For this interactive project I wanted to look into an idea I first discovered reading "Fun Inc." by Thomas Chatfield.
A handful of technologically gifted practitioners are looking at ways of blending reality with the virtual in order to promote saving energy. On the surface this idea sounds incredibly dry, but as you begin to explore it further you will understand its appeal.
Professor Byron Reeves whishes to take the technology of Swiss entrepreneur Oliver Goh to create a real-time virtual model of your own home or office building which you would be able to control remotely through the Internet, and monitor energy usage of specific rooms or even appliances in order to try and reduce your energy costs. I want to explore Reeves' idea further by trying to implement such a concept into a game environment. Add a feature to create online streets with your friends, the ability to be rewarded with virtual prizes for being the lowest energy user in your group of friends, a levelling system, and you see the start of a community based competitive game.
Rewards for low energy scores at the end of the day could be upgrades for your virtual house such as a loft conversion or a more ornately designed roof. Such aesthetic rewards are proven popular with men and women in games such as pet central and FarmVille on Facebook.
Because the game is linked to your real world home the act of playing the game would effectively be improving your energy consumption and your way of thinking almost by osmosis. We have all felt the effect of a favourite game on our way of thinking even if it means you notice architecture more as a climbing wall after playing assassins creed! If this energy game could have the same positive effect on the way people think about energy it could even spark the younger generation such as children to start to understand why we should turn off the lights when we are not in a room, etc.
I hope that by further reading and research I can begin to forge a way that this game idea could become viable.
I'm all for games saving the world.
Save the world by saving energy
If you only had a set amount of energy you could use each day, what would you use it on? Would you choose a gaming session over a hot meal in the evening?
How would your day change, if you were more aware of your electricity usage in real time? I know that I would probably be shocked by how much I use.
Something I don't want this game/app to be is a guilty conscience, demoralising the user. I want this app to be a motivator for change, a form of osmosis whereby the user's energy habits change without too much cajoling.
ARG - Alternate Reality Games
I have stumbled upon a great video of Jane McGonigal talking about her 'world changing' AR simulation games.
http://gamification.org/wiki/Gaming_can_make_a_better_world
McGonigal talks about how using a crisis on an epic scale in the game, players are inspired to invent creative solutions to solve the global problem.
A game which covers the event of Oil Shortage in Northern America is of particular interest to me as the research carried out on its players showed that the habits they developed in game were transferred to reality and stuck with the gamers even after they stopped playing the game. This would be the ideal outcome of my game, a change in the way people think about electricity as a resource and how best to conserve unnecessary usage.
A handful of technologically gifted practitioners are looking at ways of blending reality with the virtual in order to promote saving energy. On the surface this idea sounds incredibly dry, but as you begin to explore it further you will understand its appeal.
Professor Byron Reeves whishes to take the technology of Swiss entrepreneur Oliver Goh to create a real-time virtual model of your own home or office building which you would be able to control remotely through the Internet, and monitor energy usage of specific rooms or even appliances in order to try and reduce your energy costs. I want to explore Reeves' idea further by trying to implement such a concept into a game environment. Add a feature to create online streets with your friends, the ability to be rewarded with virtual prizes for being the lowest energy user in your group of friends, a levelling system, and you see the start of a community based competitive game.
Rewards for low energy scores at the end of the day could be upgrades for your virtual house such as a loft conversion or a more ornately designed roof. Such aesthetic rewards are proven popular with men and women in games such as pet central and FarmVille on Facebook.
Because the game is linked to your real world home the act of playing the game would effectively be improving your energy consumption and your way of thinking almost by osmosis. We have all felt the effect of a favourite game on our way of thinking even if it means you notice architecture more as a climbing wall after playing assassins creed! If this energy game could have the same positive effect on the way people think about energy it could even spark the younger generation such as children to start to understand why we should turn off the lights when we are not in a room, etc.
I hope that by further reading and research I can begin to forge a way that this game idea could become viable.
I'm all for games saving the world.
Save the world by saving energy
If you only had a set amount of energy you could use each day, what would you use it on? Would you choose a gaming session over a hot meal in the evening?
How would your day change, if you were more aware of your electricity usage in real time? I know that I would probably be shocked by how much I use.
Something I don't want this game/app to be is a guilty conscience, demoralising the user. I want this app to be a motivator for change, a form of osmosis whereby the user's energy habits change without too much cajoling.
ARG - Alternate Reality Games
I have stumbled upon a great video of Jane McGonigal talking about her 'world changing' AR simulation games.
http://gamification.org/wiki/Gaming_can_make_a_better_world
McGonigal talks about how using a crisis on an epic scale in the game, players are inspired to invent creative solutions to solve the global problem.
A game which covers the event of Oil Shortage in Northern America is of particular interest to me as the research carried out on its players showed that the habits they developed in game were transferred to reality and stuck with the gamers even after they stopped playing the game. This would be the ideal outcome of my game, a change in the way people think about electricity as a resource and how best to conserve unnecessary usage.
No comments:
Post a Comment