Can Online Games Stimulate Social Innovation? - Justmeans

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Can Online Games Stimulate Social Innovation? - Justmeans Mar 16th 2012, 09:19 Companies and not-for-profits have noticed the social innovation potential that could be harnessed from online games. In total, we spend three billion hours each week playing games; many universities are conducting research into this area and are finding that gaming improves creativity, decision-making and perception. President Obama is on to this—he has appointed a games adviser at the White House. Mr. Obama held a meeting last year with key organisations like the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, NASA, and the army to discuss the potential for games to address national problems. There is evidence of games that have influenced people's behaviour; those who played action-based video and computer games made decisions 25% faster than others without sacrificing accuracy, according to one study. Other researchers found the most adept gamers can make choices and act on them up to six times a second—four times faster than most people. There are many organisations dedicated to supporting development of "social impact games." In 2011 'Foldit' gamers successfully worked out the structure of a protein that helps viruses like HIV multiply. Take Action Games' "Darfur is Dying" has been played over four million times and led to 50,000 people taking social innovation action, either by donating or writing to their politicians about the crisis. For scientists, the industry unintentionally launched a mass experiment in the neurobiology of learning. So, before we endorse online games as the answer to our global problems, we need to appreciate that this is still a young industry where we need more analysis to understand the real influences created by the thousands of social innovation games available today, to see if they are indeed reaching new audiences, beyond those already interested in social issues. Plus, we need a better understanding about gaming before it is introduced into our educational systems to support learning on complex issues, or to encourage and enhance cooperation, and problem solving. Some experts believe gaming could be a powerful tool for schools to get children engaged with the complex social issues that the planet faces. However, will children or students outside the sustainable development community want to play these types of social innovation games? Can these types of social good games compete with the mechanics of some of the more popular, mainstream games? Analysing game play would show us how people become experts in an online world and to understand how new knowledge and experience can become second nature, integrated into the way we react to the world around us. So, while we wait for the answers, the biggest positive social innovation impact that the world of gaming could offer is if Zynga, makers of "Cityville,", "Farmville," and "Words with Friends" gave players the opportunity to explore more eco-friendly behaviours in their games, where sustainable farming activities could be mixed into Farmville, gain offline rewards such as seeds to let players use their experience in real life. Photo Credit: From the Take Action Website - Dafur is Dying This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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