Possibly Serious Games – IGIC
November 3, 2011, International Gaming Innovation Conference, Orange, CA– Phaedra Boindiris from IBM described how serious games open new possibilities for business. Business functions and operations are like the Gordian Knot, a very complex and intertwined structure.
Complex systems are the primary cause for contention in businesses. By changing the nature of interactions, companies can get better insights, improve collaboration, and solve problems. Visual collaboration and the gamification of business processes offers new and useful tools for business process management.
Companies can change process issues into game-type functions by using existing game tools and techniques. These game functions can take the rules for the business and, through game play, help to optimize the roles and functions. Normally, changing anything at this level is very hard, because the underlying structures are very complex.
One example of the transformative changes possible was in a game from Innov8 in ’07. This game was based by on a first person shooter engine and used interviews of workers to identify problem areas. The game required players to find clues about the business. In ’09, the game was enhanced to look at supply chain and traffic optimization. Farmer’s Insurance used the game to improve agent retention. In’10, further enhancements the game became a city sim. It took in real data and decisions to evaluate larger scenarios.
Converting business issues to games is the art of the possible. In a way similar to “Ender’s Game”, changing the environment is one result of playing games. A real-time strategy engine is coupled to time manipulation to change the way to view that strategy. Changing the variable in the time line provides different views of possible futures.
One user of this latest generation is the Defense Logistics Agency. It and other government agencies need new ways to understand their processes. The ability to manage the variables over time enables them to see where the bottlenecks originate. By extending existing games, they are able to solve more problems and create a culture of adaptability.
Most companies have a culture of collective intelligence and knowledge. This corporate memory is both the channel and the blockage to making changes in the company. Games can remove the constraints and inhibitions that impede progress, while using the collective knowledge to improve company performance.
Games are best for teaching processes and augmenting face-to-face interactions. The games can abstract the tactics and strategy execution issues and show where improvement and process optimization is possible. To be as realistic as possible, the game should have access to real-time data. Examples of general game types that are applicable include Worlds of Warcraft, and Fold-it, a Tetris-like game that is used to teach the artificial intelligence engines how to fold and match proteins.
The technology for a business game already exists. There is the cloud and supercomputers for the hardware, and many existing software tools, like adaptive learning and visualization, to motivate and increase collaboration. Buckminster Fuller’s World Game will come sooner rather than later in this new game development environment. The trends in hardware and software are very encouraging.
Games are capable of addressing some of the big and complex problems that society has to address. The politicians need a way to see alternatives, because they cannot address the scale of the problems. High levels of interconnections lead to greater collaboration. Including real models and data will improve the level of conversation and reduce the hand waving that postures as intelligent discourse and exchange. Real problems need more transparency to be solved.
One challenge is to find or develop new types of game engines that can access big data. One possibility is to have thin, quick apps that tap into the larger applications. People have to be a part of the analyses because even the best AI machines needs patterns to learn from. Organizations like the TSA are using pattern recognition to train the AI, but the patterns come from people and more patterns could be generated if those people were playing games designed for the purpose.
