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GloGames - Geography Live Online Ola Ahlqvist http://go.osu.edu/ola Department of GEOGRAPHY

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Maps and games <ul><ul><li>Many examples out there of simple trivia games </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://bensguide.gpo.gov/flash/states_game2.html </li></ul></ul>

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Maps and games have a rich tradition

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Converging Themes in Mapping and Computer Games <ul><li>Spatial analysis </li></ul><ul><li>Increased realism and virtual worlds </li></ul><ul><li>Designed worlds </li></ul><ul><li>Content standards and data semantics </li></ul><ul><li>Simulation, the Internet and Web 2.0 </li></ul>Ahlqvist,2011, Converging Themes in Cartography and Computer Games, Cartography and Geographic Information Science , Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 278-285

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Converging Themes in Mapping and Computer Games <ul><li>Spatial analysis </li></ul><ul><li>Increased realism and virtual worlds </li></ul><ul><li>Designed worlds </li></ul><ul><li>Content standards and data semantics </li></ul><ul><li>Simulation, the Internet and Web 2.0 </li></ul>Ahlqvist,2011, Converging Themes in Cartography and Computer Games, Cartography and Geographic Information Science , Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 278-285

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Online maps and virtual globes <ul><li>Exploding Popularity of web maps, virtual globes </li></ul><ul><li>Why is it so powerful? </li></ul><ul><ul><li>We get a common intuitive picture </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Facilitates understanding & communication </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Space matters! </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Still, geographic literacy is alarmingly low. </li></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>“… young people in the United States – the most recent graduates of our educational system – are unprepared for an increasingly global future” 1 </li></ul></ul></ul>1 Roper Public Affairs. 2006. National geographic-roper public affairs 2006 geographic literacy study. New York: GfK NOP, 89p.

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Web 2.0  Collaborative Mapping? <ul><li>Public Participation Mapping </li></ul><ul><ul><li>so far limited use as a mechanism of social interaction and collaborative problem solving </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Rapidly growing use of social networking </li></ul><ul><ul><li>so far limited attempts to situate a dialog geographically (Foursquare, Brightkite, Twitter) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Can we blend a spatial environment and social networking functionality into a single platform? </li></ul>YES!

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So we took a look at games <ul><li>Playing games </li></ul><ul><ul><li>is usually voluntary </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>has make-believe aspects </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>is intrinsically motivating, no reward necessary </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>often involve active intellectual, physical activity </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>may include maps of some sort </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Game play can also promote </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Higher level thinking </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Problem solving </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Social interaction </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Collaboration </li></ul></ul>Source: AP Images

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… and maybe this is an educator’s dream? <ul><li>Based on analysis of one of over 40,000 discussion threads on the official “World of Warcraft” druid forum </li></ul>Source: Steinkuehler, C., & Chmiel, M. (2006). Fostering scientific habits of mind in the context of online play. In Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Learning sciences (p. 729). International Society of the Learning Sciences.

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More things I note about videogames... <ul><li>It is increasingly a social activity </li></ul><ul><li>By age 21, the average American has spent more than 10,000 hours playing games = five years of working a full-time job 40 hours per week. </li></ul>Rappers Bow Wow, front, and The Game, upper right, face off in an Xbox 360 Madden football video game showdown for charity in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Mark Avery) Multiplayer Online Gaming Virtual Globe <ul><li>Wouldn’t it be cool if we (geographers) could exploit a fraction of this energy? </li></ul>

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You learn a lot when you play games… <ul><li>Anyone you know the base rent on Broadway? </li></ul><ul><li>How many troops you get for controlling Europe? </li></ul>What’s a realistic sq.ft. rent on Broadway? What is the GDP of Europe?

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– prototype development <ul><li>Goals </li></ul><ul><ul><li>A fun game that embed some geographic learning </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Requirements </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Massive Multiplayer Online Game framework </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Simulations played on top of GIS “game board” allowing play to be influenced by real-world data e.g. </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>real-time weather, ground conditions </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>country GDP, demographics </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>historic data </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Emphasize social interactions and collaboration </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Flexible and modifiable rule set </li></ul></ul>

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First pilot (2008) <ul><li>Multiple users </li></ul><ul><li>Real-time editing </li></ul><ul><li>Openlayers map </li></ul>

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Second pilot (2008) <ul><li>Multi-user </li></ul><ul><li>Real-time editing </li></ul><ul><li>Chat </li></ul><ul><li>Geodata searches </li></ul><ul><li>Google Earth API </li></ul>

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Third pilot (2009) <ul><li>Web service oriented; pulls data on weather and state GDP </li></ul><ul><li>Microsoft Surface Touch interface (because it was soo cool!) </li></ul>

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A first prototype – GeoGame Green Revolution <ul><li>Realistic Geo-social scenario development: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Green Revolution simulation role-playing activity for undergraduate geography instruction </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Goal to understand what is meant by the term “green revolution” (the breeding of new plant varieties and application of modern agricultural techniques such as chemical fertilizers, herbicides, irrigation, and mechanization) and how it has affected rural households in developing countries. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Support for Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Project Darkstar </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Geospatial interface </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Worldwind </li></ul></ul>

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GeoGame / simulation interface

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Certainly we’re not alone trying to combine online maps and games http://www.planetinaction.com/

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Some other ideas out there…

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But we’re looking to build more than one game

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GeoGame / simulation interface <ul><ul><li>Configuration uses Open standards; </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>OWL – ontology for what a game contains and its setup </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>KML – for necessary geographic data </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Jess CLP – rules engine </li></ul></ul>

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More than education - sciences can benefit too Agent-Based Models (ABM) & Multi-Agent Simulations (MAS) seek to better understand human decision-making. E.g. Information gathered through role-playing and individual interviews incorporated into a multi-agent model. Castella, J. C., Tran Ngoc Trung, and S. Boissau. 2005. Participatory simulation of land-use changes in the northern mountains of Vietnam: the combined use of an agent-based model, a role-playing game, and a geographic information system. Ecology and Society 10(1): 27.

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Goals for future work <ul><li>Generalization for broader set of applications </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Education K-12, Community planning, Public policy… </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Direct link between multi-user simulation environments and GIS </li></ul><ul><li>Aggregation, emergent properties, play-back, history </li></ul><ul><li>Create scenario builder to allow customization for different locations and resources </li></ul>

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Acknowledgements <ul><li>Cheyney Loffing, Austin Kocher, Shaun Fontanella </li></ul><ul><li>Rajiv Ramnath, Jay Ramanathan </li></ul><ul><li>Support from TELR, Esri, OSU IEE </li></ul>