Engl. transl.: IdentifEye: Augmented Reality Game for online identities

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology where virtual objects are added to reality. AR applications have been used in many disciplines ranging from medicine, military, industry and marketing. In the field of education, several AR applications have been developed in the past decade but its wider use in this field is far from complete. The purpose of the current paper is to present the development of an educational game called IDentifEYE that teaches children how reflect on the way they share their personal data online from which their online identities emerge. The issue of online identities entails risks such as identity theft or exploitation of their personal data by others, but children seem to not consciously realize their exposure to them through the uncontrollable sharing of their personal data online. The design of the game will be comprised of different scenarios through which children are expected to answer questions derived from their current online experience. The current game is co-funded by the European Commission’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship and it is expected to be fully developed in mid-2012.

The IDentifEYE game will be fully developed in mid-2012 and it will be used to help children reflect on how to use their personal data online safely, while understanding the impact these data have on their online identities. As online identities seem to emerge from the data children are entering online, Augmented Reality was chosen as the most appropriate tool to be used for teaching as the blending of virtual life with reality is evident in such applications. Augmented Reality most importantly enables the connection between the child and its real- time representation on the PC screen to persist while augmentations representing fragments of online identities are added. In this way both identification and alienation are to be achieved. Alienation caused by the augmentations is essential to trigger reflection on internet mechanisms leading to online identities while identification resulting from the child seeing itself is to ensure the feeling that the players themselves are at stake in the game. The educational use of AR applications is estimated to be of high importance in the near future and despite the limitations technology still entails in these attempts, a new way of learning schools courses is evident. The lesson plan included in this game, can help bring teachers and student closer together and provide them with a better understanding of how we all build our online identities by means of technology and most of all by means of our decisions.