Biotic Gaming

Biotic Games, blend actual biological elements and processes into digital gameplay. Typically featuring living micro-organisms, these games task players with manipulating bacterial behaviour using various stimuli such as electrical fields, chemicals, light, and so forth. These kinds of interactions are then translated into virtual characters and displayed on video gaming displays. Their accessible nature has made biotic games a favoured choice among diverse groups, including biology students, artists, and designers seeking to delve into the playful interactions between humans and the microbial world.

Many players are drawn to biotic games simply because of the novelty they offer. People are simply fascinated by the unusual aesthetics and peculiar appearances, such as those found in microbes. Further still, the fact that these organisms are alive adds another layer of fascination, demonstrating the concept of biophilia and our natural curiosity and attraction toward all living things. Finally, Internet-based biotic gaming would prove useful from a practical point of view. It would allow off-site gaming, whereby players are safely away from potentially harmful biological interactions.

More information:

https://medium.com/@rphlkim/playing-computer-games-with-bacteria-739b57488c66

Digital Puzzles Help Memory in Elderly

Scientists at the U.K.'s University of York found the memory of adults ages 60 and older who play digital puzzle games is as good as that of people in their 20s. The researchers tested various games parallel to a digital experiment requiring participants to memorize images while being distracted.

However, older people who only played strategy games were more likely to forget elements they memorized while being distracted, and young people were less able to concentrate when playing only puzzle games.

More information:

https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2023/research/digital-puzzle-games-good-for-memory-older-adults/

Virtual Discrimination

To assist with perspective-taking, MIT researchers have developed ‘On the Plane’, a virtual reality role-playing game (VR RPG) that simulates discrimination. In this case, the game portrays xenophobia directed against a Malaysian America woman, but the approach can be generalized. Situated on an airplane, players can take on the role of characters from different backgrounds, engaging in dialogue with others while making in-game choices to a series of prompts. In turn, players’ decisions control the outcome of a tense conversation between the characters about cultural differences.

The game encourages players to take on new roles that may be outside of their personal experiences in the first person, allowing them to confront in-group/out-group bias by incorporating new perspectives into their understanding of different cultures. This simulation also utilizes an interactive narrative engine that creates several options for responses to in-game interactions based on a model of how people are categorized socially. The goal is to harness the power of virtual reality and artificial intelligence to address social ills, such as discrimination and xenophobia

More information:

https://news.mit.edu/2023/simulating-discrimination-virtual-reality-0105