April 27th, 2015
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, an interesting article on the future of games:
Do you want an escape from everyday life, or a way to change your life? In the coming decades, gaming technology will make both choices possible in 3-D virtual reality to a degree unheard of today.
Anyone wishing to explore imaginary worlds 20 years from now will find the journey much more convincing and immersive than it is now. Indeed, for those born after 2015, full immersion in virtual worlds will be as frequent and matter-of-fact as checking Facebook is today. “Presence” will replace “social” as the thing 20-somethings expect from all technological experiences. Such activities may come to be considered not “escapist” but as authentic as everyday life.
Older generations will continue to debate whether virtual-reality gaming is empowering and socially connecting, or dangerously addictive and isolating. But lines between “play” and “reality” will continue to blur as virtual-reality and other types of digital games increasingly are designed to deliver real-world benefits—often in ways that are socially and economically disruptive. Consider these four types of potentially life-changing games, which I predict will become extremely popular during the next decade:
Games that hack your taste buds. If a game can change what you eat, it can help you make healthier food choices. Picture this: You’re eating tofu while immersed in a VR simulation in which you’re eating a thick, juicy steak. It tricks your brain into feeling like your carnivorous cravings are satisfied.
Games that create personal wealth. Imagine if every time you spent 99 cents on an extra life in the game “Candy Crush Saga,” the funds instead were deposited into your retirement account. No longer a guilty habit, your favorite games would fund your personal savings.
Games that offer college credit and replace internships. In the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, young people could learn important skills and contribute to research just by playing their favorite digital games. As they “level up” in these STEM games, they would unlock real-world credentials that advance their education and careers.
Games that treat mental-health issues. Doctors and therapists could prescribe casual videogames similar to “Angry Birds” or “Clash of Clans” as a first line of attack against depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
How far-fetched are these scenarios? Not very. In fact, versions of games that provide these benefits already exist. As the science-fiction author William Gibson famously said: “The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.”
Chocolate fudge
Here are a few of the precursors of this future:
• Researchers in the Netherlands recently tested an “inhibition training” computer game that rewires the brain’s positive associations with chocolate, making it easier for players to resist eating chocolate afterward. And experiments at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif., showed that people could be convinced they were eating different foods—a lime, for example, instead of an orange—with help from an Oculus Rift headset and 3-D images.
• Lottery games linked to securities and savings accounts have been introduced in which players are encouraged to save money with the incentive of possibly winning cash prizes. Save to Win is the best-known prize-linked savings account, or PLSA, which combines the concept of a lottery with certificates of deposit sold through credit unions. Players have a chance to win as much as $25,000 every time they make a $25 deposit in a one-year CD. PLSAs are already legal in seven states. New York is expected to become the eighth.
• The puzzle game “Eyewire” is turning its players into “citizen neuroscientists.” To date, 160,000 players have teamed up with scientists at Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to help map more than 100 neurons in the brain. Games like this, of which there are dozens, could become a kind of virtual scientific apprenticeship or an alternative pathway for college credit.
• The classic videogame “Tetris” has been shown in studies conducted at Oxford University to help prevent flashbacks and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder when played within several hours of witnessing a traumatic event. In addition, “SuperBetter,” a game I invented to help me heal from a mild traumatic brain injury, has just finished a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial and a randomized controlled study at the University of Pennsylvania. Results show the game significantly decreases depression and anxiety when played for 30 days—and hospital doctors are already prescribing it as a complement to traditional treatment for serious concussions.
Brain train
Another signal that we’re on the threshold of an age of games that are personally transforming: the fast-growing and controversial game-industry segment known as brain-training games. In 2013, consumers spent $1.3 billion on games and other products that promise to improve memory and cognition. Lumos Labs says its Lumosity.com game service, one of the leading providers of such games, has more than 70 million registered users.
Clearly there is a lot of interest in games that promise to help us achieve real change. Not everyone is convinced, however, by some of the claims made by companies in this sector. Last year more than 70 neuroscientists issued a statement arguing that scientific research suggests the current generation of brain-training games don’t live up to their promise. And in January, the Federal Trade Commission announced it would crack down on game companies that exaggerate or misrepresent the scientific basis for their claims of cognitive improvement.
As more games seek to change our everyday lives for the better, players will need stronger and more credible assurances that the positive impacts of these games are real. That’s why, in the next 20 years, increasing oversight from many directions is likely: from peer-reviewed scientific journals, from the FTC, from investigative journalists, and from player-advocacy groups that want gamers truly to get what they paid for—and what they played for.
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