Energy, Gaming and Smart Phones

This 2-minute movie of an energy game was produced by Prof. Byron Reeves at Stanford University, and was part of a presentation on November 17, 2008 to the BECC Conference (Behavior, Energy & Climate Change) in Sacramento.



There are known ingredients for great games and many of them can be seen in the video (for example; timely feedback, self-representation with avatars, transparent reputations, an economy with points and currency, and collaboration on competitive teams). The purpose of the movie is to explore the use of successful ingredients in virtual worlds and games that will change energy use behavior.

The science about how the game ingredients work has been part of research in the H-STAR Institute (Human Sciences and Technologies Research) at Stanford University, and implementations of similar serious games have been developed and tested with Seriosity, Inc. in Palo Alto.

The game was produced using the game Sims 2, combined with live action footage. It was directed by Blair Erickson and Michael Verdi and produced by Thomas Caleshu of Millions of Us, LLC.

© Byron Reeves, Stanford University
Contact information:
Prof. Byron Reeves
reeves@stanford.edu
231 Wallenberg Hall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305