BENGALURU: The next time you go to Church Street during the weekend, you can look forward to enjoying a new interactive game that combines virtual fun with real life adventures. The Search, developed by Science Gallery Bengaluru and Bengaluru Sustainability Forum, can be played by anyone, and is a part of the clean air street initiative by the Directorate of Urban and Land Transport and Indian Institute of Science. “It helps players think critically about their choices in mobility and transportation as they explore Church Street, one of Bengaluru’s iconic streets,” says Lena Robra, coordinator of the forum.
It offers players 10 real-world locations that they can find, each of which will help them unlock content about how the quality of air impacts life. The game combines elements of scavenger hunts with quizzes. “Players can uncover secrets and answer questions to come away with a deep understanding of how our choices can lead to a radically different future, all while interacting with bookstores, coffee shops, guitar stores, and others there,” adds Robra.
The game was conceptualised in November last year, and went live during the weekend. “It has been designed to allow minimal contact, and helps people learn the consequences of the current state of our world,” says Madhushree Kamak, programme manager, Science Gallery. The idea, adds Robra, is to show that adopting sustainable choices is no longer a niche activity.
“It does not require radical lifestyle changes,” she says. The game also features content made by Bengalureans like Harini Nagendra, urban ecologist at Azim Premji University, who talks about how reading off the screen (books) slows life down a bit, gives you room to think and has shown to be better for mental health than reading from screens, while chef Manu Chandra speaks about the connection between air pollution and sense of smell and taste.
V Manjula, commissioner, DULT, says, “It’s a way to make people think about clean air and pedestrianisation in an interactive way. While it is for Church Street right now, there is potential for it to be expanded to other areas too.”