BrainFood

Does poor food quality affect intelligence? The research project 4FatQs investigates how the decrease in food quality caused by climate change affects fish`s health, fitness, and cognitive performance. Our science communication project, BrainFood, aims at conveying the findings of 4FatQs to the public and helping a broad audience understand the scientific methods and approaches used to study this pressing ecological issue and its societal implications. We will develop a digital learning experience using a semi-immersive virtual platform that displays 360 images of three research settings of 4FatQs: the laboratory, our outdoor experimental channels, and the natural aquatic environment. Each of these settings will allow visitors of our platform to access various short stories which inform about key project results, our research work such as, e.g., using surveillance technologies to track fish, and other interesting facts about the links between climate change, food quality, and fish health. Short explanatory videos, animations, and texts will be supplemented by quizzes and interactive games. It is vital for us to co-develop our digital learning experience together with end-users to increase their interactions with the platform, enlarge the range of our project, and improve the scientific literacy of the people. Therefore, we will invite volunteers to test pilot stories, provide feedback on the platform`s structure, comprehensibility, and attractiveness, and suggest new topics to be included. We want to reach audiences in different environments, such as school classes, research festivals, or the museum Haus der Wildnis in Lunz/See. At these venues, we will offer the opportunity to explore our platform via touch screen and VR- googles. Importantly, our platform will also allow users to browse the stories online from various electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers. This will make the science experience accessible to a wide audience and allow interested visitors a deep dive into our work. We hope that BrainFood will enhance the understanding of how high-quality ecological research is performed, emphasizing its importance to society.