Bus Roots VRV

Bus Roots VRV (Virtual Reality Vehicle) is an eco mobile vehicle that uses the food truck model to “deliver” knowledge and ideas directly to communities as a means to adapt to climate change and find alternative and sustainable solutions to water and healthy food access.

As coastal cities like New York and other communities around the world experience what was once considered unimaginable weather patterns and after effects (e.g. severe flooding) caused by climate change, access to water and fresh food can become precarious.

The roofs of moving vehicles have a wonderful empty roof surface waiting to be reimagined. Improved access to imaginative solutions such as the Bus Roots VRV could equip our cities to better exchange ideas accelerating the change and modifications needed to thrive in these new climate with local ideas for sustainable solutions.

The Bus Roots VRV will demonstrate a unique solution to climate change. Building on my body of work in green mobile infrastructure I plan to power the vehicle with biodiesel and solar panels. A rooftop garden on the Bus Roots VRV will collect rainwater and temporarily green the urban environments it visits. 

Visitors will leave Bus Roots VRV with greater knowledge of climate change, virtual reality, familiarity with VR tools, and a pocketful of ideas for incorporating user centric design and storytelling to future proof their communities.

Bus Roots VRV will be a beacon traveling to libraries, museums, street fairs and music festivals, inspiring visitors by showcasing a series of VR presentations around social change and sustainability in urban environments. 

It will encourage artists, scientists, educators, journalists and activists to engage with their neighborhood and to think critically by collaborating on new solutions they can apply in their work to make an impact.

As Bus Roots VRV travels, it will collect stories, information and sustainable solutions for climate adaptation allowing for the exchange of ideas between different communities that would not usually talk or collaborate with each other.

Measure the traffic on our site, social media and the emails collected on our physical visits. We are launching in conjunction with the NYC MediaLab Summit and the Future of Storytelling Summit in NYC in October. - To test and drive a Bus Roots VRV pilot project in NYC by October

Develop a plan in Spanish that could be used in other Spanish speaking communities. Spanish being the second most spoken language in the world. - To test and drive a Bus Roots VRV pilot in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Test out prototype of the Bus Roots VRV in one of the countries affected by Climate change that get assistance from Red Cross/ Red Crescent Climate Centre. - To design a prototype that is ready to be deployed in collaboration with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre

It will demonstrate information relating to climate change and provide access to a virtual reality lab. VR equipment is still expensive and intimidating, however, it is very effective in helping us to quickly understand, retain and communicate complex information.

Bus Roots VRV will be a beacon traveling to libraries, museums, street fairs and music festivals inspiring visitors by showcasing a series of VR presentations around social change and sustainability in urban environments. Anyone with an idea will be encouraged to imagine a prosperous and sustainable future and will be invited to plant their seeds of innovation in their communities.

We are particularly interested in working with urban multicultural and economically-diverse communities in the New York City area, one of the most diverse cities in the US. We have secured partnerships/interest with different organizations like Museums, Libraries, Universities that helped us make this project completely human centered. 

As Bus Roots VRV travels, it will collect stories, information and sustainable solutions for climate adaptation allowing for the exchange of ideas between different communities that would not usually talk or collaborate with each other and broaden their tool kit, sparking innovative reporting, partnerships and advocacy.

We are hoping this project can be adopted and adapted by communities around the world based on their own experience and objectives.  We are looking to share our findings through a website and work with the team behind Climate Change Emoji (link) to make an impact on social media and use the best marketing strategy: word of mouth. 

The project was part of the newly funded NYC VR/AR Lab and it will be housed within NYU at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

We are partnered as well with the Interactive Digital Environments Alliance (IDEA), a nonprofit promoting, developing, and maintaining a vibrant new Arts and Technology District alongside the City of New Rochelle’s Downtown Business Improvement District (BID). IDEA encourages innovation, collaboration, research, open data and social responsibility in the fields of immersive media, artificial intelligence, digital storytelling and performance. (Please see following question for more information regarding this special partnership.) 

The main reason limiting the ability for this project to succeed is the lack of financial fluidity for the team to keep iterating. 

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As a former director of the MediaLab at the Met Museum, and director of Visitor Experience at the Queens Museum and with work as an artist I understand different professional circles and find their connections rather than their divisions. This understanding has allowed me to work with the most unlikely players within my field to create work I'm very proud of and has been featured on renowned publications such as the NY Times. 

I'm looking forward to listening to the mentors at Solve and making them proud of the resources and insight they can give me.  

IDEA New Rochelle

Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Center

NYC MediaLab

U-Haul

Brown Institute for Media Innovation

Quotidian Ventures

C&G Partners

Anyone doing greenwashing work.