Climate change – an urgent, immediate problem – can sometimes feel like an abstract one. What do global temperature changes mean for a particular city and region? What will the difference between 1.5 and 2 C degrees of warming mean, in terms of heat waves, sea level rise, and agricultural production? What industries or activities drive greenhouse gas emissions across different cities, regions, and nations?  

On February 9th and 10th, The Reality of Global Climate Change Hackathon will explore ways of using virtual reality, augmented reality, motion capture and other tools to communicate the science and stakes of climate change. Participants will form teams and use these tools to share and contextualize climate data and tell stories around climate change. The hackathon will encourage participants to pool their different areas of strength, to form groups that combine storytelling, graphic design, visual communication, climate change, and programming skills.

The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, World Resources Institute, and Data-Driven Yale have shared data sets that trace the rise of greenhouse gas emissions, dive into national opinions on climate risks and impacts, and capture some of urban impacts of climate change. Winning teams will walk away with cash prizes, as well as the chance to have their work featured on these organizations’ websites. All teams will get to experiment with new software, technology and datasets, and learn from technical and climate change experts, who will be on site to mentor teams and judge their final demos.

The Hackathon, spearheaded by the Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM), includes co-sponsors from the Yale Information Technology Services, Yale Center for Business and the Environment, Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, Data-Driven Yale, Microsoft HoloLens and Mixed Reality teams, ConnectionSphereGen, and World Resources Institute

 

To learn more and register, visit: https://climatevr.yale.edu/.

Curious as to what a hackathon is all about? These looks back at past events – the Data 1.0 Hackathon at Yale-NUS in Singapore, and the Data Visualization Hackathon at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies – help capture what the day could look like.

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