Today's lectures are hosted by Biyi, Bernard and Stephen. Their theme is about games and technology. Biyi introduced us to the concept of gamification, which applies game design principles outside the game environment. She talked about motion control games and consoles such as Nintendo wii, Kinect and Nintendo switches. Biyi provided us with some case studies of games currently used to encourage fitness or education. Bernard talked about different standards for Oculus VR glasses and VR games. When users need to immerse themselves in the world they enter, VR is the idea that quality takes priority over quantity. He talked about the theme of dystopian futures in VR games and the possible connection to the theme and our current worldview. Bernard brought his VR glasses during class and asked each of us to use it in turn. He recalled this experience when he taught different reactions of different people. Stephen talked about VR in the industry. He now compares virtual reality to the early days of a movie. The movie itself is not a medium, but a characteristic activity of an amusement park. Stephen talked about a major obstacle to the growth of VR is the lack of content. No one wants to invest in something without content, and no one wants to develop technology without content. Other obstacles include the expensive nature of VR, consumers ’knowledge (or lack thereof) of technology, and UX issues (it is more difficult to design a 360 environment). Stephen explained that film producers are increasingly exploring VR as a medium. He also suspects that mobile VR will attract more viewers in the future.
In the next workshop, we were asked to design a game for a woman who lives alone with a cat to pass her time. After some discussion and design, our team designed a VR game that can achieve many entertainment functions. Users can interact with friends remotely through it.