Modelling Water Table Changes in a Virtual World

Compnay Name

Xyris XR Design - Kenn Mayfield

Service Details

In 2022 I participated in a conversation with hydrological and remediation ecology remediation scientists about the effect of available water in attracting fauna and encouraging them to stay. 

I’d learned, for example, if enough water could be permanently established in an otherwise dry environment, and flora made present, insects might be attracted to the site, with small predators following for the food supply. If enough small predators are living in this new ecology, apex predators might also become established. 

I propose researching science journals to collect a series of rules governing water models and its effect on local ecology, then adapting one of my virtual worlds, a multiplayer meadow/wetland, to create a working demonstration of the kind of simulation which would result in another useful service on SingularityNET marketplace.

Problem Description

Climate patterns undergoing such dramatic changes may well charge us with the responsibility of becoming ‘citizen scientists’. With this ideation project, we would in a subsequent funding round create a service to simulate water table modelling in an immersive environment of a select location on Earth.

Solution Description

We have a ready-to-use multiplayer Unity high-definition render pipeline (HDRP) explorable meadow environment to use as the testbed for our idea. Unity HDRP offers the highest gaming-console render quality. To make this immersive environment accessible to many people we can deliver the interaction it via browser-based pixel streaming which does not require the user to have an expensive computer.

In terms of interactivity, we'd like to validate these inputs into a simplified water table-ecological model:

Example Inputs and Ouputs

We wish to ideate an explorable 3D model that simulates the effects of water table changes in a select meadow / wetlands location.

The simulation we wish to ideate will include changeable parameters and moveable objects that can be modified in-program to help stakeholders explore effects of changes while discussing and considering details of the remediation planning. We have enough of a detailed proposal to bring to Deep Funding Round 4's New Projects phase, should we be successful winning the community's support for our Round 3 ideation proposal.

Ideation Goals

For this ideation leading to a full R4 proposal, we will orient our effort towards these goals:

1. How to depict the geology and hydrology of the location.

2. How to portray the seasonal hydrological effects on the location.

3. How to depict and select species of apex predators and their prey species.

4. Validate whether a simulated riparian zone with desired apex predator(s) would be most engaging.

5. How to represent endemic flora of the location.

6. Validate proposed inputs based on available water and water retention of. the selected location.

7. Consider the presence of action of microbial life at the location.

8. Support voice and text chat collaboration within the simulated environment (already completed in the selected meadow environment).

    

Outcomes of the Ideation

Specific details to settle in our projects ideation phase:

1. Decide the land area of the simulated landscape.

2. Define the simulated apex species and behaviours.

3. Define desirable prey species and behaviourals.

4. Define the native flora and microscopic life.

5. Define an acceptable degree of real-time simulation for expected hydrological behaviour.

6. Define interactive controls which would affect available water, and therefore flora/fauna.

7. Define which season(s) to represent in the simulation.

Milestone & Budget

• Update the HD environment to the latest Unity version Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

• Hold meetings with geology and hydrological scientists Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

• Research literature Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

• Build a static dataset Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

• Complete immersive demo Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

Marketing & Competition

Since our environment is already multiplayer-ready, we will publicize the work by meeting in the virtual location, and recording video for promotion on social media.

Related Links

Youtube: meadow environment

https://youtu.be/84z8jsqEOyo

https://youtu.be/OM0K_M5OFQI?si=GBijG_08GOuJp6NZ

Homepage with related projects:

https://xyris.ca/press/

Long Description

Company Name

Xyris XR Design - Kenn Mayfield

Summary

In 2022 I participated in a conversation with hydrological and remediation ecology remediation scientists about the effect of available water in attracting fauna and encouraging them to stay. 

I’d learned, for example, if enough water could be permanently established in an otherwise dry environment, and flora made present, insects might be attracted to the site, with small predators following for the food supply. If enough small predators are living in this new ecology, apex predators might also become established. 

I propose researching science journals to collect a series of rules governing water models and its effect on local ecology, then adapting one of my virtual worlds, a multiplayer meadow/wetland, to create a working demonstration of the kind of simulation which would result in another useful service on SingularityNET marketplace.

Funding Amount

We request $5,000 USD in AGIX to research the concept and produce a working demo using a static demonstration dataset.

The Problem to be Solved

Climate patterns undergoing such dramatic changes may well charge us with the responsibility of becoming ‘citizen scientists’. With this ideation project, we would in a subsequent funding round create a service to simulate water table modelling in an immersive environment of a select location on Earth.

Our Solution

We have a ready-to-use multiplayer Unity high-definition render pipeline (HDRP) explorable meadow environment to use as the testbed for our idea. Unity HDRP offers the highest gaming-console render quality. To make this immersive environment accessible to many people we can deliver the interaction it via browser-based pixel streaming which does not require the user to have an expensive computer.

In terms of interactivity, we'd like to validate these inputs into a simplified water table-ecological model:

Example Inputs and Ouputs

We wish to ideate an explorable 3D model that simulates the effects of water table changes in a select meadow / wetlands location.

The simulation we wish to ideate will include changeable parameters and moveable objects that can be modified in-program to help stakeholders explore effects of changes while discussing and considering details of the remediation planning. We have enough of a detailed proposal to bring to Deep Funding Round 4's New Projects phase, should we be successful winning the community's support for our Round 3 ideation proposal.

Ideation Goals

For this ideation leading to a full R4 proposal, we will orient our effort towards these goals:

1. How to depict the geology and hydrology of the location.

2. How to portray the seasonal hydrological effects on the location.

3. How to depict and select species of apex predators and their prey species.

4. Validate whether a simulated riparian zone with desired apex predator(s) would be most engaging.

5. How to represent endemic flora of the location.

6. Validate proposed inputs based on available water and water retention of. the selected location.

7. Consider the presence of action of microbial life at the location.

8. Support voice and text chat collaboration within the simulated environment (already completed in the selected meadow environment).

    

Outcomes of the Ideation

Specific details to settle in our projects ideation phase:

1. Decide the land area of the simulated landscape.

2. Define the simulated apex species and behaviours.

3. Define desirable prey species and behaviourals.

4. Define the native flora and microscopic life.

5. Define an acceptable degree of real-time simulation for expected hydrological behaviour.

6. Define interactive controls which would affect available water, and therefore flora/fauna.

7. Define which season(s) to represent in the simulation.

Marketing Strategy

Since our environment is already multiplayer-ready, we will publicize the work by meeting in the virtual location, and recording video for promotion on social media.

Our Project Milestones and Cost Breakdown

1. Update the HD environment to the latest Unity version Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

2. Hold meetings with geology and hydrological scientists Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

3. Research literature Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

4. Build a static dataset Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

5. Complete immersive demo Time: 5 days Deliverable: compiled Windows-compatible binary of Unity meadow project. Cost: $1,000

Risk and Mitigation

There is little risk involved with the immersive environment as it already exists and is functional. The typical game development risks exist: updating assets, incompatible assets, performance and latency with the multiplayer aspect.

Remedies for these risks include: ensuring he authoring environment and assets are up to date, testing to find oversights in interactivity, ensuring textures and models are optimized for frame rate and responsiveness, and and ensuring the turnkey multiplayer services we are using have redundancy, are optimized to send & receive only required multiplayer instructions, and that ample server power is selected.

Identifying a pertinent dataset or document then converting it into a simplified form for real-time game engine use requires the conformed data have both accuracy and provenance. Therefore both an original public domain dataset and our simplified version will be made available for examination.

Our focus with this project is to work out a way to represent real-world ecological dynamics in a way that makes sense to citizen scientists and the public, while preserving enough accuracy to be reliable as a demonstration in a policy-making context. My previous experience working with scientists, the public stakeholders and policy makers is beneficial here.

In this ideation project, we can derive our static, simplified dataset from real-world data of a specific, similar location, and verify it with experienced professionals.

Follow-up Proposal 

If awarded this funding, our document will serve to guide our follow-up development proposal in the New Projects pool of Deep Funding Round 4 and its commensurate development of services to the SingularityNET marketplace.

Voluntary Revenue

We don’t expect to generate revenue at the ideation phase.

Open Source

We don’t expect to produce a service for this ideation round.

Our Team

Kenn Mayfield

XR Founder, #RubyRoom #hundo100 #CareerCon22 partner #NominatedLaval2022, #SingularityNet #DeepFunding, #AWE2023, #WiseGuys, #STEM, #Neurodivergent, #RebelMetaverse. #Diversity. #IStandWithUkraine #NAFO

Visionary designer and developer in the metaverse, using cutting-edge technology to create fully immersive environments that will revolutionize the way we learn, work and play. My decades of experience in concept design, graphic design, visualization, narrative, video production, sound design, photography and interactive development, help me bring to life a series of environments that will take the LOET, STEM education, cultural events, co-working, events, NFT/metaverse, trade shows, counseling, meditation, and small-scale concerts to a whole new level.

Related Links

Youtube: meadow environment

https://youtu.be/84z8jsqEOyo

https://youtu.be/OM0K_M5OFQI?si=GBijG_08GOuJp6NZ

Homepage with related projects:

https://xyris.ca/press/