Social Creative Technologies Lab @ Wageningen University

🚀 XR Hackathons for Data Science Education: Findings from "The Data Factory" 🎮📊 Extended Reality (XR) is reshaping education, making complex concepts more interactive and engaging. At Wageningen University, we explored this potential through The Data Factory, a hackathon where students co-designed XR applications for data science education. ********* Our paper is available here: https://lnkd.in/eBhD9WHc 🔹 Key Findings: ✅ XR-based gamification enhances understanding of the Data Science Pipeline. ✅ Virtual Reality (VR) was preferred over Augmented Reality (AR). ✅ Students saw XR as a valuable tool for engagement and learning retention. #XR #DataScience #EdTech #Hackathon

🌱 Weekly Update: Once again we've been fine-tuning our VR gardening experience, designed to support occupational therapists and their patients. 🎮✨In this video, we take you behind the scenes of our creative process, showcasing how we’re building immersive, interactive gardening activities to aid rehabilitation, fine motor skill development, and relaxation. On-going development work by Fatih Furkan Erkeç. #VRTherapy #GamifiedRehab #DigitalHealth #Innovation #OccupationalTherapy

On July 9th, we will host a free-to-attend conference - 'Gaming for Sustainability' - funded by the NWO (Dutch Research Council)- bringing together international experts to explore how game engines can accelerate open science and drive sustainability solutions. 🌍🎮 Join us for insightful discussions on the future of game engine-based innovations for tackling global challenges. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with thought leaders at the intersection of tech, science, and sustainability! The event is primarily open to academics and professionals from the games & XR industry. 💻 Sign up link: https://lnkd.in/eZWDmckS 📍 Wageningen University, Omnia Building 📅 July 9th 🎟️ Free to attend - but limited places available 🧑💼 The event is in-person only, and not available online ****** List of guest speakers to be announced soon. ****** The Gaming for Sustainability event is organised by Wageningen University & Research's Social Creative Technologies Lab @ Wageningen University and Sustainable Market Innovation Hub, Dr. Caspar Krampe ****** #OpenScience #GameEngines #Sustainability #Innovation #WageningenUniversity #NWO #XR #AR #VR

🎮 I’m excited to announce the IEEE International Conference on Virtual Reality (ICVR 2025) will be at held at Wageningen University & Research this July (10th - 11th). #ICVR is a global platform for exploring the latest advances in virtual reality technologies, immersive experiences, and VR's applications across industries—from gaming and healthcare to education and beyond. 📅 Workshop/Tutorial Proposal Deadline: February 1 🗓️ Paper Submission Deadline: February 25, 2025 🌍 Location: Omnia Building, Wageningen University Campus 🔗 Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/eYGHicpH Don’t miss out on the chance to connect with leading experts, share your own work, and dive deep into the latest trends in VR! https://lnkd.in/eYGHicpH #ICVR2025 #VirtualReality #ImmersiveTech #VR #Innovation #TechConference #Research

🎅🤖 Meet AI Santa: The Future of Festive Cheer! 🎄✨ This holiday season, imagine a Santa powered by cutting-edge AI. 🎁 An AI Santa who: -Chats in real-time, understanding your wish lists and answering your festive questions. -Generates personalized greetings for loved ones worldwide. -Tracks holiday trends, ensuring every gift idea is on point. -And maybe even checks that naughty or nice list twice with advanced algorithms! AI Santa showcases how technology can blend with tradition, bringing innovation to cherished moments while keeping the magic alive. What’s next? A sleigh powered by renewable energy? 🛷⚡ Share your thoughts below! 👇 Development work by Orestis Spyrou #AISanta #Innovation #HolidayTech #ArtificialIntelligence

Development Diary: This week we've been further refining out VR gardening game for occupational therapists and their patients. 🌟 In this video, we delve into the creative process behind crafting immersive gardening experiences that aid in rehabilitation, fine motor skill development, and stress relief. By adding in movement, tools and interactions - Combining cutting-edge technology with therapeutic principles, our goal is to make therapy sessions more engaging and impactful. Check out the video and let us know what you think! 🌿 Development work by Fatih Furkan Erkeç #VirtualReality #OccupationalTherapy #GameDevelopment #Innovation #GardeningTherapy

🌍🎨 🚀 Exciting news! The Reframing the Climate exhibition from 2024 that took place at the Impulse building on Wageningen Campus is now available to experience again virtually, made using our tool Visio Creativia-  Explore more about Visio Creativia here: https://lnkd.in/ehXmaU92. 👏 #ClimateArt #VirtualExhibition #VisioCreativia #WageningenUniversity #OpenSource

The possibilities of XR for education have tremendous benefits. The virtual banana fields is such an example. Students can immerse themselves in virtual field and explore banana trees as well interact with them. #banana #metaverse #edutainment #digitaltwin #farming #xr #smartfarming #wur

In our lab we're 🌱 leveraging VR for Occupational Therapy, supporting rehabilitation through virtual gardening 🌱 With VR gardening, therapists can tailor activities to individual needs- planting virtual seeds to practice fine motor coordination, organizing garden layouts for cognitive skills- or using the calming nature of a garden for stress relief. Below is an early development work by Fatih Furkan Erkeç: working towards a VR-based gardening application that will offer a customizable environment for patients to practice motor skills, cognitive exercises, and sensory regulation. #OccupationalTherapy #VirtualReality #Rehabilitation #DigitalTherapy #HealthcareInnovation

In our SCT lab, we also work with IoT sensors - one of the first projects we did was funded by the EWUU alliance to develop a smart gardening bed to promote active aging. For this we used Arduino OPLA sensors, with a cloud-based dashboard to log moisture and light levels for household plants - and designed our own sensor solutions with 3D-printed casings. You can read all about our work in these two papers: - https://lnkd.in/ggYZTRnY -https://lnkd.in/gMkwvtWj #ActiveAging #Gardening #EWUU #IoT #Sensors