Warcraft, Portal and the scientific habit of mind

Tomas has written a new article on the Wellcome Trust blog looking at the scientific habit of mind and how games like Warcraft and Portal can help with this:

I believe that the scientific habit of can be widely found within gaming. All video games present the player with a virtual space to be explored. The laws of nature within that space start as a mystery to the player and they must engage in a series of trial-and-error experiments to probe and understand that world and gradually build up a predictive model of how this virtual world operates and how the player can thrive within. This ‘gameplay’ is akin to the scientific method. In Portal 2, for example, the player finds themselves in a room and must solve its puzzles in order to exit. Puzzles take the form of an increasingly complex series of switches, lasers, locks, springs and fluids. To assist the player in solving each puzzle, they are equipped with a ‘portal gun’ – a device that fires two connected portals that allow objects, lasers, people and more to pass between two points.

Full article. (Past articles for Wellcome include one on the game 'Deus Ex:Human Revolution')

Strange Seeds: The Ethics of Artificial Sperm and Eggs

Auroch Digital's Tomas Rawlings is going to be facilitating this event:

What will happen if scientists succeed in their attempts to create artificial sperm and eggs? Could anyone become a parent, regardless of age, gender or sexuality? Would this make reproduction truly ‘democratic’? This raises interesting ethical questions. What if the safety of artificial sperm and eggs could only be established by trials in humans? Access to IVF is currently limited, but is society ready to allow ‘IVF for all’?

In Vitro is a 20-minute film that explores these questions through the story of Rachel. She’s a high-flying scientist who fertilises her own egg with artificial sperm created from her bone marrow. Compelling and provocative, the film shows a world where using artificial sperm and eggs to conceive is as routine as IVF.

Stay on after the screening as scientist Robert Lovell-Badge and ethicist Anna Smajdor take on the issues raised by the film and discuss whether artificial eggs and sperm are likely to play a part in our future.

If you're interested in attending, the event is at the Dana Centre in London on 13th October at 7pm.

Deus Ex: Medical Revolution

Tomas has an article over on the Wellcome Trust's blog on the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution:

If, like me, you’re a gamer then you probably already know of the release of the hugely anticipated action game ‘Deus Ex: Human Revolution‘. If you’re not quite so geeky then let me introduce it – the game is a prequel to one of the most highly rated video games of all time, ‘Deus Ex’. Both games are a fusion of concepts; the cyberpunk ideas of William Gibson’s Neuromancer; age-old conspiracy theories; global pandemics; dystopia futures; and the upheaval of rapid technology development.

The original game received huge praise for the depth of its narrative and the excellent game that allowed players to solve problems and puzzles by means other than combat, such as stealth or dialogue. This game also featured a number of overarching biomedical themes, including a deadly virus called ‘Gray Death’ that had ravished the human population and the shortage of the vaccine that fights it.

Crucial to both the gameplay and story of Deus Ex was the idea of nanotechnologically-augmented human beings. The exploration of transhumanism and augmenting the human body far beyond our genetic heritage – with its technological ‘hows’ and the ethical ‘whys’ – are also critical elements of the current game. ...

Read the full article here.

Develop Panel Post on Wellcome's Blog

Tomas has written a follow-up post about the Develop Conference event for Wellcome's blog:

Our panel brought together an eclectic group of people representing different facets of gaming. We had the outgoing Channel 4 Commissioning Editor for Education and founder of Makielab, Alice Taylor, Demis Hassabis, games developer and neuroscientist (and Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow), Phil Stuart of Preloaded and industry veteren Jez Harris.

We looked at how games can talk about the bigger questions, morality and mortality. Preloaded gave us a preview of their new game The End, which looks at the biggest question of all: death. The panel also explored the issues around how the brain deals with the new technologies of games and gaming and what impact it might be having on development (though we reached no clear consensus on this).

Also discussed was how best to design games that are more than just fun – that impart knowledge and question assumptions. The consensus was that this is already being done with many games, but fun must still be the driving force! Games are a good way to talk with an audience about such topics, in part because they are interactive and so give the player an opportunity to explore.

Wellcome Trust Panel a Success!

A big thanks to our panellists and all who took part in the Develop 2001 panel discussion and who helped to make the event a great success.  Here is a description of the event from Tomas's blog:

Then was the session I was part of for the Wellcome Trust.  I’d say it was the most eclectic line-up at Develop this year from a neuroscientist (Demis Hassabis) to a new start-up doing 3D printing (Alice Taylor) to mainstream games development (from Jez Harris).  I think it went well, at least the panel did a great job of talking about serious stuff like fun, death, sex and drugs. Paul Canty from Preloaded showed off their fascinating new game for Channel 4, that looks at death; The End.  Demis also gave us some great insight from a scientific perspective on games development saying that games (and digital media) are rewiring our brains in some ways and that the data that can now be gathered from games and gaming can offer insights into not only how to make better (scarier!) games, but also into how our brains work.  Notes on the Wellcome Trust’s funding for making games is here.

It was also independently reviewed by another blogger (our emphasis):

Next stop was a business seminar (I tried to mix up the tracks I attended) entitled “Money for Good Games”. With the support of the Wellcome Trust (a charitable organisation who offer to fund the development of games with a biomedical theme), an impressive panel chaired by Tom Rawlings comprised of Alice Taylor, Dr Demis Hassabis, Jez Harris and Paul Canty discussed the use of games in the wider world in such fields as education, medicine, mental health and death. However, let’s not forget about the aspect of fun in video games. Indeed, Alice Taylor was keen to emphasise the importance of fun in educational games and beyond, saying: “If you’re bored, you’re not learning”, as well positing that Facebook games such as Farmville were “training wheels for real games”, these often causing players to seek out other, more meaty video game fare in the future. It was also interesting to find out that, according to research, 52% of players think of moral and ethical questions during play… so perhaps people really do care when they’re hurling their villagers to their deaths in Black & White (one of Demis’s past projects). Additionally, some research done for the BBC in 2005 allegedly revealed an almost 50/50 gender split in gaming, the latter statistic arguably quite contrary to the usual assumption of all gamers being male.

Develop Panel for The Wellcome Trust

We're helping to put together an amazing panel of people to talk about games at this year's Develop Conference. Here is a summary of the information:

The Develop Conference is the UK’s main event for games development. This year, the Wellcome Trust is hosting a panel discussion that brings together fascinating voices from in and around industry. There’s also the chance for games developers to find out more about how to get funding for projects around a biomedical theme.

The event looks at the impact of games beyond the console and runs on Wednesday 20th July (11am-12pm). On the panel we have the outgoing Channel 4 Commissioning Editor for Education and founder of Makielab, Alice Taylor, along with Demis Hassabis, a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow who, before becoming a neuroscientist, made a splash in the games industry with games like the BAFTA-nominated Republic: The Revolution. Joining them are Phil Stuart of the multi-award winning Preloaded, and Jez Harris, an industry veteran whose works include Buzz! and the Harry Potter games. The panel is chaired by myself, Tomas Rawlings, games consultant for the Wellcome Trust.

After the discussion, a number of Wellcome Trust staff will be around to chat with developers about how they may be able to access Trust funding to create games. We have a number of schemes for funding games with a biomedical theme (please note the Trust’s engagement around biomedical sciences is predominately aimed at UK audiences).

Our Broadcast Development Awards offer up to £10,000 to a developer with an unsigned project idea, allowing them to develop it up to a state at which a publisher may fund the full title.

We also offer funds to create complete games too: the People Awards scheme offers up to £30,000 to small development studios to explore an aspect of biomedicine in an interactive or game form – particularly if the studio partners with a scientist or science institution.

Another option is the Society Awards, which offer grants of more than £30,000 for developers, again especially if partnered with a scientist or science institution. This is intended for those who wish to explore and engage society at large with an issue in biomedical science.

Funded projects for any of these schemes can take the form of virtual engagement such as via social games, websites, mobiles technology, casual games, ARGs (Augmented Reality Games) and the like, or be based around a physical location.

So for any developers at the conference, do come along to the session on Wednesday 20th July to find out more and talk to us. We may be able to work together to create great games that can inform, educate and engage.

Filth Fair on Guardian Games Blog

The Filth Fair gets a nice mention on the Guardian's Games Blog:

Dirty games

The Wellcome Foundation has commissioned an iOS and online browser game named Filth Fair to coincide with its Dirt season, which runs until August 31. Players must track down a series of words associated with dirt and disease, using cryptic clues to guess at the missing letters. Think of it as dirty hangman. No wait, don't think of that.

It's quite compelling, especially as, when you guess a word correctly you get a link to a relevant web article so you get to learn lots of interesting things about squalor and hygiene through the ages.

Wellcome Trust Profile of Filth Fair

There is a long blog post written by Tomas on the Wellcome Trust blog:

Making a game about dirt was never going to be the easiest topic. As a concept it is both broad and narrow. A game about throwing mud around, for example, would be fun but would miss the many facets to the subject that the Dirt exhibition had to it. Many ideas looked around the contrast between being clean and dirty and the conflict we often perceive there. We liked these but were looking for something that we also felt had a very broad appeal ­­– we all have a relationship with dirt, after all.

We wanted to create game that everyone could explore at their own level, and looked long and hard to find the right people with the right approach. What emerged from this process is a puzzle/trivia word game developed by Guildford-based developers Toytek. They had already received a degree of acclaim for their work on The Ultimate Alphabet app, so we took the core idea for this game and made it, well, dirtier.

All About the Filth Fair

Filth Fair is a great little word puzzle game that we've been producing for the Wellcome Trust to tie in with their 

Dirt season

.  It's been developed by 

Toytek

.  The game is for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and the Web (as a Flash game).  Here's a screenshot from the game:

The best way to see the game is to play it!

Filth Fair Web Version

There is also a Facebook fan-page here, http://on.fb.me/filthfair. The aim of the game is to find and uncover 331 hidden words from within a huge (and real, not digital) detailed and amazing painting by cult artist Mike Wilks.   Here is a preview trailer for the game:

http://www.toytek.co.uk The Filth Fair was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust as part of their Dirt Season. Running from March to September 2011, the Dirt Season will feature events at special dirty locations including the Eden Project, Glasgow, Glastonbury and other summer festivals as well as a major exhibition 'Dirt: The filthy reality of everyday life' at Wellcome Collection.

And some fun blurb written for the game:

Roll Up! Roll Up! The Filth Fair is Coming to Town!

For many months now Wellcome and Toytek have been building an experience that explores the issue of 'Dirt'. Yes, Dirt!  As part of the upcoming season by the Wellcome Trust, a veritable cornucopia of delights especially prepared for your delectation and amusement (and disgust!) is currently under construction.  Once completed in March this year, the Filth Fair game will be unleashed to infect the delicate sensitivities of gentle-folk.  This game takes the form of an “eye Pad”, “eye Phone” or “eye Pod Touch” iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and alsotelegraphonic web game of hidden words and meanings. Central to this gaming experience is a huge painting by Mike Wilks, a noted and famous artist for his 1886 1986 bestselling book ‘The Ultimate Alphabet’.  This game has over 300 hidden words buried in objects.  The player's task is to find and identify all the words. It can be done via cryptic clues, descriptive clues or word-substitution.  Prizes and awards, not to mention acclaim, awaits those who can identify all of the objects within the Filth Fair.  Entrance to the Filth Fair will be free!  Visitors are advised to bring an active curiosity and a strong stomach.

Also of interest to the many visitors is the display of craftsmanship that has gone into the creation of the Filth Fair.  The central painting is not some digital-virtual hocus-pocus – oh no!  The central painting is a real painting, painted by a real painter!  Oh yes, this marvel has been rendered using non-digital paint on a non-virtual canvas in a real London studio.  Be ready to marvel at the “real made digital” before your very eyes!

Those curious to see the many sights and puzzles of the Filth Fair and those wishing to compose strong disapproving letters to their local newspaper about it's imminent arrival are advised to follow the Wellcome “Twitter” musings http://twitter.com/wellcometrust and/or to sign up to the “Face Book” page;http://on.fb.me/filthfair

Previews We had previews in Gamezebo, Pocket Gamer, 9cheats.com, ursegames.com, Touchaholics and Metro:

Filth Fair in Metro

Making of Filth Fair Video We also produced a short film about the creative process going from a physical paintning by Mike Wilks to a digital game. This was featured by Pocket Gamer, Design Week and on the Wellcome Collection site.  Here is the video:

Post-launch

Once the game came out, a few rejections by Apple over content while getting passed became news about the app (and also here too).  We also got reviews at Gamezebo and on 148apps.  We got a great 9/10 review on the blog NiveOverTen. There is also a big article about the game at the Wellcome blog, looking at how the idea came to be:

We wanted to create game that everyone could explore at their own level, and looked long and hard to find the right people with the right approach. What emerged from this process is a puzzle/trivia word game developed by Guildford-based developers Toytek. They had already received a degree of acclaim for their work on The Ultimate Alphabet app, so we took the core idea for this game and made it, well, dirtier.

The final result is an amazing central image, which comes from a real painting by cult artist Mike Wilks. The richness of the image meant that we could place objects in the image that were also in the exhibition, so linking the two experiences. Mike took ideas and objects from the Wellcome Library (including objects that are in the Dirt exhibition) and worked them into a collage of themes and colours. Being able to make these part of a game is especially nice because much of the content we consume nowadays is created and delivered in the digital realm.

Straight after launch the game went to No.1 in the US iTunes Store for Education and Trivia.  In the UK it was 24 and 13 for the same categories.  It got a great write up in Design Week:

It’s a captivating image that you could pore over for hours, even without the competitive element, and a great way to get people engaged with the exhibition’s theme and objects

Filth Fair Announced!

We're really pleased to be able to go public with the news that the Filth Fair is coming!

This is the game we've been producing for the Wellcome Trust:

Filth Fair gets ready to dirty up the App Store this March

Updated Feb 9, 2011, 10:15am

Nobody likes filth. It’s dirty, icky, and often downright disgusting. But the folks at Wellcome Trust? They’re celebrating it. Starting in March, the Wellcome Trust will spend more than five months showcasing the subject of filth in their upcoming “Dirt Season,” a series of special events and releases all revolving around our relationship with grime. One such release is the upcoming hidden object game Filth Fair for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Read more: http://www.gamezebo.com/iphone-games/filth-fair/preview#ixzz1Dgfwm29c

In addition to this, there is also a preview over on Pocket Gamer:

Filth Fair is a hidden words and meanings game set inside a huge painting by Mike Wilks, an artist famous for his best-selling 1986 book The Ultimate Alphabet.

Your task is to find and identify over 300 words buried inside numerous objects. Cryptic, descriptive, and word-substitution clues are on hand to aid you, with prizes, awards, and acclaim awaiting the best players.

According to Wellcome, Filth Fair has been created with the highest craftsmanship and without, "digital-virtual hocus-pocus."

Filth Fair will be available to play for free on iPhone, iPad, and online some time in March.