How to make climate change tangible and explain it to your students. Between complex statistical projections and seemingly distant deadlines, the task is not straightforward.
Perhaps one of the solutions is the assisted play of a good dose of AI. This is what FutureGuessr, a online geographic game This disrupts learning about climate issues.
On the same idea as GeoGuessr, this popular geographic game that makes us travel around the world, FutureGuessr projects us into a future where the global temperature has increased by 2.7°C.
This is the bold bet of FutureGuessr: using artificial intelligence to concretely visualise the impacts of climate change by 2100, while retaining the playful and immersive aspect that made the original geographical game that inspired it a success. That's great.
Table of Contents
What is FutureGuessr and what is its pedagogical approach?
An immersive platform
FutureGuessr is much more than just a game: it is an open window on our climate future. This free online platform transposes the familiar concept of GeoGuessr into a new scientific context, where each panorama becomes the witness of the transformations of our planet in the face of a warming of 2.7 ° C.
Science made visible
The originality of FutureGuessr lies in its ability to transform complex scientific data, including from IPCC reports, into striking visual experiences. Artificial intelligence, guided by these climate data, accurately models the likely changes in our landscapes: submerged coastlines, transformed forests, extinct glaciers …
Learning through exploration
This image and immersion approach responds to a major pedagogical challenge: how to make the climate emergency understood without falling into an anxiety-inducing discourse?
By allowing users to freely explore these possible futures, FutureGuessr transforms abstract concepts into tangible realities.
How does FutureGuessr illustrate climate scenarios?
At the heart of FutureGuessr is a game mechanic that is as simple as it is efficient: players explore 360° panoramic photos and have to guess their location on a map.
The principle of the game
As in GeoGuessr, you are immersed in an immersive view that you can rotate in all directions. Your mission? Carefully observe the environment, spot clues (architecture, vegetation, … relief) and place a marker on a global map to try to guess where you are.
The discovery of possible futures
The closer your marker is to the actual location, the more points you score. The particularity of FutureGuessr is that after each game you discover not only the solution, but also two possible futures, creating a powerful thinking tool.
Scenarios in detail
The first scenario, that of inaction, shows the consequences of an uncontrolled warming of 2.7°C. Players can observe dramatic transformations: the famous Sea of Ice reduced to a simple rocky valley, the Amsterdam canals overflowing into the adjacent streets, or the Amazon transformed into an arid savannah.
At the same time, the resilient scenario reveals a future where humanity has been able to adapt: reinforced dikes protect coastal cities, ecological corridors preserve biodiversity, architectural innovations allow communities to thrive despite the changes.
Scientific rigour
This dual perspective is based on a sound scientific basis. Visualized transformations are directly inspired by IPCC projections, and each scenario has been validated by IRD climatologist Benjamin Sultan.
Artificial intelligence then translates this data into realistic images, providing the most accurate visual projection of our climate future.
How to use FutureGuessr in class
Why integrate FutureGuessr into your courses? Because this game responds to several educational challenges.
First, it transforms an abstract problem into a concrete experience : your students no longer simply read figures on global warming, they observe the impacts on places they may already know.
The playfulness of the game naturally stimulates students’ curiosity. By seeking to identify places, they develop their sense of observation and their geographical culture. The discussions that follow each part are often rich: "How did you guess this place? What changes are you seeing? Do these transformations seem realistic to you?
A fun tool for climate education
FutureGuessr was developed by Artefact, an agency specialized in data processing and artificial intelligence, in partnership with the Climate Action Network.
The project benefited from the scientific validation of climatologist Benjamin Sultan, a contributor to the 6th IPCC report. One notable point: to reduce its environmental impact, the AI used is hosted locally, thus minimising the game’s carbon footprint.
The game is free and ad-free. By combining the power of artificial intelligence, scientific rigor and playfulness, this game offers a new approach to raising awareness among young people. Test FutureGuesser and tell me what you think about it in the comments.
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