Copy of my contribution to the Vienna workshop on Climate Change

1. Serious Games and Climate Change
David Wortley FRSA
De Montfort University, Immersive Technology Strategies and
Imaginary
Introduction and Background
Serious Games is relatively recent concept which originated from the use
of video games technology for non-entertainment purposes. The serious
games application which is most credited for the coining of the phrase is
the game America’s Army which was originally commissioned by the
American Military as a tool for stimulating the recruitment of young
people into the US Army.
Americas Army Web Site
The logic behind the massive budget allocated to this project was that
video games are highly effective in engaging players and influencing
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2. attitudes and behaviours, especially amongst the target group. What
Americas Army achieved was to bring about the realisation that these
technologies could also be used effectively for training and simulation and
hence the term Serious Games was born.
The early Serious Games focused on areas where the cost-benefit ratio of
games methodologies was most easily justified and understood, namely in
areas of high training costs and/or risks and/or practicality. These tended to
be in the military, medical and corporate training areas.
Trusim’s Dying Dave Simulation
One of the pioneers of serious games technologies is UK based Trusim, the
serious games arm of the world’s largest independent video games
developer, Blitz Games. They brought their experience of developing
highly realistic animations linked to real-world data to be able to simulate a
range of medical conditions for Doctor and Paramedic training.
One of the major barriers to the use of these technologies for addressing
climate change issues was the high cost of games development which, in
the case of serious games, is amplified because of the need to use
experienced subject matter experts as part of the games development team.
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3. Successful entertainment games can use budgets that run into millions of
dollars and the production values are similar to those of Hollywood movies
and are therefore beyond the scope of application areas like climate and the
environment.
Serious Games for Climate and the Environment
The games industry in general has been a massive driver for technological
innovation as consumers demanded ever more realistic simulations and
more intuitive interfaces. The net result of these drivers is that there has
been a significant improvement in games development and presentation
tools across multiple technology platforms, including the latest generation
of mobile phones and tablets like the iPad where the size of the market
enables millions of games to be sold at very low prices. This has also
extended to browser based games, social network games and virtual world
applications which link real-world environmental data to 3D visualisations
in virtual world environments such as Second Life.
Daden’s Datascape Virtual Control Room showing environmental data
Some highly succesful consumer serious games have been development for
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4. climate change issues. Red Redemption, a UK based games developer,
created the Climate Challenge game in which players had to make
decisions on global investment in environmental technology. This game
has been played by over 1 million people since its launch. Its aim was to
develop a better understanding of climate change issues amongst the
general public leading, hopefully, to positive changes in citizen behaviour.
Floodsim Web Game by Playgen
Another example of a highly cost effective climate change game was
Floodsim developed by UK company Playgen who specialise in social
benefit serious games. The game was jointly funded with a modest budget
by the UK Govt and an Insurance Company and attracted 100,000 players
within 6 weeks of its launch.
Floodsim was a role playing game in which players made decisions on
Govt spending for flood prevention measures in different regions of the
UK based on information about economic value, population density and
different types of measures. The results of the player decisions are shown
as positive newspaper headlines or flooded cities. Apart from improving
awareness of the complexities of flood prevention, the game also collected
valuable information about the general public’s perception and views on
flood prevention.
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5. The Future of Serious Games for Climate and the Environment
With the tools currently available for games development across multiple
platforms, I foresee 3 major trends in serious games applications in the
area.
1. Links to personalised real-world data such as smart meters – there is
likely to be increased use of games methodologies to real-world data
from devices such as consumer smart meters to provide motivation
and incentive for better energy use.
2. Social network games using platforms like Facebook and MySpace
will build communities of interest and collaboration on climate
change issues
3. Mobile phone and tablets using GPS and wireless technologies will
inceasingly be used both for serious games around the climate and
the environment and for the collection of environmental data to use
in 3D visualisations of real-world environmental situations.
In conclusion, serious games are destined to play an increasing role in
influencing climate related attitudes and behaviours amongst the general
public as well as providing climate change professionals with better tools
for analysis and communication.
David Wortley FRSA
Immersive Technology Strategies
Research Fellow
De Montfort University
Email: david@davidwortley.com
Mobile: +447896659695
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