Visit the AOS Building in This Video Game
December 4, 2023
“It feels familiar to anyone who’s visited the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences Building on West Dayton Street. The signage out front certainly looks the same.
But there are some tipoffs that we’re not in the real world. For one, a digitized Bucky Badger is standing by the door, waiting to speak to us. And to the right, cartoonish versions of the Sun Dogs — the AOS department’s faculty house band — are set up on a stage, jamming away on their instruments.
Welcome to the Roblox universe of AOS, created in the uber-popular gaming platform that’s been around since the early 2000s. Most people, including the 162 million plus kids and teenagers who play it, use Roblox to create original games, from first-person shooters to simulations and role-playing games. Tracey Holloway, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and the Jeff Rudd and Jeanne Bissell Professor of Energy Analysis and Policy, used it to recreate the AOS Building — and showcase some of her department’s faculty and research.”
Read the full College of Letters & Science article by Aaron Conklin, October 26, 2023