Jumping into Literature like Never Before

 People are always trying to create different ways on how to tell a story. Some ways are much more fun than others, resulting in more success. Books are normally the source in which a variety of interpretations are based upon like films, but now story telling may transcend even further, into video games.

Simon Meek and Scottish-based TernTV are creating games where reader's  may experience the story "inside out"(Crecente, 2011). The experience is more like a theatrical performance than a video game. The objective isn't to try and do what a novel does or replace it for that matter because isn't a book. It is to "expand the reach of the book."

Not too much could be said about the projects currently being worked on, but from what Meek has said, is a digital adaptation to a book. It is not a movie, because a movie doesn't allow the viewer to explore. Locations and objects have been created for the player to explore the story. A key component that separates these digital adaptations from normal video games is the player is not in control of the characters, but is an observer with the ability to discover elements from the actual novel. Players will also read some parts of the text when words are simply the best story tellers for the given situation, which may even encourage players to read the whole text or to read other novels by the author. According to Meek,"[They] place them in the world in which the story is set, and are using a combination of original art and games engine to create some truly stunning environments."

Freedom to navigate through the world of the story is what I think the game is mainly based on. The main story is there for you to watch but not touch because the outcome will end the same, but the player may navigate to the places whichever way he or she chooses going wherever appeals to them the most. 

The descriptions of the locations are very important. The player will hear the wind howling, see the objects described in the novel or when the player picks up a book in the game, the book can  not only be read but actually alludes or hints to the actual text of the novel. 

 Digital adaptations allow for the complete picture that helps fill the holes in the reader's imagination, but is not to be used as a crutch. The core idea in digital adaptations is not to rid the audience of a book, but to change the way the story is experienced, which is exactly what Meek wants to do, which is bring books and stories into a more modern audience.

Crecente, B. C. (2011, August 09). Reinvention of literature for gamers. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SFL2086-0-4692&artno=0000316407&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=video games&title=Reinvention of Literature for Gamers&res=N&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=N

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The Online Universe

This blog entry is not to inform of how games are shaping the world around us in ways that benefit entertainment needs, but a realization.

According to Michael Fitzgerald from the FAST COMPANY the magazine, gamers are closer than ever than having complete online interaction with the other players of different consoles. CCP, an Icelandic developer is releasing Dust 514 which will allow players from the online game Eve to play with players who have the expansion pack on the PlayStation 3. Of course a variety of aspects from the original PC game will change but the whole universe will be affected from both side of consoles whether it  be a PC player or PlayStation 3.

What did this make me think about (what does it make you think about?) and how does it relate to the rest of the blog?  The network of how people are connected is getting larger, and it doesn't look like it will stop until the gap is minuscule. Many are even afraid, asking themselves the question are we even actually connected or just filling a void? Games may make some become introverted for the sake of playing a game, but games,actually, can help more people connect in a less superficial way.

People who constantly have what to some may be frivolous conversations through social networking may eventually have trouble communicating, an idea that was presented to me through an opinion based article  in the New York Times. The problem is that people not only tend to feel lonely and therefore go and post for little to none of a reason, but then leave the discussion after a "like" or a few comments. With games, people can connect, fight a strategic oriented battle, and even chat in an ingame lobby or talk to your friends and family if they're playing right next to you.

My conclusion that I am trying to make is that games like a board game and other social activities brought and bring people together. Maybe, if and only if placed in the right direction with the right kind of games, video games will bring people closer together. Games needed are ones that can bring people closer, make people have conversations, bring up controversial thought. A game where everyone participates and enjoys.\

Fitzgerald, M. F. (2012, May). Gamers unite. FAST COMPANY, p. 42.

Turkle, S. (21 A). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

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Serious Games

The concept of serious games is very similar to that of gamification. Not that there is a specific definition of a serious game but the term has come to mean "games used for training, advertising, simulation, or education that are designed to run on personal computers or video game consoles" (p.3) Why could this be important to finally realizing gaming's full potential? The reason is for an initiative that began in 2002 called serious game initiative. As of 2007, the serious games market was about 20 million dollars. You can check out the website by clicking here.

In the journal from where I am receiving my current information, it says that most people are agree on a definition for a serious game which is, " Most agree on a core meaning that serious games are (digital) games used for purposes other than mere entertainment" (p.1). I am thinking about my question that I began with on this blog about games being used for ways besides solely entertainment and have realized for a some time now this is not a thought I had alone. Although other issues for thought do arise.

Many people question the positive effects of games. Granted, I personally must agree that not all games have positive effects, but with the game initiative it supports game designers to  create serious games. Also, some like Professor Zyda believe that entertainment has to come first and then the learning part underlying in the game. And then, there is the book Serious Games: Games that Educate, Train, and Inform  by David Michael and Sande Chen who give contrasting beliefs.

The initiative has conferences and several studies. What answers will be told and what games will be created for the learning or health experience are for the future to tell.

Susi, T., Johannesson, M., & Backlund, P. (2007). Serious games – an overview . Retrieved from http://www.autzones.com/din6000/textes/semaine12/SusiEtAl(2005).pdf

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Forecasting Innovation

Hello everyone. Last week I talked about Jane McGonigal's (who has become quite an inspiration) book. I also told you there were pretty cool games that were mentioned  in the book and which McGonigal helped in the making of. Here's an overview of some of the games. Please look into them, especially if you're already interested. The information that I am using is slightly from the book and also from the videos on McGonigal's website which I will re post. All of these games are called Forecasting games. They help create more or less realistic futures and documents the experiences. McGonigal explains it as the person is not role playing but is "real playing" because it is game where the player is given a situation, and the player not a fictional character must react to the environment.

SuperStruct 

As usual for these kinds of games, it takes place in the future. Players were asked to envision themselves in this future world realistically and then were given scenarios or superthreats. They would then choose one and write about it. The writing would go from stories to blogs and other people could then join in on an idea. Ideas and solutions would build to extraordinary lengths. Many were encouraged to even go on and create there own superthreats and create a community to solve a problem. 

Evoke

This game is one of my personal favorites. The game's story is in the style of a graphic novel. The novel sends you on a mission as if you were a part of an organization, and it becomes up to you to figure out ways on saving the world with certain issues one mission at a time. The game was put into action in many countries but one of the most used places were several parts of Africa. Many students found it to be engaging because many schools wanted a more collaborative and engaging way to learn and solve real world issues. Evoke was originally online, but for those who don't have access to internet let them not despair. The first pack of missions are being made into a real graphic novel.

World Without Oil (created by Ken Ecklund)

Imagine the world when an oil crisis hits. 1800 players did, and then they wrote about it. Not only through the game but with blogs, podcasts, and even some wrote comic book style stories. The game essentially is "a collaborative simulation of a global oil shortage." People, for 32 days, had to adapt to their way of living (Made up story but thinking realistically). The game changed some people's lives literally by making them think about their habits.

Now this is quite a broad, basic scope of the intense, serious detail that when on during these games and in the making of them. In my humble quest of searching for an answer to whether or not video games will help for other causes in the future, I am beginning to see an answer that is taking form.

Mcgonigal, J. (2010, December 25). Wordpress.com. Retrieved from http://janemcgonigal.com/ 

McGonigal, J. M. (2011). Reality is broken: Why game make us better and how they can change the worlds. Grand Haven, Michigan: Brilliance Audio.

Let's keep playing!

A Peak at a Broken Reality

Throughout this week, I have been listening to the audio recording of a book called Reality is Broken Why Games Make Us Better And How they Can Change The World written by Jane McGoniagal PhD, who is a world-renowned  alternate reality game designer and creator of several award winning games in more than 30 countries. She has made many interesting points on how playing games can help save the world. (Coincidentally, I just happened to see an interview of McGonigal in the CNN program The Next List as I began to write this blog entry).  McGonigal’s ideas are backed up by quite a bit of scientific evidence as she describes how games can lead us to a better future.
 One of the book’s initial stories talks about the Lydians who may have survived 18 years of famine with the help of games.  Lydians, led by their leader Herodotus, created the dice and would spend an entire day devoted to creating and playing games so as to ignore the pains of hunger.  McGonigal’s point is not that playing games made the Lydians survive, but that the bonding and collaboration skills that came with playing games helped the Lydians succeed with their struggle. This is told as an example of how games could help a civilization survive and prosper, and as the Lydians, we must look to games as the answer of many world problems.

Gaming has become an irremovable part of millions upon millions of people's lives. Some spend small amounts of time and others 40 hours a week. It is a mass exodus from reality because, according to McGonigal, people are beginning to find reality less interesting, and the excitement of playing games isn't in the real world. What is the solution? Eradicating games? Letting this game playing exodus continue? McGonigal envisions a better idea. How about taking a challenge in life and turning it into a game. Many gamers already spend hours collaborating in intense missions and hone in on their adaptive skills when playing games. Make a problem into a game and people will solve it. After all, gamers get addicted to a game because they want to learn about the problem or the objective of the game and become a master at solving it, which brings out the topic of the science behind video games.
 McGonigal is passionate about the emotional side of gaming, and explains scientific behaviors through her own investigations of  the game industry's experiments. She talks about why games deliver such a happy feeling and get gamers in a state of “flow,” a concept created by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (chick-SENT-me-hi).  According to Csikszentmihalyi, “the flow state is an optimal state of intrinsic motivation, where the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing. This is a feeling everyone has at times, characterized by a feeling of great absorption, engagement, fulfillment, and skill—and during which temporal concerns (time, food, ego-self, etc.) are typically ignored.”
Many game designers are hiring researchers in positive psychology, who study the science of happiness, to discover what makes humans happy so as to put those findings to work in a game. Brain scans also reveal strong emotion while playing a game.
 McGonigal shares an anecdote in the book. It reveals that games have always brought the state of flow in people even without high tech graphics and huge story lines. It also reveals that too much flow can end up to what is referred as flow burnout. Players who have mastered a game, for the most part, stop playing the game. The challenge is over! Game developers don't want players to burn out because they want life-long players. A lot of playing may also lead to gamers' regret (something that I personally along with many other players have experienced). It is the thought that you could have been doing something else instead of playing so many hours of your favorite games.  However, McGonigal continues to inspire gamers to continue playing games because they can indeed help
 Nobody enjoys failing in whatever we are trying to accomplish. I fail, you fail, professors fail, and that failing hurts. Then, why is it that people who play games and fail an average of 80 percent during playing time still enjoy playing? Surprise, surprise, gamers actually enjoy failing.  According to a study developed at M.I.N.D. Lab in Helsinki, Finland, positive emotional stimulation peaks when the player has failed. The book uses a game called Super Monkey Ball 2 as an example. When the player loses, the monkey goes flying into space. There are rules and reasons for these happenings. For example, if failing is fun, like seeing a monkey fly into space, then gamers may be fine with failing.  Another reason may be the fairness of the game.  A term coined as “justifiable optimism” is being happy playing a game because you know that the game is beatable. This includes that no matter how many times you die in the game, it is fun so long as the death is fair.   Failing in a game is also more fun when in a group of friends. McGonigal thinks that this failing actually creates a stronger skin metaphorically, of course, and make gamers more adept to handling failure by replacing it with justifiable optimism.
 Optimism is powerful and it fuels the reasons for games. McGonigal talks about Randolph Nesse’s theories of depression. Nesse believed that because so many people are depressed, the size of depression in the gene pool means that depression must be an evolutionary way to survive. He hypothesized that depression set in to make someone avoid a situation where the outcome wouldn’t end well. In today's society she, McGonigal, discusses how many are raised with the ideology that anyone can become "big" if they dream "big", many believe we can do anything we want. This thinking is created instead of focusing on the skills we do have and making them better.  Games help fill the void of being someone we dreamed to be.  Take the game Rock Band 2 for example, not many people become rock stars, but the game allows the player to become a rock star. This optimism filled with fantasy is an example of how games could help players feel better with themselves. Games have actually shown to improve mildly depressed patients better than other methods.
 The book goes on to talk about really cool topics like developers' secrets and how games can improve reality. McGonigal has 14 fixes to help reality that she learned from games (from games to real life) but I won’t go into more detail. They are focused on in the book. After the fourteen fixes be sure to watch the  TED talk video (her TED video was awarded 16th place out of 835 of most engaging talks as of 2010) from her website or go directly to her website. Links will be posted at the bottom.
“[#1 tackling unnecessary obstacles; #2 Activate extreme positive emotions; #3 do more satisfying work;
#4 Find or obtain better hope for success; #5 Strengthen social conductivity (like multiplayer games) by making things more meaningful by putting them in a bigger context; #6 Immerse yourself in epic scale; #7 Participate whole heartedly whenever we can (levels motivate us); #8 Seek meaningful rewards with better efforts; #9 Have more fun with strangers (Big crowd games/advice for a good life); # 10 Invent and adopt new happiness acts; # 11 Contribute to a sustainable economy ( social participation that saves lives and gives heroic feelings just like a game does); #12 Seek out more epic wins (with so much game time, people can plan and cooperate more) #13 Spend 10,000 hours collaborating (refers to forecast games  which will be discussed next week) #14 Have one long epic game where people can compound knowledge and ideas to solve problems  in one place or game encompassing the creation of work that really matters and where everyone has a role in the game.
 
McGonigal, J. M. (2011). Reality is broken: Why game make us better and how they can change the worlds. Grand Haven, Michigan: Brilliance Audio.  

McGonigal's website is http://janemcgonigal.com/ , and to go straight to the video, click video.Before this blog entry comes to an end, I want to inform you that several specific games discussed in the book that exemplify games working for a greater purpose. Those games will be blogged about next week so stay tune!
Let's keep playing!

War in a Sandbox

One of my first postings had to with some of the ways people have already begun to play with the idea that games can be used to solve real problems. In my personal views, I prefer violence in video games rather than outside of them, but war is real and probably will be for a long time. In war, like almost anything, there are problems for example with war there are soldiers who must be trained requiring ammunition, trainers, and most importantly, actual land to practice on. Space to train soldiers has become a big issue. Army Col. Anthony D. Krogh spoke to the American Forces Press Service saying, "We have a lot of soldiers coming home to stations here in the United Staes, and...we don't have enough terrain in many of those places to train those soldiers out on live ranges." Luckily, for them, there's a game for that.

The video game that is most widely used for its success especially when calculating the cost versus usage aspect is called Virtual Battlespace 2 created by the Bohemia Interactive Studio. One of the most realistic and detailed specific virtual world designed for war. A large number of people can play at once whether they play on land, sea, or air. Lifelike happenings take place. Intricate and complex buildings and places may be destroyed, and the weapons work as true to themselves as far as a video game can currently do that. Krogh talked about having one battalion in real space while the others go into the game which is now being referred to as "constructive simulation". In a game most people are are equal in combat, unless someone is of a higher level,  which may throw some skeptics off thinking that you may not run as fast in real life as you do in the game or other thoughts of the sort but the Army is coming up with a new system that tracks real world data of an individual that syncs into the virtual environment or world. If someone is only a marksman then in the virtual world tried to become a sharp shooting expert the percentage of shots hitting and killing someone would drop because that person has no experience in that area.The same goes for physical test. If the player doesn't have do that well in the PT test then the avatar will not run as fast as other players who have higher PT. According to Krogh, this has assisted players realize that they have to increase their PT because they are getting left behind. He said, "I would say within the next two years we’ll be able to put many of these capabilities in place."

But a realistic experience is not the only use this game has to offer. The best practice is where a person can see how, where, and why the mistakes were made, which is exactly what a module called after-action review (AAR) does. It "records every player action, bullet path, explosion and vehicle movement for a detailed examination of the training mission" said Krogh. It shows what needs work and in what areas does the certain individual need to focus on.

Krogh optimistically stated," Despite the progress the Army is just getting started."
Do you think that future simulation can get to the point where people once would have thought it to be science fiction? Where are these games going to take us? A big question would be, will people believe war to be a game? (A more humorous thought would be if countries had war through a video game)

Pellerin, P. C. Defense Department, (2011). Army warfighters go digital to hone skills . Retrieved from American Forces Information Service News Articles website: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SFL2086-0-4692&artno=0000314164&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Virtual Battle Space 2&title=Army Warfighters Go Digital to Hone Skills&res=N&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=N
Fun Fact: In video game lingo, a sandbox style game generally refers to a large (sometimes massive) open world, free to roam game.
Let's keep playing!

A Blogger's Reflection

 Now I wanted to add a short post to completely reflect on this blog, and not only on reflect on the questions the blog creates, but on the feelings of the blog itself.

 Starting with literal questions relating to the blog, how do you feel about the evidence that is provided for using games in other areas? Honestly, people have heard about games trying to be used for other purposes but are never given specific examples. To find those specific examples one must search vigorously to find them.  Of course this may be like saying why don’t people talk about a horrible movie that came out.  The next question that has made me think about this whole blog is how long these ideas like Foldit will or neurotherapy will last. It brings up the thought, have these examples of gamificated gold mines struck it rich, in the sense that it is helpful by social standards, by chance or will people continue to spread great ideas through video games? Well, what do you think?

 Guaranteed, researching this blog has made me have an inquisitive feeling about what can video games do to help in any circumstance. I’ve thought of precise surgery cutting with the use of game like technology to control the machinery (I have no idea if this exists or even if it can exist). What can you come up with?

 This blog has taken me some different places, and I must say this project has gone smoothly so far. Finding resources for driving simulations have been hard to find, but I have also discovered that many people have begun to ask questions on how video games will help us progress through our future. At this moment from what I have been writing, whether or not my essential question is positively or negatively answered, I do believe video games will be here stay and for the better not the worse.

Let's keep playing together

Research with Research

 Hello everyone, this week is going to be a somewhat different then the usual post. I want to not only take this post to recap so far on the findings from previous posts, but also introduce you to the research website that I am building. It will discuss some of the topics already talked about on this blog, but you'll find new material as well.
 The site is going to be what my teacher has described as, "A research paper for the twenty-first century," meaning the viewers go to the site and read, watch videos and listen to podcasts (if I find something interesting to do with it). The website is going to start off by giving background information on games, which will be neat because the content has not been posted on my blog. Topics that will arise are evolution of games, reaction to visual stimulation,  and something more familiar, gamification, that will be talked about more in-depth. To access my website please go to website. Currently though it is under management, and it will not be a site worth going to at least until Monday the 25. 

 Now, time to summarize my findings. If you are just starting to read the blog and you don't feel like reading everything that was made since February, then this is a great jump in point. For the rest, I hope it may create reflection upon this topic of video games. Remember my findings are all for the question "will video games serve other purposes besides entertainment?"
 I have read about medicine and games like neurotherapy for but not limited to ADHD (neurofeedbacker, 2007) and Foldit (look for writers at the bottom of the page, 2011). Foldit has made a video game out of building proteins and biofeedback has taken a approach that is more enjoyable by using games to train the patients, both resulting in more success.
 Anything that helps students learn is a wonderful tool, and according to James Paul Gee PhD in his book What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy, video games can be used to develop receptive learning minds inside the classroom and outside of it.
 A video game developed by Codemasters has shown that there is a driving simulation that is actually extensively detailed and precise. Armies are using game simulations for training like Virtual Battle Space 2, and have become quite popular especially because using a game gave the users the ability to analyze and see mistakes (Tim Cross, 2011).



One of things I found in all of these examples is that they all implement gamification. "Gamifiers try to capture that sense of engagement by providing rapid, continuous feedback, a clear sense of progression and goals that are challenging enough to maintain interest but no so hard as to put players off" (Tim Cross, 2011) So whichever game made that isn't solely for commercial use, must have certain characteristics in order to succeed. Understand though that just because there are success stories, it doesn't allow me to jump to the conclusion that yes, video games serve other purposes besides entertainment.

   

Game Playing Equals Brain Training

Did you ever think that video games may help people with stress or concentration rather than the games being the cause? Well that is exactly what is happening. I watched a video that tells the watcher that a program that was previously used for NASA pilots is now being used in the form of therapy used especially for people diagnosed with ADHD so as not to use medicine that may or may not cause side effects. This therapy is known as biofeedback but since the video is a bit older, today's term is known more specifically as neurotherapy. Children go through therapy and also get to enjoy it.

Research Scientist Dr. Alan Pope thought of using his program for keeping pilots alert for biofeedback using different brain waves. Flight simulations were replaced with video games to add entertainment and make it easier to train the brain with motivation. How does this game therapy train involuntarily functions? ADHD patients can train their brains to have the waves that are associated with focusing. Patients learn to increase their beta waves and decrease their theta waves. When a patient's waves aren't in tune, the therapy addresses those specific problems. So far, do you think children could perform this task easily without games or does it help that they are motivated to participate in the therapy because of the games?

This therapy works with the controller. The child's waves connect with the controller which sends out frequencies while the child plays the game. For example, when playing a racing game, the waves control the speed of the car. The car goes faster when the child actually uses the brain waves he or she needs, and the car goes slower when the child has waves that aren't wanted. This drilling makes the child have the power to change the involuntarily waves that do not allow for concentration. Have your previous thoughts changed about neurotherapy? Think about how people can use games to change what was thought to be uncontrollable. What other methods could this be used for?

Hopefully this may have interested you. If you would like to watch the video then please click here. Also if you are interested in neurotherapy then I have looked up a website to find a local center. Click on neurotherapy.

Let's keep playing

neurofeedbacker. (2007). Nasa video game training for adhd [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S26Kk-ueWjQ 

To play or to learn? Why not do both?

 This week's posting is about a book called What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee, who is distinguished in many areas including linguistics. He has taught courses  from psychology and linguistics to video games and education. Obviously, I will not go through each part the book, but give a summary of what it is about. If it inspires you in anyway, then by all means please read the book.

  Gee begins by telling the reader what he means when he says learning and literacy. He says students (from elementary school to college) when learning in the classroom are not truly reading because they do not understand the background of what they are reading truly is. He gives the simple example of the sentence: the guard dribbled down the court and passed the ball. If a student does not actually know what basketball is then how can he or she truly grasp the context of this sentence. The student has the ability to say what happened to the ball like was it dribbled or bounced, but the student will never actually visualize what the sentence was portraying nor will the student reflect on the topic and apply it elsewhere. Of course, this example is extremely simple in order to make one understand, but now put physics in place of basketball and you may get the bigger picture. I've recently discussed with some of my peers of how many college students have had trouble with college level reading due students' lack of reflecting over what they have read. Gee says students would be better engaged if they would build ideas on the topic before hand when they read a text book or even watch a movie. Do you think educators should stress more attention to making student's think about what is being studied or is it better how it is by simply teaching the material?

  By now you've probably said something along the lines of "what could this possibly have to do with video games?" Well if you have not, then congratulations. I on the other hand did while reading this book. But what James did was pretty interesting. He would talk about education or build up a point or theme he wanted to make. He then would relate it to video games and how good games can teach the certain points he was trying to make. Each chapter talks about a different way of thinking, mainly for educational purposes, and then ties it in with how video games can help teach that. If you have ever played a video game, think about it for a minute, and then ask yourself what you could have learned from that game or what kind of obstacles did it throw at you in which it forced you to truly think in order to leave the game victorious. In a way, couldn't this be similar to how someone has their view changed or how someone reflects because of a book or a movie?

  An example I will give about how the book fuses ideas for education and video games relates to the second chapter. The chapter made readers ponder questions about how our identities influence the way we learn. Identities,such as someone who is not intrinsically motivated, shape the way we choose to learn. If young students a get mind set that scientists take risks or that they never give up, it may change the way they study or pay attention in class. How does a video game teach having an identity? The game would be a role-playing game where one gets to choose the story, character, and choices made throughout the game. If you have ever played role playing game, haven't you made decisions based on what you think you're character should be? It's similar when applying this to real life saying students should make choices of how they will go about understanding a subject and teachers and professors should be the ones guiding them.

   There is a grand amount of ideas and principles in this book that are quite fascinating, but unfortunately I can not discuss every single one with you. Click on this website to see the Gee's 36 principles of learning to read more, and to read more about James Paul Gee click here. If you do read the book it does include even more ideas and more fundamentals to understanding education, and  bonds  them with video games well.

  I did also later discover that there is a second, more refined edition than the one I have been reading and looking through, but the main ideas should be the same.

Let's keep playing!


Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. (1st ed.). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

What do you do with an unpredictable protein structure?

You Foldit! Foldit, as in the science-based puzzle game. In my last post, I already talked a little bit about this phenomenal game. I decided to look into it with a more in-depth perspective. I found a scientific journal entry and dared to share my findings. Unfortunately, I must confess that I'm not well-informed with science term lingo, but the main points I want to make about Foldit are still intact.

First, let's recap on what this thing is. In the journal's words it describes Foldit as "a multiplayer online game that enlists players worldwide to solve difficult protein-structure prediction problems" (pg.1). Players have to use all sorts of things like three-dimensional problem solving skills to the use of teammate skills, but thankfully an understanding in molecular biology is not required. The game gives high scores, which depend on the low energy of the protein, and has different tools that allow players to create and predict protein models.

The journal talks about how there are many protein modeling problems that are cooperative to comparative modeling from the structures of homologous or similar proteins. The journal also says that, "To make use of homology modeling techniques in Foldit, we introduced a new capability called the Alignment Tool, which allows players to manually move alignments and thread their sequence onto the structures of known homologs" (pg.1). So, a similar protein is given and it is the players'jobs to find a new protein by making very tiny tweaks here and there, a term referred to by the journal as "tunneling".

The creators of Foldit held a competition in order "to determine whether human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed, [they] challenged Foldit players to build accurate models of M-PMV PR" (pg.3). The M-PMV PR is an AIDS causing monkey virus. For over a decade, even with several crystallized forms, researchers have been unable to solve the protein structure using several different methods, one of them being model replacement. After only three weeks, when the competition ended, the researchers looked at the top-scorers' models. Several solutions were actually good enough estimates that it allowed a rapid solution for the crystal structure. As the players progressed for a few days, they finally completed a final superior, polished structure.

The last paragraph in the journal sums up the purpose of Foldit ,which goes hand in hand with the blog. It shows the power of online games and how it uses human intuition and three-dimensional pattern-matching skills in order to find a solution to difficult scientific problems. Much attention has been given to game playing potential, but for serious scientific problems this may be the first example of how online gamers can help. Page three, the last page,  gives the final conclusion of the actual potential, "These results indicate the potential for integrating video games into the real-world scientific process: the ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."
Are you excited to know how games can be used for medical and scientific purposes, or do you think this will all blow over and Foldit was simply a unique but not very repeatable idea?
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Khatib, F., DeMaio, F., Cooper, S., Kazmireczyk, M., Gilski, M., Kryzwda, S., Zabranska, H.,Thompson, J., Popovic, Z., Jaskolski, M., Pichova, I., & Baker, D. (2011). Crystal structure of a monomeric retroviral protease solved by protein folding game players. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, 3. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/nsmb/

The Spectrum of Digital Reality

After reading an interesting article from The Economist, I know now that there are already several uses for video game technology.  To start off my research, I decided to investigate the topics that were discussed in the article more in depth, as well as other related material, and please remember to comment with your thoughts on issues that may be brought up.

The first video game tool mentioned in the article is one you may be familiar with.  It is a driving simulation developed by Code Masters, which can simulate real world cars and circuits in every detail.   Many drivers have already taken advantage of this simulation.  Only research will tell if this has helped drivers improve their skills.  How would you feel if you learn to drive with a video game?

Next on the list is implementing warfare games.  Video game warfare simulations like “Steel Beast” built by eSim games.  Another game “Virtual Battle space 2” has been experimented with training soldiers in countries like Canada, Britain, and Australia. The game was developed by Bohemian Interactive. The author talks about how this can be beneficial because, “If a commander wants his troops to practice infantry combat in the fog, he doesn’t have to wait for the weather to oblige; he can conjure it up on his computer” (p.10). Satellite images can generate virtual substitutes of real places allowing soldiers to rehearse missions and then later analyze the data. Does it make you feel uncomfortable to know how close real war has come to being just a game? If we continue using games for warfare training purposes, could we lose the severity of taking someone’s life?

                Business companies are also being pulled in. Instead of having a classroom setting students can learn to handle life like situations by playing a game.

                In my opinion though, the most innovative way on using games that I’ve heard of is a game called “Foldit”. Thanks to molecular biology we know that “proteins are complicated chemicals made of long chains of amino acids, the tiny chemical building blocks of life. Those chains can fold up in billions of different ways, and the process by which they arrive are poorly understood.”(p.11).These proteins can be misfolded and are implicated to neurological diseases. Computers can recognize a protein folded correctly, but it struggles when it actually has to find the protein.

A team from the University of Washington invented “Foldit”. It is a free online puzzle game that provides players with a task of finding a protein’s most energy efficient shape. The game with its 40, 000 users have made a serious contribution to biology. Seeing as how this game has helped scientists, do you think this avenue should be pursued?

What all this is, is turning what makes video games fun and applying those methods to other activities. This term is called “gamification”. "Gamifiers try to capture that sense of engagement by providing rapid, continuous feedback, a clear sense of progression and goals that are challenging enough to maintain interest but no so hard as to put players off"(pg.11). According to the magazine ther are many who are not convinced because too much gamification doesn't seem to differ in decent management. Well readers, what do you think? Also, be sure to check out the link provided. The video is The Economist interviewing the author, Tim Cross, about the article. The video talks about more video game topics, but if you would like to skip to the part that discusses what my blog is written on skip to 5 minutes and 25 seconds.
Tim Cross, T. C. (2011, December 10). All the world's a game. The Economist, 401(8763), 10-11.
Click here for the link. Enjoy!
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Will Video Games Serve Other Purposes Besides Entertainment?

 This a question that I have asked myself plenty of times. I respect the idea that everything evolves, which is coming from someone who sometimes wishes he had an older soul, and I am seeing that video games are becoming more and more in sync to the daily lives of people rather than a small group of kids playing on the weekend. In a way this question can be answered with a hesitant yes, and hesitant because people are not utilizing games on the massive scale of what it could actually become.

  I chose to write about this topic to share information and discuss how or even if video games will progress to areas either outside of entertainment or utilizing the entertainment part for a greater ambition. Even if you aren't into games, although if you love Temple Run or Angry Birds you're playing games, it is a wise decision to learn about subjects that are becoming quite popular. Since the gaming industry, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, is as of last year worth 56 billion dollars, which is twice the recorded music industry, I would say video games are something to take a peek at. 

  As a gamer when my time allows, this topic should be fun, and I hope that for any reader that it will be pleasing, engaging,and informative.
    Let's keep playing!