Antwerp Under Water: The interdisciplinary human-centered design of an embodied VR experience on climate change
Pauwels, K.; Herrewijn, L.; Spriet, L.; Cluckers, J.; Vignarajah, K.; Van Thillo, F.S.; Mertens, R.; Hallam, L.; Smet, A.; Van Aken, S. (2025). Antwerp Under Water: The interdisciplinary human-centered design of an embodied VR experience on climate change, in: TEI '25: Proceedings of the nineteenth international conference on tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction, Bordeaux/Talence France March 4 - 7, 2025. pp. 1-6. https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3689050.3705975
In: (2025). TEI '25: Proceedings of the nineteenth international conference on tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction, Bordeaux/Talence France March 4 - 7, 2025. The Association for Computing Machinery: New York. ISBN 979-8-4007-1197-8. , more
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| Available in | Authors |
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Document type: Conference paper
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| Author keywords |
Virtual Reality, Climate Change Awareness, Human-Centered Design, Multi-Sensory, Embodiment |
| Authors | | Top |
- Pauwels, K.
- Herrewijn, L.
- Spriet, L.
- Cluckers, J.
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- Vignarajah, K.
- Van Thillo, F.S.
- Mertens, R.
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- Hallam, L.
- Smet, A.
- Van Aken, S.
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| Abstract |
"Antwerp Under Water" is a work-in-progress VR experience that is being designed to raise climate change awareness by immersing users in a flooded version of the iconic Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. This interdisciplinary, human-centered project combines narrative, technical, and user research insights to foster a sense of urgency through place-based embodiment. Through three immersive time periods, users experience rising sea levels’ impacts, moving from a distant future’s apocalyptic landscape to the present-day, bridging the psychological gap between climate data and local relevance. Multi-sensory elements like haptics, scents and auditory cues are looked into to intensify embodiment, making climate risks tangible and emotionally resonant. The first prototype of the Antwerp Under Water VR experience is scheduled to be completed in February 2025. Following this, a between-subjects experiment will be planned in February and March 2025 to evaluate the prototype’s impact on climate knowledge, emotional engagement, and pro-environmental behavior. |
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