I continue to learn interesting lessons observing my kids playing with technology and new media. My son Walter age 8 has suddenly woken up to the joy of sports for young boys. He plays soccer and tennis skis and swims well and in general seems quite athletic. This pleases his aging athlete dad no end.
Walter has also taken to watching live sports on TV with me (everything from NFL to X Games) which among other benefits means we now have the votes to turn off Sponge Bob in the family room. Walter is also addicted to playing soccer and American football games on his Nintendo.
What is really interesting about this to me is that when Walter "makes" a great play on the video game he often runs over and wants me to watch a replay. At first I sort of ignored this with my Digital Immigrant worldview that this was somehow not "real." However I came to realize that for Walter the simulated actions of Ronaldinho on his Game Boy were no less "real" than a television replay of a great goal actually scored by the "real" Ronaldinho. This epiphany for me must be obvious to every gaming industry developer.
It reminded me in my usual warped hyper-linked way of the allegory of the cave from Plato’s Republic — yes we really did read the classics at Columbia. In his Socratic investigation on the meaning of reality Plato tells the story of prisoners who were chained since birth in a cave and only permitted to see shadows of puppets projected onto the back of the cave wall. When one prisoner finally emerges from the cave he does not recognize the "real" figures in the flood of sunlight .
At Reuters I encouraged our participation in various online worlds including most famously Second Life. One of the reasons I thought such experimentation would benefit the company was that the generation of gamers today would expect far more participatory graphics environments when they came of age professionally. So for example I imagine that the current generation of teenagers reared on World of Warcraft the Sims and Second Life would find 2D financial graphics pretty lame. What I overlooked was the wonderful focus group growing up in my own house.
Many thanks Walter – let’s look at that Ronaldinho goal one more time.
Truth be told some of us already find 2-D financial graphics boring….and we are from the Boomer Generation that was reared on black and white television and Swanson TV dinners. I too have noticed that the video games are “real” for my children but perhaps that is also due to the fact that the graphic packages are so REALISTIC. There has been more than one occasion when I have had to do a double-take to see if my children were playing a game or watching a movie. The cyber-people are among us! In an interesting nod to de-evolution it is interesting to note that some advertisers are blending “real” people with cyber-folks in their latest ad campaigns. Has anyone out there noted the lates crop of commericals from Charles Schwab? The characters have human voices but are a pastel blend of cartoon character and homo erectus. Against that backdrop no wonder the little green (or white) numbers on a Bloomberg screen seem passe’. The warning to purveyors of information is that if your delivery seems time-worn the inference may be that so to is your content. Damocles 3/26/08
It’s funny- I’ve been playing a new baseball game called MLB 08: The Show. It’s the most realistic baseball video game I’ve ever played and believe it or not has enhanced my understanding of pitching and hitting. The effect is that I now as a fan have a better appreciation for the game. We’re getting to the point where the level of realism in today’s video games is qualitatively different from those that came before. I think we’re beginning to see the same shift in business applications with new technologies like Silverlight and Adobe Flex. More than just offering eye candy these rich UI platforms may transform how a user interacts with data. That’s the hope anyway!
May want to consider expanding the 2.5D information visualization technology from Themescape to other TRI products. See weblink for the animated Themescape technology. [img src=http://tinyurl.com/54vfl4]
It does seem real. I have known the rush of destroying that last foe or scoring the winning goal. But my body had not moved significantly to attain this rush my limbs remained immobile. My fingers moved rapidly pushing pressing on knobs and buttons to the point of numbness. I have not felt this recently but there was a time in my past when I had all but checked out on my outside life because my simulated world seemed so perfect. This culminated in personal injury forcing me to step out and re-engage with the outside world. I joined the military I traveled across the world I engaged with members of the opposite sex. I married procreated. These are things that can only be experienced. No computer can ever replace the fullness of real world experiences. I am no longer drawn to the simulations no matter how great the graphics may be. But are those who still feel these simulations are their reality truly deluded? Now battles are fought by drones that are piloted at a comfortable distance by a person pushing on knobs and buttons. Delicate surgeries are accomplished by doctors staring at screens instead of their patients. Great projects are accomplished by people separated by time and space but connected by a chat session on the computer screen. I appreciate your blog your interesting thoughts have sparked these of my own. The branch I am interested in is where the actions viewed on the screen seem like reality because in fact they are. Are the simulations a valid preparation for what will some day look and feel the same but in fact be real? Are there consoles where simulation versus reality can not be determined by the person seated in front of the screen pushing the knobs and buttons? The line between an escape from real life and the digitally enhanced superior engagement in it may be already as well as further become very thin indeed!