Kathleen Tuite

The challenge of designing scientific discovery games

Incorporating the individual and collective problem solving skills of non-experts into the scientific discovery process could potentially accelerate the advancement of science. This paper discusses the design process used for Foldit, a multiplayer online biochemistry game that presents players with computationally difficult protein folding problems in the form of puzzles, allowing ordinary players to gain expertise and help solve these problems. The principle challenge of designing such scientific discovery games is harnessing the enormous collective problem-solving potential of the game playing population, who have not been previously introduced to the specific problem, or, often, the entire scientific discipline. To address this challenge, we took an iterative approach to designing the game, incorporating feedback from players and biochemical experts alike. Feedback was gathered both before and after releasing the game, to create the rules, interactions, and visualizations in Foldit that maximize contributions from game players. We present several examples of how this approach guided the games design, and allowed us to improve both the quality of the gameplay and the application of player problem-solving.

Camera pose navigation using Augmented Reality

We propose an Augmented Reality (AR) system that helps users take a picture from a designated pose, such as the position and camera angle of an earlier photo. Repeat photography is frequently used to observe and document changes in an object. Our system uses AR technology to estimate camera poses in real time. When a user takes a photo, the camera pose is saved as a “view bookmark”. To support a user in taking a repeat photo, two simple graphics are rendered in an AR viewer on the cameras screen to guide the user to this bookmarked view. The system then uses image adjustment techniques to create an image based on the users repeat photo that is even closer to the original.

Picard: a creative and social online flashcard learning game

Many subjects such as languages, history, biology, geography, law, and medicine require the memorization of large numbers of unstructured facts and vocabulary. While there are many techniques and tools for memorizing such information, sustaining motivation remains a major barrier towards progress in these subjects. In order to help fill this gap, we brainstormed, experimented, and paper-prototyped to create Picard, a Facebook game that intertwines creative and social elements to turn rote learning into a creative, engaging experience. Picard, inspired by Pictionary, encourages players to come up with creative stories and images to help remember a particular card. Players compete and cooperate with their friends on Facebook to create the most memorable and funny mnemonics, called Picards, gaining points when they help themselves or others remember flashcards. Players use these Picards to learn and prove knowledge of the material at spaced intervals, which research has shown to be maximally effective for learning. Our game is the novel combination of an established learning methodology with player creativity and social support for learning. Picard increases player investment in the process of learning by allowing players to create and share useful visual mnemonics, while at the same time motivating and structuring their study habits through spaced-repetition quizzes.

Reconstructing the world in 3D: bringing games with a purpose outdoors

We are interested in reconstructing real world locations as detailed 3D models, but to achieve this goal, we require a large quantity of photographic data. We designed a game to employ the efforts and digital cameras of everyday people to not only collect this data, but to do so in a fun and effective way. The result is PhotoCity, a game played outdoors with a camera, in which players take photos to capture flags and take over virtual models of real buildings. The game falls into the genres of both games with a purpose (GWAPs) and alternate reality games (ARGs). Each type of game comes with its own inherent challenges, but as a hybrid of both, PhotoCity presented us with a unique combination of obstacles. This paper describes the design decisions made to address these obstacles, and seeks to answer the question: Can games be used to achieve massive data-acquisition tasks when played in the real world, away from standard game consoles? We conclude with a report on player experiences and showcase some 3D reconstructions built by players during gameplay.