So Story, Much Wow

September 30, 2014

The struggle is real. Despite all our research on authoring tools and storylining techniques, actually writing the storyline itself proved to be quite the challenge. Each of us took a different character perspective and wrote a story of their relationship to right whales. This was when we realized how much effort and time goes into writing a story. We have all the information that needs to go into a storyline, but the act of putting it all together in a cohesive manner is the challenge. Writing the Lobster Fisherman point-of-view story took over the span of 3 days and it’s only 3 chapters! Let’s not even talk about how long (…or short) it is. This week is going to be mix stress, frustration, and pressure; trying to our creative juices flowing, testing our storyline, rewriting our storyline. No matter what, we are looking forward to the challenge.

--Ray

The Matrix: Whale Edition

September 26, 2014

My group knows by now my love of charts and tables. Our advisors and sponsors suggested to make a matrix of all the possible platforms, audiences, storyline etc for our video game. I was extremely excited and we began immediately on the train ride home making categories. The matrix helped us organize all the information we have gathered from various interviews, articles, and observations. Be warned, the matrix is massive. However, we had way too much fun putting in links within the document to make it easier to navigate (we hope to add color coordination too). One of my hopes for this matrix is for it to be printed on a poster with our whale drawings posted all over it for the MQP group to use when making the video game. 

The cubical where all the creativity started

Writing the storylines has brought out the creative sides of the group. Who knew we were all so poetic?  Storylining, however, is much harder than we anticipated. It is easy to write a story, but it is not so easy to make it feel as if its alive. We want emotions to pour out of the words to really depict what we want the tone and atmosphere of the video game to be. It will be interesting to see what our advisors think of some of the stories we came up with. 

Typical day at the office

When we discussed our introduction chapter, one of our advisers had us ponder our hopes for this video game. I think it finally hit us that our project was going to turn into something people will play in the future. I want to stay involved with this project and see it to completion. Within the next couple of years I want to be able to take my family to the aquarium to see this game (if it becomes an exhibit of course). We are adamant that we are going to make a difference for right whales with this video game.

Now for the adventure of the week! On Thursday, a few of us went to Fenway for a Boston Red Sox's baseball game! We enjoyed ourselves, and got to mingle with other groups. (We may even be in a movie!) With only a few weeks left in Boston we hope to continue these adventures. 

Red Sox Game!

-Kady

IQP Boston Harbor Cruise!

Today was such a relaxing day, and I think we all needed a break. The Cruise today around Boston was so peaceful!

Boston Harbor

  We got to see other members of the Boston Project Site whom we do not see on a regular basis anymore due to all our busy schedules. We got to bond with others and see how everyone is holding up in their projects. Everyone seemed stressed due to all the deadlines but were staying motivated to get work done.

Out and about in the ocean

On the boat many of us sat inside while others chose to sit outside. Some students were on the deck of the boat and as the boat picked up speed, water splashed everywhere and Deena and Kate got soaked. Everyone laughed.

So many boats

There were lots of boats in the ocean and it seemed like many people were on cruises to start their week off.  

Speeding up

Besides cruising around Boston Harbor, we worked on the methods chapter and rewrote many objectives to be more specific and concise. We restructured the chapter and clarified our project goal and the goal of our video game. It's been a very proactive few days and we are eager to learn and accomplish much much more in the coming week!

-By Elior Anina

Weekly Team Reflections

September 15-19

It has been a long week. We started the week by finalizing our revisions to our whole background chapter, whale watching, hosting a large IQP-MQP joint meeting, learning to fish for lobster, and revising our methodology.

Taken off the coast of Maine, Our Big Blue

During the large IQP-MQP meeting we were able to tie up loose ends about where are project was going. We got a concrete list of things the MQP team needs to take over our project. It was very helpful to have everyone on the same page as us, and encouraging that we seem to be on the right track - however, we have bit off more than we can chew. We were able to have a nice discussion with the Manager of Education and Programs to flesh out the specifics of our video game. Not only did she decide on a target audience for our game, she made us realize that we have two audiences, a primary and a secondary. By stating our primary audience we could then gear our focus towards them, but use all the data and research we have to state how our secondary audience could be affected by our storyline.
We are feeling the pressure now with a little over two weeks left until project presentations. Hopefully we can finalize all our material within the next couple of days so that we have time to test our storyline. We welcome any volunteers who'd like to read our storyline, the more the merrier!

-Whales

On a Lobster-Fishing Boat

September 18, 2014

Our morning drive to Maine

     Today, we spent our day lobster fishing. We took plenty of photos, observed the process of trapping lobsters, and spent much time speaking with the lobster fisherman, our guide.

Lobster Traps

As we spoke with him, we began to realize the complexity of the conflicts between environmental groups and fishermen. Fishermen love whales and would hate to see any entanglements, and they abide by all of the regulations, however costly. To the fishermen, these regulations may seem to come out of nowhere. Fishermen try to get involved so that regulations can be made with safety and the lobster industry in mind. The potential safety hazard that some of the regulations pose creates a difficult conflict.

Whales still end up entangled.  Assuming that the regulations are all followed, then there must be some other reason for the entanglement rate. Perhaps the juveniles require weaker links? If the adults are more able to break free of ropes but juveniles are not, then the juveniles are more likely to become documented as entangled while the adults simply break their ropes. What if this is the reason that juveniles make up 51.4% of serious entanglements, even though they only make up around 28% of the right whale population?

Link designed to break at around 600lb (light blue, center)

In addition, the rule regarding sinking groundlines results in a large number of lost lobster pots ("ghosts"), which must have negative effects on the underground environment and the financial state of lobster fishermen. These rules each have their drawbacks.

However, rules like the multiple-trap-per-trawl rule do not seem to complicate the work of lobstermen, since many of them often use multiple traps anyway. This rule took into account the fishermen, which created exceptions around certain islands.

Similar to this, I hope that our storyline can take into account lobster fishermen, environmental groups, and all of the other key players.

With all of the complexities of our project, we hope to deliver a solution that portrays the true nature of the entanglement and ship strike problem. The main takeaway of our storyline will be an understanding of what everyone can do to help conserve North Atlantic right whales, so whether the person playing the video game is a fisherman, an environmental activist, a scientist, or common citizen, that person would understand what they can do.

Thanks for reading!
Alex Helderman



P.S.
Something I have been pondering: Juveniles who become entangled do not seem to learn to avoid ropes. Why don't whales learn to avoid what causes them so much pain? Why don't they avoid lines and ships, if they can see or hear (in the case of the ships) them coming? Are they just curious? I am not saying that it is the whale's fault, but I am saying that if we can figure out a way to repel them from lines and ships (besides pingers), then we could make a greater difference.

Whale Watching Take 2

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

The second attempt of our whale watching endeavors proved to be success. Not only were be able to gather information on from the participants on the whale watching tours, we saw 3 humpback whales ourselves! When the whale first breached to ocean surface, everyone the ship was left in awe. The whale is a magnificent and majestic creature that seems to do whatever it wants with ease. Their gracefulness is something that will stick with all of us especially when writing about and imagining whales during our project. Although we didn't see our North Atlantic right whale, the humpbacks left the same lasting impression on us.

--Ray

Weekly Whale Writing

September 14, 2014

Week 2 of our project has been very eventful. Between interviewing, researching, writing, and traveling we barely notice how far we have come. As a group, we came closer by discussing our strengths and weaknesses. It was surprising to see that we all shared the same opinions on our weaknesses, and we have put into place a plan to work more efficiently. One of the things we all agreed on is how much we enjoy being able to spend time together outside of the project. It's nice every once in awhile to hang out on the weekends without discussing our project. We want to spend more time enjoying the Boston experience, but find it hard to fit it in with such a hectic schedule. But we have 5 more weeks left, and will be sure to make the most of them. We are all giddy with excitement to see our project come to life with our storyline. After we finish the formalities of writing our background and introduction drafts, we will let our imaginations take over and use all the knowledge we have acquired to write the beginning of our storyline. Just wait and see!

-The Whales

 A view of Boston Harbor form the New England Aquarium Ocean Center, where we work!

Lunch by the Harbor

Research Anyone?

September 11, 2014

After finishing our methods chapter we dove right into updating our background. Who knew our project had so many complexities? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of sources we have read and annotated the past two days. Our original  background was fairly solid, but now we are diving deeper into our topics. I am reading more sources on behavior assessment, observation analysis, engagement in science centers, engaging all audiences, wild tourism, conservation psychology, etc., not to mention all the sources my teammates are researching. I am beginning to understand why video games take years to develop.

On the bright side, even though we are working hard we still found time to meet up with some other group members for lunch at Panera Cares. While finding our way around Boston, me and Elior stumbled upon crews filming for Ted 2 (they even asked us to be extras!). I'm thinking we need a few more lunchtime adventures in Boston, you never know what you're going to find around the corner!

A different view of the aquarium from the BHC ship 

I may have been a bit too excited about my most recent purchase...

Look at them preparing for our sponsor meeting!

We learned a lot this week from the several interviews we conducted and from our sponsor meeting. At one point, the comment was made that the metaphor where the ocean is like our heart and circulatory system. We are looking at a broader perspective that if you help the ocean you will in turn help the right whales. Maybe that is part of our research problem, we want to solve all the world's problems. We want people to care about right whales, and to do that we have to show that everything is connected. We have to show that right whales belong to the ocean, and the ocean belongs to the world, and that we all belong to the same world.

-Kady

Whale Watching Tour!

September 9, 2014

This week started off on an amazing adventure. For the first time ever in our lives, we all attempted to go whale watching in order to assess the demographics on the Boston Harbor Cruises Whale Watching Tours. We were so excited to go out to the ocean and see real life whales. As we headed over to board the ship, our faces were all light up with smiles. We took many pictures to document this memorable trip.

Our Whale Group was thrilled to go whale watching today! Look at those smiles!

A view from our Boston Harbor Cruise Ship as we move depart Boston and set sail into the unknown!

A beautiful view of Boston from the ocean.

Passengers waving their hands to family and friends on shore as we leave the harbor.

Alex and Ray try to reenact Titanic as the ship picks up speed.

As we headed out to sea, our ship crashed through the waves to try to bring us to our destination. Our bodies jumped off and on the front deck of the ship as the ship made its way through the stormy weather. Unfortunately, because of the high waves which ranged from 3 to 5 feet we had to return back to shore. We never got the chance to see whales but that didn't ruin our day. The day continued to be full of surprise. We got lunch at the Aquarium and each got souvenirs from the Gift Shop. We will attempt to go whale watching again next week and cross your fingers, so hopefully this time we get to see some whales!

-Elior

Weekly Whale Writing

September 5, 2014

What a week it has been! We finally got to spend an entire week on our project without the usual demands from other classes. We never realized how much we could get down once we got the opportunity to have 8 hours dedicated to strictly working on our project (with the obvious work breaks to view penguins at the aquarium). The staff at the NEAq is extremely friendly and welcoming to our group, and we are thankful for such a positive work environment. Here are a few photos and captions from our week!

While taking a lunch break, Alex and Ray were catching some rays on the stairs outside the Ocean Center. 

On our first train ride home we convinced the Climate Group that we lost Elior in the hustle to get to the train. In reality, she met up with Kara from the Cyanobacteria group for dinner. We took a funny snap chat to document the moment.

Of course we had to visit the Aquarium gift shop! We found the display of plush right whales for sale and could not resist playing with them. I see a purchase in our near future.

Our first walk to the aquarium! 

As we are walking through the streets of Boston we pick up on the metropolis styled atmosphere: everyone is rapidly moving from one street to the next, some running in heels to catch their train. The sense of urgency gets our legs moving and we make it to the Aquarium in no time!

-The Whales

What's the Game Plan?

September 4, 2014

Today was a big day. Our schedule is starting to seem routine, and even revising our work plan seems to be going well.

After we all joined each other at Union Station, we moved into the train and reserved ourselves a table. Fresh from a good night of sleep, we fleshed out the details of our daily agenda. Then in Boston, we walked happily along Atlantic Avenue. About ten minutes later, we were in our office, where we began to break down our daily agenda into small, digestible pieces.

Today, this meant deciding the details of our work plan for the rest of the term. Based on emails received this morning, we decided on what was most important for the day: to flesh out all of the details for our interviews and observations. We attempted to research interview techniques using the previous IQP report, method powerpoint presentations from ID2050, the library's reference guide, and sources found online.

After establishing the proper guidelines, we began to plan our various interviews:

• We drafted questions for Mr. Billy Spitzer, the Vice-President of Programs, Exhibits, and Planning in order to find what qualities of exhibits we should implement for our project.
• In order to understand the background of the Maine lobster-men, we took notes on a newspaper article of the impact of the Sinking Line Rule and the Multi-Trap Rule on Maine lobster-men (which would cost a predicted $1.3-$3.6 million for a predicted 30-40% reduction in vertical buoy lines, according to the Bangor Daily News). After we discussed this, we drafted interview questions for the two lobster-men that we would meet.
• We completed equivalent interview preparation for a meeting with Ms. Amy Knowlton, who could provide us with valuable content about the right whale.
• Interviews with participants of whale watching expeditions would be useful for understanding the demographic and the feasibility of  a phone app version of our game if implemented on the tours. We noted that the Boston Harbor Cruises we will be working with are a partner of the New England Aquarium, and not owned by the aquarium.
• The lead naturalist at Boston Harbor Cruises is also available for a brief interview, so we drafted questions to learn about the engagement of the whale watchers from a professional perspective.
• The IMGD professors at WPI will be interviewed with different questions based on each of their areas of expertise. These questions will determine not only the capabilities of the video games, but to investigate what qualities of games make them the most engaging.
• We also created a list of questions for WPI students to determine the effectiveness of our video game story-line.

All of our interview plans followed the proper established guidelines, which include but are not limited to: a clear goal, an informative and complete introduction, a set of semi-structured flexible questions, discussion, and closing comments. After a chicken tender and fries lunch, we continued to refine the other parts of our work plan into concrete by:

• Reviewing the old methods proposal
• Keeping track of what steps in the methods have already been completed or are otherwise unnecessary
• Making changes based on new ideas and familiarity with the project
• Drafting emails to be used later in the project
• Revising and refining the old questions to follow the new interview plans
• Working on a schedule timeline for the rest of the project
• Researching and working to establish guidelines for the observation (as opposed to  interviewing) of aquarium visitors and whale watchers.

In summary, it was a productive day...

But that's not all. On the train ride home, as we continued to discuss the final objective, we began to flesh out the details of the final deliverable. Although it took a lot of discussion, we seemed to come to a decision of a better form of deliverable.

We would provide the New England Aquarium with options for platforms to select for the video game. Each of our platform options would come with all of the details needed for an MQP group to complete the game with minimum research on their part. For each platform option, we will provide the overall genre of game, the story-line, the character concepts, the environment, and any additional recommendations, which are based on the specific nature of the platform. While the platform ideas may change, we seemed to believe the options of phone apps, desktop apps, and an exhibit are suitable.

"For each platform option, we will provide the overall genre of game, the story-line, the character concepts, the environment, and any additional recommendations..."

More details to come tomorrow.

-Alex

First Day at the NEAq

September 2, 2014

Our first day travelling to the New England Aquarium was quite the relaxing experience. It began on the train from Worcester Union Station to Boston South Station where we go over our schedule for the day. When we arrived at the aquarium, we met with Tim Werner at the Ocean Center where we were introduced to our work space and oriented to our environment. This was a standard office building with meeting rooms, cubicle style desks, and marine mammal decorations everywhere. One thing that stood out to us was how dedicated everywhere at the office was to preserving wildlife. The decor of each personal work space consisted of magnets, pictures, posters, brochures, and trinkets all relating to wildlife conservation efforts. Everyone at the New England Aquarium shows a genuine passion for our nature's ecosystems. We want to carry this same passion and portray the same dedication through our project and hopefully make a difference in this community.

-Ray

Working Hard

August 29, 2014

Our second day at the Worcester Project Center. We are more than excited to be planning out our first week at the New England Aquarium. Boston here we come!

ID2050 Reflection

As we are starting up our IQP project again, we wanted to take the time to reflect on our achievements and struggles from D-term. Reading our proposal after the long summer break brought back a flood of emotions and memories associated with our project. We relived the struggles we faced when trying to make people feel for the right whales, and place a sense of urgency and emphasis on why the right whales need to be conserved. ID2050 allowed us to view our project at a wide perspective to see the best course of action for what kind of video game will best help spread awareness on the plight of the right whale. We are looking forward to this 7 week journey we are about to embark on, and wish luck to all of our fellow Boston IQP teammates. -Kady, Elior, Ray, Alex