Process Game: DOD CPI Missile Making Game

Here's a link to a serious (maybe) game regarding Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) in missile manufacturing, created by the Defence Acquisition University (DAU).

From their site: "Aliens are coming and only you can save the earth by employing Continuous Process Improvement in this game where building missiles is the number one priority!"

Some nice Flash content (chuckled at the WII era propaganda introduction) and approaches here to teaching people about CPI using a humorous story line.

Ross

Idea: Games that Change the World

Slightly left field, but thought provoking TED talk here by Jane McGonigal about using games to solve world problems. Her thesis is that games teach people heroic behaviour, and excellent team work skills.

She also points out the great amount of time people spend in these environments, and how they are an intensely motivating medium, due to the sense of being a better person in game, than outside. She also briefly details her peak oil simulation game, which intends to produce potential solutions to peak oil problems via gameplay.

I think her ideas have much merit. For the first time, we can create synthetic environments with the ability to model complex scenarios as gameplay, and thus apply the computational power of humans to major world problems, to explore solutions that are not obvious unless many skills are brought together, all with the pressure and productivity of competition that gameplay produces.

I think this approach could be applied to business process problems as well. Ironically, a lot of the worlds problems are related to business, especially in the area of resource usage and its links to the economy. Maybe an unexpected outcome of educating people about business processes via games, would be their improvement via the same gameplay. Food for thought.

Ross

Conference: GameDays 2010

Serious Games for Sports and Health
GameDays 2010

March 25/26 2010, TU Darmstadt, Germany

************************************************
Call for papers
************************************************

We invite you to participate in the GameDays 2010. The GameDays,
established in 2005 as annual "Science meets Business" event series,
aim to provide an information and cooperation platform bringing
together academia and industry and discussing latest trends,
challenges and potentials of serious games. Research papers, case
studies and demonstrations are invited that present novel scientific
results, best practice showcases, or improvements to existing
technology, methods, concepts and approaches in the multidisciplinary
field of serious games, applied in a broad spectrum of application
domains.


Suggested research topics include, but are not limited to:

- Theory: Scientific models, methods and concepts for game-based
prevention and rehabilitation
- Game Design: Sustainable concepts and methods for cooperative and
competitive application scenarios
- Technology: Interfaces, Sensors, Authoring Tools, Information and
Communication, AI
- Business: Sustainable Business Models and Market Studies
- Practice: Field Reports and Evaluation Studies, Demonstrations,
Commercial Games and Research Prototypes

************************************************
Important Dates (Deadline Extended)
************************************************

February 1st, 2010: Submission Deadline
- Full papers: 8 - 12 pages
- Short and demonstration papers: 4 - 6 pages

February 10th, 2010: Notification of Acceptance
- February 28th, 2010: Camera Ready Version
- March 25-26th, 2010: GameDays 2010

************************************************
Paper Submission
************************************************

All submissions should use the format of the International Journal of
Computer Science in Sport (IJCSS template: available at
http://www.iacss.org/index.php?id=39). Please submit your papers via
email to GameDays2010@kom.tu-darmstadt.de

Template File:
http://www.iacss.org/uploads/media/ijcss_template.doc

Paper submissions will be accepted via email only and should be both
in Word and Adobe pdf format. All papers will be reviewed by the
scientific committee. Accepted papers will be published as a Special
Issue "Serious Games for Sports and Health" in the International
Journal of Computer Science in Sport.

************************************************
Contact
************************************************

GameDays2010@kom.tu-darmstadt.de

Prof. Dr. Josef Wiemeyer
TU Darmstadt, Institute for Sport Science
Phone +49 (0) 6151 16-2861

Dr. Stefan Göbel
TU Darmstadt, Multimedia Communications
Lab – KOM, Serious Gaming
Phone +49 (0) 6151 16-6149

Further information (e.g., registration, program and conference venue)
is available at the GameDays website:
http://www.innogames-forum.de/gamedays
****************************************************

Ten Billion Reasons for Serious Research Funding

Found a blog entry here that is predicting a ten billion dollar industry for Serious Games.

This number will start to rival the size of the games industry as a whole, which is $11.7 billion as of 2008.

Would be good if the prediction comes true. I might finally get some substantial funding for my BPM research in this area. :-)

Ross

Farsighted UK Minister

Came across this article where Civil Service Minister Tom Watson has stated that serious games could play a "substantial role" in overcoming a UK recession expected to last throughout 2009.

"The government's constant aim is to improve delivery of public services, but the economic downturn means that right now, we have pretty much no margin for error," Watson said at a recent serious games conference in the UK. "Delivering more for less has never been so important, at least not in my lifetime, and serious games can play a substantial role in helping do that at a time when public services will be more and more in demand."

Have had similar discussions with people in government in Qld and the rest of Australia about using such gaming systems for public service delivery. Good to see high level government support for the idea in the UK. In addition, he sees this as a great money spinner for their Computer Game Industry.

So, I think it is about time to do this in Australia...

Ross