Fixelândia, as the project was dubbed, is a virtual aquarium deployed at the end of 2011 at Forum Sintra, a shopping mall on the outskirts of Lisbon. Guests to the center get to create and customize their own virtual pet fish, which are then ‘released’ into their new home at the mall

Yesterday, the project was distinguished with a Silver award in the ‘Special/Digital Format’ category in the 1st edition of Portugal’s ‘Prémios de Criatividade M&P’ (M&P Creativity Awards).

Below, the video of Fixelândia in action!

A brand new didactic venue in the heart of Rio, where interactive solutions serve as gateways for exploring electrical systems and their relationship with our day-to-day

Today, it is harder than ever to imagine life without electrical energy. Most of the things that make our lives so comfortable rely on it! Most of us however, probably don’t really understand how electricity works, how it’s produced and how it actually reaches our homes. Furthermore, today, it is crucial that we learn to use energy in more conscious and sustainable ways.

The upside to all this is that thanks to YDreams’ creative mix of technology and design, the whole electrical process can be explained in a fun, entertaining and hands-on manner (without losing touch with its more noble didactic purpose) at Rio de Janeiro’s Museu Light da Energia (Light Energy Museum).

Over the years YDreams has amassed extensive experience conceiving and developing solutions for science centers and museums that use technology to get the message across interactively, resulting in a fun and effective learning process for all involved. So for Rio’s Museu Light da Energia, YDreams deployed solutions such as projections, where to explore content, visitors simply touch the table, floor or wall surface, interactive puzzles that educate visitors on the dangers and risks of electricity if handling improperly, energy efficiency games, interactive kiosks for teaching people how to understand their electricity bill and gesture-based catalogs with important information about the various sources of electrical energy, its future possible uses and how it is transmitted.

In the past YDreams has applied its technology and design to similar projects in Portugal and Spain. In 2010 and 11, they rolled out the itinerant Família Blue theme park dedicated to teaching school children about energy efficiency, and earlier, in 2007, the jazzy EGF roadshow, which traveled throughout Portugal helped foster awareness and teach people about the waste management process.

Click HERE to view coverage of the museum inauguration by Rede Globo TV in Brasil!

Check out the video below, of young and old, having good fun interacting with our virtual aquarium at last month’s Lego World 2012:

We were excited to hear that on a March 6th visit to the Brazilian pavilion at CeBIT 2012, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sat down to try out the Alphabet Table, an augmented reality educational game, conceived and developed by YDreams for Positivo Informática, one of Brazil’s largest computer and educational technology manufacturers.

As you can see in the photo below, Dilma and Angela actually completed an activity using the didactic tool to better understand and experience what the innovative Alphabet table has to offer young learners.

The Educational Alphabet Table, which was also awarded a Gold in the Informatics category by IDEA/Brasil in August 2011, an organization endorsed by the Industrial Designers Society of America, works by combining colorful animations, video and sound to create an interactive environment. The table features a webcam, 32 inch LCD screen and Augmented Reality markers that represent characters in the story. The 2D markers are captured by the camera and transformed into real-time 3D images, which can be treated as “virtual marionettes” on an LCD screen. The educational game, which can be played by up to six students at a time, is ideal for promoting collaboration, exchanging knowledge, and teaching children and students with special needs their “ABC’s”.