GAMING ARCHIVES PROJECT (GAP)
Gaming Archives Project (GAP) formally known as Women in Gaming (WIG) The Smith College Libraries KnowledgeLab is an experimental pilot space for making knowledge, sharing knowledge, and playing with library futures. In response to a growing area of Smith student interest in computer programming and engineering, and preliminary explorations on campus of gaming for educational purposes, I spearheaded a group called Women in Gaming. The goal of this student-led research group is to better understand the role of women and marginalized groups working in design and development in the gaming industry. We looked at the personification and representation of women and marginalized groups in game design, at the relationship between games and learning experiences and, the role of women and marginalized groups in eSports college and pro teams as gaming emerges into a recognized competitive arena. Currently this group meets bi-monthly to do playthroughs followed by discussions around these topics.
In December, I co-managed an event, the first of several VR playthrough events, where attendees played a Vive VR game called Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Here's a link to the article I wrote about the event. Talking About Virtual Reality
Following the playthrough a discussion developed around inclusion and the name of the group potentially excluding marginalized students who are also under represented in games and the gaming industry. As a result, the name Women in Gaming or WIG was changed to the Gaming Archives Project (GAP) and you can read more about this KnowledgeLab group on their website. Game Archives Project.
INTERDEPARTMENTAL VR MULTIPLAYER PLAYTHROUGH OF STAR TREK BRIDGE CREW AND REC ROOM
In March, I was project manager and event designer for a 3-way multiplayer playthrough of Star Trek Bridge Crew and Rec Room in virtual space from 3 different locations on campus, the Smith College Gaming Lab at the Imaging Center, the Center for Media Production, and the KnowledgeLab’s Gaming Archives Project. For this event, representatives from each location logged in via their respective Vives, or virtual reality headsets, and joined together in virtual space to fly Starfleet ship and to compete against each other in a myriad of competitive games such as pingpong. To conduct planning meetings and to connect the venues during the event, each location joined on a Zoom meeting via a large screen so attendees could get a sense of the other locations on campus that have VR systems. Our goal was to prompt discussion around how students, faculty and staff might see this kind of experience as a learning opportunity and how it might be used in education and research.
Please see the following article on this event: VR Across Campus and the promotional reel depicting the playthrough.
VR FOR INTERNAL TEAM-BUILDING: KEEP TALKING AND NOBODY EXPLODES PLAYTHROUGHS
As a result of GAP, to date, three departments, ETS, Libraries Circulation and Libraries Instructional Tech, have used a Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes playthrough as an exercise to build team communication within their departments. This specific game requires one player to wear the VR headset and is in a room with a bomb that is about the explode. The other players are in a group either sharing one bomb defusing manual or each attendee has their own (we found more team building happens when they share one manual). The VR player is the only one who can see the bomb and must describe a combination of puzzles to the players in the room who then, need to find the puzzles in the manual and walk the diffuser through solving each puzzle in under five minutes or the bomb explodes. This is a fun, easy way to allow department staff or small learning groups to practice communicating concepts outside the work or project environment.