Virtual Booth

WildTurn is an interactive biodiversity learning innovation designed to improve primary school pupils’ understanding and awareness of wildlife threats through technology-based learning. The project combines game-based learning, artificial intelligence, wearable motion control and hardware-software integration to create a more immersive learning experience. Players begin the game using AI-assisted gesture recognition before selecting a mystery animal card and transforming into one of three animals: a sea turtle, Malayan tiger or Asian elephant. Each chapter introduces different biodiversity threats, including plastic pollution, poaching and human-wildlife conflict. Players control the animal using a wearable system powered by an ESP32 and MPU6050, while Bluetooth HID sends movement commands wirelessly to the game. A TFT display provides additional game status and visual feedback. WildTurn was developed through research, game design, software and hardware development, AI integration, testing and evaluation. A test run involving 40 primary pupils aged 7–12 showed an increase in mean knowledge scores from 45.7% to 73.3%, while awareness and attitude scores improved from 2.71 to 3.25. WildTurn also supports SDG 14 and SDG 15 by promoting biodiversity conservation education through a reusable digital learning system.