“A Snapshot for the Environment” is the Hera Group project within which we developed a video game in collaboration with Ammagamma, with an important goal: spreading environmental awareness among students by training the artificial intelligence model of the free multi-utility app “Il Rifiutologo.”

The project leverages the Edutainment principle to train an Artificial Intelligence model, educate and raise awareness on the topic of separate waste collection in an interactive and participatory way, using new technologies such as gamification to engage young citizens.

The protagonists are female and male students, involved in developing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) framework that can recognize waste starting from a photo, and thus use the model to develop a new feature of the “Il Rifiutologo” App.

“A Snapshot for the Environment”: video game, quiz, and AI serving ecology

From a practical standpoint, what did the female and male students do? Let’s break down the project steps into points to make the process clearer:

1. they collected images of recyclable items with their smartphones;

2. they played the video game created and developed by Dinobros, interacting with quizzes and other gamified challenges to climb the leaderboard and, consequently, collaborate in producing a shared knowledge system that combines Artificial Intelligence technology with environmental themes related to separate waste collection;

3. at the end of the contest, all participants received sustainable gadgets (a basil plant and a sunflower plant).

The data collected within the project were validated and processed to present girls, boys, and teachers with the result and the accuracy achieved by the model.

The video game mechanics are expressed through a challenge in which female and male students photographed waste following a method outlined by the system (background, movement, position, and characteristics). After uploading 3 photos, users access a video game lasting 40 seconds, in which one of the photos uploaded to the system is randomly shown. At this point, the player must choose where to throw away the waste shown in the photo: plastic, glass, paper, or unsorted waste? A score is assigned for each correctly recycled item, while a small penalty is applied for each incorrectly recycled item, although it is always possible to try again and therefore learn.

At the end of the video game comes “Quiz Time,” in which the player is asked to answer a quiz on environmental sustainability and separate waste collection, consisting of three multiple-choice questions. If the player gives the wrong answer, an in-depth panel opens on the topic covered. Each Quiz includes explanatory feedback on the answer. 

We can therefore summarize the project in three phases:

1. Taking and sending photos of waste according to established criteria, necessary to train the AI of “Il Rifiutologo” to recognize more and more types of waste;

2. Video game, to learn by having fun while recycling correctly;

3. Multiple-choice quiz, to assess pre-existing skills, acquired skills, and those still to be learned.

Strategy and objectives of the “A Snapshot for the Environment” project

The “Eco Games,” Hera Group’s online games that teach how to improve

separate waste collection, have already shown and demonstrated how powerful and far-reaching a video game can be in education. With “A Snapshot for the Environment,” the video game becomes part of an even broader environmental training and education project.

When you have fun, you learn better—this is the concept behind Playful Learning. Applying it to the school context through a video game with Dinobros’ development and creativity is a huge satisfaction, especially when combining such important and current topics as:

• playful learning

• environmental education

• advergames

• Artificial Intelligence.

Training Artificial Intelligence through content uploaded by students, an immense amount of material useful for shaping and effectively improving the performance of the “Il Rifiutologo” app.

In the project, correct image upload is evaluated and provides points to those who play. A learning opportunity on two levels: on one hand, AI acquires useful information to improve the service offered by the app; on the other, the user learns the optimal way to upload content, evaluates its quality, and recognizes its value.

The initiative that on April 20, during the digital festival “After,” involved

about 60 female and male students from the lower secondary school "Salvo D'Acquisto" of IC "Francesco D'Este" in Massa Lombarda (RA) ended with the satisfaction of all participants. The same video game has also been presented on a trial basis over the last two years in other schools, always receiving great participation.

We are proud to have taken part in a wide-ranging environmental education project and to have demonstrated how a video game can be inclusive and high-performing, especially when aiming to engage boys and girls aged 11–14, who make up 71% of the video game target audience in Italy (IIDEA 2023 report data).