Using multimedia to promote environmental protection

Abstract

This interactive project allows users to explore what causes and affects environmental problems on Earth using papervision 3D. The purpose of this project is to provide a simple platform for users to be aware of the environmental issues and know how to improve the environment. Moreover, these environmental issues are discussed by scientists and environmental protection agencies. The environmental issues discussed are global warming, acid rain, and air pollution, which impact the quality of human life. Reading helps us learn so much truth that we may not be aware of. The traditional pop-up books give readers a deeper impression of the story. Therefore, I created a simulated, interactive pop-up book to create a similar experience for the readers. This book combined education with recreation. Besides, user can gain a lot of information from the book. I used COLLADA Maya to build 3D models and export them to Flash for the interactive user interface. This pop-up book provides a more interactive experience over a traditional pop-up book. Each chapter provides lots of information about the environmental issues. The illustrations visually communicate information to the user. In addition, the book comes with a game. Users may play the game to test how much they learned from the book. Therefore, this book is easy to read, providing the users with information about the environment in a fun manner. The visual style for this project is hand drawn artwork. Then, the art was scanned into computers to be further colored by Illustrator and Photoshop. The 3D modeling of the book was created in Autodesk Maya. To get the best performance of the pop-up book, 2D and 3D were used together. Many pieces of the art were carefully colored to look like real paintings, especially the background colors of the game. Therefore, users can have the best experience of reading the book or playing the game. The purpose of my project is to promote environmental protection by using computer graphics. By using the interactive pop-up book and the game, users will look at our environment with a pair of different eyes.