N-Space

São Paulo | Build a Space Biology Superhero

Awards & Nominations

N-Space has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Global Nominee

N-Space – Providing Science and Space Learning through a Fun / Interactive Way

High-Level Project Summary

We have developed a virtual game that teaches science and space for children, emulating space conditions in different organisms.It solves the challenge by giving the player the opportunity to build his own "Space Biology Super Hero" as he develops his avatar, combining aspects from different biological organisms. Furthermore, players can explore space environments to understand how diverse organisms react to them. We believe it will be important in promoting space and science education: once the final phase is completed, the player will have a better understanding of the space environment and how different organisms interact with it, and will be able to further spread this knowledge.

Link to Final Project

https://nspace-6x2r49u6v-gabrielgalatti.vercel.app/

Link to Project "Demo"

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qLWAcwNxOAeA3s4ydqREdzAnzlR7Smgk/edit#slide=id.p1

Detailed Project Description

My team and I have chosen the challenge "Build a Space Biology Super Hero", and for that, we developed a solution which we called "N-Space": an online game that enables kids to learn about space and how diverse organisms deal with them in a fun and interactive way.

The user starts the game being shown a story which is our game lore, and then, he's able to build his own character based on a diverse set of biological, chemical and physical attributes, acquiring skills from different organisms from Earth.

This avatar is then put on an online battle against an NPC or in a player vs player mode, in a specific scenario, like a planet, a natural satellite or a rocket, which may interfere in who is gonna win the match.

The screen shows the avatar's attributes and skills and compares them with the opponent's. The attributes are described on a simple text box, highlighting who's the winner and why is so that, considering the scenario and the different organism attributes match, itself.

A simple arrow points to the winner, and if the player wants to know more about the organism attribute that made his character win/be defeated, he can touch the textbox to be shown a box that describes that attribute in specific.

After defeating the opponents, the player is able to better understand the space environment and how different organisms interact with it, and spread this knowledge to other people.

The game might be over… But the true mission is just beginning.

Space Agency Data

https://genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov/genelab/accession/GLDS-319

https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/space-medicine/bones.asp

https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/space-medicine/muscles.asp

Hackathon Journey

Exciting! It was amazing how things evolved from “0” to the final stage. I would like to highlight the duration of the event, which was quite challenging for our team, contributing to boost our communication, as well as ensuring a measured and productive progress of the solution.

The main learning I'm going to take is about team coordination: how to reconcile opinions, how to understand theoretical content from specialized members, understanding what each team member needs for the proper fulfillment of their tasks, engage each team member in order to find an innovative, simple and efficient way to build our solution, to wisely instruct my teammates on mental and physical rest, and balance this with the demands and deliveries that the situation required from us.

Our main motivators were, firstly, the dynamics / interactivity of the space-terrestrial organisms relationship that this challenge offered; the potential we saw in providing a creative and efficient solution; and the possibility of contributing to education in spreading knowledge about science and space, introducing and familiarizing children and next generations on these matters.

We opted for an approach that reconciled: creativity through design and gameplay aspects; a simple business model in economic viability/sustainability and rich in diversity of revenue sources (we proposed a main monetization type and 3 other ancillary ones); and efficiency + assertiveness, through a good theoretical-scientific foundation allied to a simple and complete game logic.

We dealt with setbacks and adversities in a way that no one was left alone or behind: we counted on each other's support throughout the hackathon, trusting each other's ability and counting on the transparency of each member's self-criticism about their progress and quality of work. To deal with physical/mental fatigue, we took turns in sleep schedules and food breaks, as well as occasional relaxing conversations to relieve some of the work tension.

I would like to thank the entire Instituto Inteli team for their partnership and support, even in the midst of setbacks; the family and friends of the team members who were honest in giving opinions on the quality of our work, the mentors, especially Aimar Martins Lopes, Bianca Sartoretto and Emanuelle, as well as the event's organizing team, Kleber Bastos, Victor Rosetti and Sabrina. To all of you who have helped us with constructive and encouraging feedback, we offer our best wishes of gratitude and genuine recognition. Thank you very much.

Ad astra per aspera.