Random Winners
Vaeggen (The Wall) is a massive but mobile interactive video installation on the streets of Copenhagen that allows citizens and visitors to explore in depth the cultural past, present, and future of the city together with its diverse ethnic and cultural communities. Open and inclusive in its philosophy and operating mode, Vaeggen also provides a vehicle for citizens to contribute their own material to the experience via its innovative street level and web user interfaces. Multi-touch and multi-user, the interface uses a strong graphical idiom understandable by all community groups and encourages them to not only explore the 14,000 cultural assets accumulated to date, but to also create new original contents that enrich, comment on or incorporate the heritage collection. The giant on-screen touch keyboards make it possible to email these assets around the world and insert them into their own social media networks. Based initially on the rich heritage collections of the Museum of Copenhagen, Vaeggen is also a public multimedia repository for new discoveries emerging from the large-scale archaeological excavations being undertaken in the old city centre for the next 7 years. In the first half year of operation, Vaeggen has attracted more than 400,000 users, who viewed more than 2 million cultural media assets, sent more than 60,000 digital postcards, and uploaded 2,500 new contributions of their own. The idea is already being taken up by other cities in Scandinavia and attracting interest around the globe.
My cpf – CPF Service Transformation has revolutionised public service delivery in Singapore. Close engagement with citizens and the innovative use of Infocomm Technology (IT) has resulted in a suite of retirement planning e-services customised to suit citizens’ individual life events. Most importantly, the e-services are accessible to all citizens regardless of their IT savvy. The “different strokes for different folks” approach accommodates the retirement planning and IT ability of diverse citizens. To educate and empower an aging, but increasingly sophisticated, population to plan early for a secure retirement, interactive retirement planning tools and content are presented from the user perspective. My cpf – CPF Service Transformation also caters to citizens at opposite ends of the IT skills spectrum. IT advanced citizens can use new mobile and media channels. The less IT savvy citizen is also assured of being able to “bridge the digital divide” thanks to the creative use of biometric, wireless and conventional e-services, often combined with a human touch.
www.frozenflameweb.com/sparxmain.html
SPARX is a computerized self-help programme to help young people combat depression. It was developed by a team of cognitive behavioural therapists, researchers, game developers, e-learning theorists and young people. SPARX takes the form of an animated 3D game where users learn real-life skills by solving challenges to rid a fantasy world from gloom and negativity. Culturally relevant elements have been incorporated into the game world to ensure the programme has wide cultural acceptability. SPARX is unique because of the gaming technology it uses to engage users and because over 180 young people have been involved in a trial to test its effectiveness. Feedback from the testers called SPARX effective, engaging and helpful. As one in four youngsters experience an episode of clinical depression by the age of 18, and three quarters of them never receive help, this programme has the potential to make a positive impact on the lives of many young people in New Zealand and internationally.
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'Playing with the Big Boys!' SUMO is an online and Facebook casual and social game featuring unique, accurate, 3D motion control technology for any PC and MAC with a standard webcam. Use your body movement and your computer’s webcam to guide your Sumo character through Sumo School before taking on a host of enemies in survival quests and challenges. SUMO is also available from the AppStore for iPhone/iPad (ref: OmniMotion Sumo), and is among the first games in the world to use both intuitive, multi-touch controls, and next-generation 'bump-map' graphics, offering near-console standard visuals and a uniquely engaging playing experience. Sumo.ie delivers alternative playing experiences that are engaging, fun and easy to play. What’s more, SUMO is available on Facebook as a browser-based Motion Control game with full community functionality to enjoy and share! Do you have the stuff for it?
Dnevnik.ru is the first social educational network in the Russian Federation that aims to create a single network for all participants in the educational process, whether school administrators, teachers, students or their parents. Dnevnik.ru makes school life more convenient by creating a tool for efficient and convenient electronic document management, allowing participants of the program to quickly and simultaneously exchange information with each other, as well as be informed of current developments in participating schools. Dnevnik.ru provides real-time information about students' class schedules, grades, and homework assignments, also offering a library and a media library. The program allows schools to create homepages, gives each participant a page and has a thriving -and protected- community. Additionally, Dnevnik.ru houses a large learning resource centre, provides an electronic information exchange system, electronic messaging and distance teaching capability, educational audio and video materials and facilities for creating personal profiles, subject blogs and groups for schools and online learning communities. Since its launch, a large number of St. Petersburg schools and hundreds of thousands of students use the instrument daily.
PORDATA is a free public service provided and promoted by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation and responds to the growing need for credible statistical information. The database includes thousands of official statistics from more than 50 bodies. PORDATA started with a database for Portugal and more recently augmented its contents with another for Europe (including the USA and Japan, whenever possible). Data are displayed in an innovative and easy way, covering many subjects of public interest (such as Population, Education, Health, Economy, Environment and Science & Technology), within a time frame of up to five decades. In a just few clicks, the information is displayed in both static and dynamic tables or graphs. Indicators from different subjects can be added and cross-referenced in the same table and a variety of statistical operations can also be applied. Complete and detailed metadata is also available. PORDATA keeps up with technology like iphone, facebook and twitter, making facts easily available as you need them in different situations.
My name is Haas is a transmedia concept from the Netherlands for young children, age 3 to 7. Via 8 different themes, children experience the rich world of Haas and his friends. A unique and serious game is the core of the concept. The world of Haas is designed to fit the target audience seamlessly. The game increases very young children’s vocabulary, stimulates their story comprehension and challenges their problem-solving skills, all in an interactive animated setting. The main character Haas, a hare, is the archetypal child. “Haas” knows nothing, but his name. The combination of lack of experience and a philosophical nature gives rise to Haas’ original twists of mind. Children create an interactive story by simply drawing the character Haas’ world and creating solutions to problems. Haas quickly gets into conflict with the other characters who are much more adult, leading to comical situations. My name is Haas is currently used in two versions: at home and in classrooms. In addition to the online game, there are CD-ROM’s, picture books and zigzag books with circular stories. My name is Haas won the prize for the best serious game in the Dutch Game Awards. Check out:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PrOug6B0Zw
Areoscan is a web-based service that enables the user to create a 3D model of any area or object using digital photography. In industries such as surveying, architecture and design, Areoscan is proving to be a cost effective, flexible and time efficient solution for all sorts of jobs, ranging from complex land surveys through to creative art projects. Whatever the need, Areoscan takes a real-life subject and automatically generates a 3D model in the same way a 3D laser scanner does, without specialized equipment. The 3D models can be downloaded in several formats for manipulation by a range of computer-aided design (CAD) programmes. There are a number of guides available online to assist the user in maximising their experience and getting great results. This project cements New Zealand’s reputation as an innovative global developer.
Mini-mundi is an online tamagotchi, a virtual planet to learn how to separate for recycling. Depending on how well the planet is cared for, it starts growing an abundance of flora, fauna, natural resources and funny creatures. Mini-mundi was created in order to provide an entertaining way to teach kids how to separate for recycling. The game begins by giving children a little baby world which they have to nurture through recycling tasks and games of which there are 16 throughout the platform. The game adapts its interface to the time of the day the child plays and also displays the 4 different seasons through the year. Players receive different forms of recognition and can make albums with the different stages of their mini-mundi. The technically well-designed Mini-mundi platform also provides a tool for teachers to register kids in their classrooms to promote an environmental conscience.
Renderfarm.fi– Making movies with a screensaver is the most accessible rendering platform available on the Internet. It is – and intends to remain - a completely free service that enables its users to render their animations or stills while engaging the computing power of volunteers from around the world. By using Renderfarm.fi, 3D artists and animators benefit from being able to use higher image quality and higher resolutions when rendering. Equally importantly, users participate in the rendering of stills and animations, regardless of whether or not they themselves are able to or even interested in learning about 3D modelling and animation. The stills and animations created can then later become parts of a movie that users help to create. Renderfarm.fi encourages everybody to take part in both the online community and collaborative rendering, and advocates the use of open licensing (especially Creative Commons), open values and sharing of resources over geographic borders.
