Serious Virtual Worlds 07
I’ve always considered “serious games” to be different from educational games. As I’ve pointed out in previous entries, I’m primarily interested in researching instructional video games for school-age children. These are products that hopefully transfer needed skills and academic concepts within a computer video game environment.
As with other academic areas, there are many examples that cross over into other territory, and serious games is one of those. A serious game is designed to relay an important concept or idea. These ideas may or may not be academic in nature. They can be training-oriented. Training is different from academic learning. We train pilots in flight simulators, for instance. But, a game that teaches potential pilots how to safely land a plane would fall under the serious game category. They can also be health related. The Serious Games Initiative founded Games for Health to explore and help guide medical gaming efforts.
A serious game can serve as a form of publicity, point-making tool, or propaganda. One of the more famous serious games is the United Nations’ product, Food Force. The game, available in multiple languages, puts players in situations where they must successfully distribute food to distressed areas.
Another cross-over area with academic instructional games and serious games involves massively multiplayer online environments, whether role playing games like World of Warcraft, or social environments like Second Life. Several folks have pondered the possibilities of such online environments for academic endeavors. I wrote a piece last year that explored three different products and the work in each. See The (Virtual) Classroom of Tomorrow over at EduQuery.com.
Now, a conference over in England will combine all three of these related fields. Serious Virtual Worlds 07 touts itself as the “First European Conference on the Professional Applications of Virtual Worlds.” The conference is being put on by the Serious Games Institute over at Coventry University. I’ve included most of the conference announcement below.
Serious Virtual Worlds ’07:
First European Conference on the Professional Applications of Virtual Worlds.
13 – 14 September 2007 @ The Serious Games Institute, Coventry, UK
David Wortley of the Serious Games Institute and Ron Edwards & Dick Davies of Ambient Performance announce the first
Serious Virtual Worlds conference.
The Programme
The extraordinary success of virtual worlds such as ‘Second Life’ as virtual social spaces for play leads to the question ‘What is the potential for the serious uses of these worlds?’ The theme for this first Serious Virtual Worlds conference is ‘The Reality of the Virtual World’ and takes a close look at how virtual worlds are now being used for serious professional purposes. Many organisations are now actively researching and deploying virtual worlds. Serious Virtual Worlds is your introduction to the serious uses of virtual worlds.
Who should attend?
Professionals with interests in using technology for communication and collaboration, for education and training, scenario planning and for commercial activities,from corporates, the media, multimedia development organisations, public sector organisations, consultancies, technology solution providers, and researchers.
The Conference
Day 1 – Introducing Virtual Worlds: presentations and conversations introducing virtual worlds and the 3D web from Cisco, HP, Forterra, Linden Labs, Giuntilabs, Daden, Ambient Performance, Visual 3D, Anticyp,..closing with the launch of the Serious Games Institute’s ‘Second Life’ Island
Day 2 – Serious Virtual Worlds: Action & Potential: live virtual world presentations and conversations from PA Consulting, IBM, Reuters, BP, Trusim, Forterra,SMARTLabs,…
Web site: www.seriousvirtualworlds.net [Will be live with programme by 15th June]
Game Studies, Research, Serious Games, Video Game Research | John Rice | 
June 12, 2007 8:35 pm
