Gaming the Future of Museums - a lecture by Jane McGonigal

Gaming the Future of Museums JANE M C GONIGAL, PhD INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE December 2, 2008/ 2019 / 2034

The Museum of Impossible Things (November 2019)

Gaming the Future of Museums JANE M C GONIGAL, PhD INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE [email_address]

Game Designer Nominated for a Nobel Prize by 2034

Game PLAYERS Nominated for a Nobel Prize by 2034

Why do I think games will be one of the most important materials of the future?

69% of all US households play computer and video games

91% of youth under 18 play

70% of large U.S. companies and non-profits currently train their employees with games and simulations; 95% expect to over the next five years.

40% of gamers are women

The average US gamer is 35 years old

One in four gamers is over age 50

There’s also a new generation of “hard-core” gamers generating unprecedented “ participation bandwidth ”:

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide spending 20+ hours a week playing games.

WHY?

and more importantly: how can museums harness the rising power of games for good?

1) Games make us happy

2) Games help us do more amazing, world-changing things than we think we can do in reality

1) Why happiness is an important development goal for the next 10-15 years

2) Why we need ordinary people to feel like superheroes .

The Quality of Life Index

The Happy Planet Index

“ Gross National Happiness”

Subjective Life Satisfaction

The Canadian Index of Well-Being

World’s Most Livable Cities

The Vanderford Riley Well Being Schedule

The Authentic Happiness Inventory

What humans crave: 1. satisfying work to do 2. the experience of being good at something 3. time spent with people we like 4. the chance to be a part of something bigger

What museums give us: 1. satisfying work to do 2. the experience of being good at something 3. time spent with people we like 4. the chance to be a part of something bigger

Why does it matter that museums can do a better job of creating real happiness for their visitors ?

BOTTOM 10

Ireland: 39.4

France: 36.4

USA: 28.8

Russia: 22.8

Estonia: 22.7

Ukraine: 22.2

Dem. Rep. Congo: 20.7

Burundi: 19.0

Swaziland: 18.4

Zimbabwe: 16.6

TOP 10

Vanuatu: 68.2

Colombia: 67.2

Costa Rica: 66.0

Dominica: 64.5

Panama: 63.5

Cuba: 61.9

Honduras: 61.8

Guatemala: 61.7

El Salvador: 61.7

St Lucia: 61.3

a future forecast ( 2019 ): the rise of a sustainable happiness movement

Sustainable quality of life becomes the primary metric for evaluating ALL brands, services, environments, and experiences.

Positive psychology is increasingly a principal, explicit influence on experience design and interactive development.

Vital communities form around different visions of a real life worth living .

We invest in public and private institutions according to how great an increase in real happiness, or well-being they generate –

– because happiness is the new capital . .

So:

Will museums be in the happiness business?

"Happiness consists in activity . It is a running stream, not a stagnant pool.”

- John Mason Good

What the museum community needs: happiness engineers .

SATISFYING OUR DESIRE FOR ENGAGEMENT . *

100 million mental hours  WIKIPEDIA

5 days of World of Warcraft

Games work better.

Better instructions

Better feedback

Better community

Better emotions

What humans crave: 1. satisfying work to do 2. the experience of being good at something 3. time spent with people we like 4. the chance to be a part of something bigger

Multiplayer games

are the

ULTIMATE

happiness engines.

Compared to games…

Reality is broken.

official partner

Museums work better?

Better instructions

Better feedback

Better community

Better emotions

In 2008, happiness is games. In the future , happiness will be passionate, successful participation in really big systems we care about.

World Without Oil *

mobbability

cooperation radar

ping quotient

influency

multi-capitalism

protovation

open authorship

signal/noise filter

longbroading

emergensight

Collaboration superpowers mobbability influency ping quotient multi-capitalism cooperation radar open authorship emergensight longbroading protovation signal/noise management

a future forecast ( 2024 ): museum-organized games help invent the future & change the world

Q: By 2019 , will museums be on the leading-edge of happiness engineering?

A: Yes… if they turn visitors into players , and crowds into super-collaborative communities. .

What do gamers think about the future of museums?

Engagement harnessed in 6 weeks: a community of >7000 forecasters >1000 stories about the future >500 active strategy forums >500 collaborative superstructures

The Museum of Impossible Things (November 2019)

So what’s important?

We need a new kind of institution: one that seeks to create sustainable, world-changing happiness as its primary mission.

Museums should give us: 1. satisfying work to do 2. the experience of being good at something 3. time spent with people we like 4. the chance to be a part of something bigger

Museums should teach us: mobbability influency ping quotient multi-capitalism cooperation radar open authorship emergensight longbroading protovation signal/noise management

Museums can invent a better future – by making us happier and helping us collaborate to save the real world.