Stop Deforestation

Description:

My social good topic is related to life on land; and it makes use of VR technology to emphasize how deforestation, constructing buildings and other human actions affect the lives of animals living there, and also affect our future. It also aims at emphasizing the importance of plants and trees and gives an idea to the user of how the world without trees and forests would look like.

The non-profit organization that I chose is called “The Nature Conservancy” which strives to conserve nature and to protect the diversity of life found there. The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.

In this VR experience, the user is transported to my version of a normal city with some green spaces and a number of houses and roads. The user will move around and explore different buildings and also find a small area with trees and some wildlife. He will then walk through this small forest and will be given a choice to choose a “chainsaw” or a “watering can”. The chainsaw will be used to cut down trees and the watering can will used to plant trees and depending on the choice that the user makes, appropriate facts and messages will be displayed to the user. If the user selects chainsaw and starts to cut down trees, then he will be prompted with some disadvantages of deforestation and will be given some facts about it. After the user has cut 3 trees, the scene will change and the user will be placed in a very dull city with only buildings and no trees at all. The user will roam in this scene to discover that in this future all the trees have been cut, animals have died or moved away because they have lost their homes, and only buildings are left. He will soon realize that the decision wasn’t a wise one. The user will experience that life without trees and wildlife is worthless and humans won’t exist if all animals and trees are dead. Some facts and advantages of trees will also be shared with the user. Finally, the user will be prompted to take the first step and to donate to the Nature Conservancy organization and if they select no then they will be asked to choose again till they choose to donate!

If the user chooses to select the “watering can” then he will be prompted to plant trees. As the user plants 4 trees, the scene will change and the user will be brought to a dense forest to see how the wildlife and other trees and plants survive. The user will go around the forest and will be able to find animals, trees and will get to know the importance of them. The user will also get to know about the organizations that are striving to maintain the ecological balance by keeping our forests and animals safe. This world would be bright unlike the other choice where the world was dark. The user will realize that planting trees and caring for the environment is the right choice which will allow human life to flourish.

At the end of both the scenes, the user will be prompted to make the donation and take the first step towards saving the environment and the life on land as we know it.

I hope this experience allows people to understand the gravity of the subject and they feel pressured to take steps in order to find a solution to it!

Model Sources:

• 3D Warehouse
• Turbosquid
• Unity Asset Store