Discovering Familiar Places

Abstract

February 12, 2100: Walking down by the river’s shore it is hard to believe that as recently as a hundred years ago this bank of the river was dry l and. Today all of this land is frequently under water as a result of increasingly wild weather events. Looking across the river you see the steady red light on the tower indicating that yet again, rain is in the forecast and people need to be ready to move to higher ground. Traveling back a hundred years as a TimeLab researcher, you are surprised to learn that the risk of flooding was rather low in the past. Concerned for your family and friends, you think it would be great if the river didn’t have to rise – if this land could still be as dry as it was back then. Perhaps that is unrealistic and it is best to use this experience to prepare for still worse conditions in the future. But...perhaps it is possible that you can convince your ancestors to make a few small changes that will make your home in the year 2100 better.... The above scenario is part of the experience that players have during the Augmented Reality (AR) game, TimeLab 2100, developed at MIT as part of a series of research and development initiatives referred to as MITAR. The goal of MITAR is to provide experiences that merge the best of real and virtual in order to engage learners of all ages in games that are engaging, thought provoking, and fun.