A game designer's perspective on the future of happiness.

1. Alternate Realities a game designer’s perspective on the future of happiness Jane McGonigal, Ph.D. Institute for the Future

8. Technology moves faster than culture Culture moves faster than evolution Our cro-magnum brains and bodies are being made miserable by our advancing technologies and hybrid cultures

9. Symptoms manifest ( 2007 ): 1. Gamers have figured out something very important: Reality is broken .

10. “ We are witnessing what amounts to no less than a global mass exodus to virtual worlds and other online gaming environments.” – economist Edward Castranova An exodus of time (16+ hours/week) … of attention … of money ($1.5 B) … and of passion . In terms of perceived quality of life , is virtuality beating reality?

11. User Hours per Month

12. US $ Exchanged on Lindex (in Millions)

13. This exodus to virtual worlds and networked games is an extremely important signal – Not (as some think) that we will or should abandon reality , but rather a signal that we need to make our reality work better . We need an alternate reality … one that works more like a networked game . In terms of perceived quality of life , is virtuality beating reality? YES.

14. Symptoms manifest ( 2007 ): 1. Gamers have figured out something very important: Reality is broken . 2. To fix it, we need to make real life more like a game .

15. Symptoms manifest ( 2007 ): 1. Gamers have figured out something very important: Reality is broken . 2. To fix it, we need to make real life more like a game . 3. More specifically: to increase real happiness and improve global quality of life , the real world needs to work more like massively multiplayer online games, virtual worlds, and other super-collaborative playscapes.

16. Alternate Realities a game designer’s perspective on the future of happiness – and 10 ways to save the real world Jane McGonigal, Ph.D. Institute for the Future

17. ' Play will be to the 21st century what work was to the last 300 years of industrial society -- our dominant way of knowing, doing and creating value.' --Pat Kane, author of The Play Ethic

18. Alternate Reality Game designers are a new breed of hackers who are pioneering this play ethic . …. We are hacking everyday, real-life spaces, habits, and social institutions to be more like a networked game. Why? Because ARG designers believe games work better than reality .

25. Collective Intelligence - Pierre Levy, 1994 Cogito, ergo sum  Cogitamus, ergo sumus

27. The concept “alternate reality” comes from science fiction . “ a hybrid of Fantasy and Alternate History that alters this world's dynamics .”

28. In an AR, a game becomes an alternative framework for experiencing everyday life . “ An alternate reality is another way of experiencing existence .” - G. S. ELRICK, 1978

29. World Without Oil, 2007 alternate reality game ( www.worldwithoutoil.org )

34. Massively networked media constructs and confirms the alternate reality

37. When the game ends , the alternate reality continues . “ When they returned , they discovered that … their excursion had created a new alternate reality.” - G. A. EFFINGER, 1989

45. “ The opposite of play isn't work , it's depression. To play is to act out and be willful, exultant and committed -- as if one is assured of one's prospects.” -- Brian Sutton Smith, anthropologist

46. Attent , 2007 beta alternate reality enterprise software

51. Foresight  Insight: Leading-edge Alternate Realities currently provide the strongest evidence for what make us happy – and the best blueprint for how to engage and find meaning in the real-world.