IBM Unveils New “Serious Game” To Tackle Urban Challenges
The Society for Applied Learning Technology or SALT website recently posted a news release announcing that IBM is unveiling a new serious game that uses a multiplayer, sim-style game to address real-world challenges in urban settings.
Armonk, NY – 03 May 2010 – IBM today announced CityOne, a new “serious game” that can help customers, business partners and students discover how to make cities and their industries smarter by solving real-world business, environmental and logistical problems. Based on decades of experience in solving business challenges in creative ways, IBM “serious” games are designed to train the workforce of tomorrow. Details on the latest serious game from IBM will be unveiled on May 4, during the IMPACT 2010 conference in Las Vegas.
Historically, simulation gaming has been used extensively in the military, by athletes and by scientists to discover effective new strategies and techniques and develop the skills needed to implement them. These simulations have migrated into the entertainment space and spawned a new generation of what are known as massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). In these online games, players from all over the globe log into realistic and real-time virtual worlds via the Internet; they learn different roles and skill sets, and come together in self-selecting teams to collaborate and carry out missions in pursuit of common goals. Businesses have realized the value of this and are deploying their own games to create life-like simulations of real markets, customers and business situations that they deal with every day.
“Enterprises are increasingly adopting Web 2.0 collaboration tools to appeal to a new generation entering the workforce that grew up immersed in social media technologies,” said Lisa Rowan, director HR, Learning, and Talent Strategies research IDC. “Training will need to follow suit by incorporating interactivity and gaming to be relevant to this new workforce.”
To read the full article go to http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?pn=industry&ss=l
What are the implications of this “game”? Could this be repurposed for other situations or real challenges in society, politics, or the environment?
Tags: learning and entertainment technologies, leef
