The games industry has the highest rate of creative destruction in tech, as we contend with new platforms, business models, design and art trends. This ever-shifting landscape forces large enterprises to retreat into familiar tropes with certain commercial outcomes, but the future belongs to those who innovate, pushing the creative boundaries of the products and the outer limits of technology. This presentation reviews a series of concepts ripe to be exploited by fearless indies or corporate rebels everywhere, from flicksyncs to metaverse-morphing neural networks.

1. 101 Concepts for Games Innovation

3. Why Innovate?
Funding. Talent. Partners. Karma.

4. Landscape
$40M in funding raised in
2017 by Romanian
companies.
$30M raised by UiPath, AI-
enabled process automation.
$6.2M raised by dcs plus, a
travel tech company.
$1.7M raised by Zitec,
software development.
All others, > $1M.

6. Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technology, 2017

7. Emerged Tech
*not covered in this presentation
Virtual Reality
Streamed Games
Wearables
eSports
Location-Based Games

8. Neurogaming
Adam Gazzaley, Neuroscape Lab at UCSF
Neuroracer, designed to improve cognition in older
adults = “prescription gaming”
Akili: digital medicine startup
Neurable (Boston), brain controlled VR
demo for a dystopic sci-fi game called Awakening
JAZZ Venture Partners: VC investing in neuroscience
startups

9. Neural Networks
Games = pioneering AI research (NPC behavior,
strategy).
Unlimited computation in the cloud, further enabled
by the advent of game engines in the cloud
(Lumberyard)
1952: First use of AI in the game “Nim”, running on
Ferranti’s Nimrod computer.
2013: Forza Drivatar, using neural networks in the
cloud to create Agents that mimic driving behavior.
2017: University of Edinburgh + Method Studios,
natural animation via machine learning feeding on
motion capture data.

10. Neural Networks
Deep learning as a game mechanic = NPCs
responding intelligently to player input, using real time
AI, exhibiting emergent behavior
Personalizing the player experience = the game
responds in real time to user behavior and game
choices:
automatic narrative generation
changing the world
dynamic procedural generation

11. Transreality
Game experiences integrated with everyday routines and
social networks.
Examples include:
Next-gen arcades leveraging Immersive VR: The Void
(Lindon, Utah); Holodeck, fictional.
Location-based gaming: Pokemon Go, Ingress.

12. Mixed Reality
1992: Virtual Fixtures, by USAF Armstrong
Labs = first Augmented Reality system;
AR: Google Glass, Microsoft Hololens,
Magic Leap
Mobile Enabled: Apple ARKit, Google Tango
+ WorldSense
2016: Pokemon Go by Niantic, location-
based and AR-enabled game mode
2017: Guns of Boom, by Game Insight, FPS
spectator mode enabled via ARKit

13. Synthetic Reality
Proposed by Robert Wolcott, 2017
Ever-evolving realities, synthesizing our
will or preferences, consciously or
unconsciously provided.
AI-enabled systems, procedural
generation influenced by our individual
personality, emotional states, even
fleeting desires.

14. Alternate Reality
Transmedia storytelling, using the real world as a
means to augment a digital interactive experience
(internet, email, phones, social media).
1965: John Fowles, The Magus
1997: The Game (movie)
Principles:
 Storytelling as archaeology.
 Platformless narrative.
 Designing for a hive mind.
 A whisper is sometimes louder than a shout.
 “This is not a game" aesthetic. Real life as a
medium.
 Collaborative storytelling.
 Not a hoax.

15. Live Action Role Playing
Augmented Reality + Cos Play + Interactive Theater
Designing AR worlds:
Tolkien-inspired medieval fantasy.
World of Darkness.

16. Internet of Things
Your smart home can react in real time to game actions:
Windows open and close
AC temperature fluctuates
Lights flicker, change color
TV turns on and starts playing a recording
IoT devices assist in LARP narratives.
Simulate a haunted house.
Simulate a horror experience.
Guide a scavenger hunt.
Extend the experience to a neighborhood or city.

17. Haptic Suit
1994: Aura Interactor = wearable force feedback
2015: Tesla Suit = full-body haptic feedback delivering a
wide range of sensations: touch, wind, water, heat, cold
+ collecting data for real time motion tracking
2016: The Rapture: vest developed for use in The Void
virtual entertainment centers
2017: NullSpace VR: 32 pads + 117 built-in haptic
effects, originating from a succesful Kickstarter
3D movement not solved.
The next frontier = sending sensations to the cortex?

18. 4D Printing
3D printed objects that can move, are animated
Printed avatars could respond to in-game actions,
potentially via MTX.

19. Flicksyncs
2011: Ernest Clyne, Ready Player One
Film simulation where the player’s avatar plays a
movie character.
Interactive movies:
1967: Kinoautomat, by Radúz Činčera
1974: Wild Gunman, by Nintendo
1983: Dragon’s Lair, FMV cartoon by Don Bluth > first
commercial release

20. Future Sports
Drone Wars
Robot Combat
Geocaching
Urban Scavenger Hunt
Live Action Role Playing

21. Blockchain
Ethereum = miners running programs specified in
the blockchain (no limits to the arbitrarily complex
rules of governance set by the shareholders).
Distributed Computing = OTOY Render Token
App Store = GameCredits (90/10 + 60 hrs payment)
Tim Sweeney, Epic Games: “The blockchain is a
general mechanism for running programs, storing
data, and verifiably carrying out transactions. It’s a
superset of everything that exists in computing.”

22. Serious Games
Games designed for a primary purpose
other than entertainment, emphasizing
the pedagogical value of fun and
competition.
1982: Microsoft Flight Simulator
1989: SimCity
1999: Leapfrog, interactive book
2006: A Force More Powerful (PBS)
2006: Darfur Is Dying
2007: Peacemaker
2007: World Without Oil
2008: FoldIt
2010: Second Life
2012: Superbetter

23. Science Crowdsourcing
Gamification of scientific
problems = “Citizen Science”
University of Washington,
Center for Game Science
2008: FoldIt = protein folding,
HIV research
2010: Phylo = aligning DNA
sequence to solve
evolutionary relationships
2011: EteRNA: predicting RNA
folding structure

24. Biosphere Simulation
Will Wright / Maxis, SimEarth (1990) + Spore (2008)
Integrated Biosphere Simulator Model
(University of Wisconsin)
 Energy, water, and carbon dioxide exchange
between plants, the atmosphere, and the soil
 Physiological processes of plants and soil
organisms, including photosynthesis and
respiration
 Seasonal changes of vegetation, including spring
budburst, fall senescence, and winter dormancy
 Plant growth and plant competition
 Nutrient cycling and soil processes

25. Enterprise Innovation
Gamification.
Retention, engagement, virality.
Social features.
Profitable creativity.
Much-needed competition to design &
innovation agencies.

26. Business Simulation
Training.
Scenario analysis.
Business model innovation.

27. Educational Games
Oldest idea in the toolshed, yet still a
massive opportunity.
Social community for children, 250M+
users.
Introducing effortless learning through
games.

28. Intelligent Tutoring
Leveraging AI to craft individualized learning routines.
Duolingo example:

29. The Human Condition
Such themes are primarily the domain of ”Art
Games” and generally pursued by indie developers.
Sexuality: Dys4ia, by Anna Anthropy
Mortality: That Dragon, Cancer, by Numinous
Games
Misery: This War of Mine, by 11 bit Studios
Grieving: Left to My Own Devices, by Geoffrey
Thomas
Relationships: Façade, by Michael Mateas &
Andrew Stern

30. Metaverse
Neal Stephenson, Snowcrash (1992)
1975: Colossal Cave Adventure, by Will Crowther
Notable MMOs:
1986: Air Warrior, by Kesmai
1991: Neverwinter Nights, by Stormfront Studios >
first to use graphics
1995: Meridian 59, by Archetype Interactive (John
Hanke of Niantic!) > first to use 3D graphics
2004: World of Warcraft, by Blizzard