocialseriousgame
AT sylvesterarnab enablingcollectiveawarenessofenergyuseviaasocialseriousgame