Virtual Gamification: OH, THE PLACES WE (COULD) GO
Video games have the unique capacity to tell us a story in which we are involved, to invite us into a world aside from our own. Video games unite people from across the world and bridge gaps between countries that even diplomatic ties cannot uphold.
Many educators argue for the benefits of implementing virtual gamification in learning as a way to increase engagement and absorption (and some studies show positive results—refer to the end of this entry for sources).
Virtual realtiy and gamification are blossoming as educational tools in other fields as well, such as healthcare awareness (refer to Sharecare’s website listed below).
Now, as our technology hurtles forward, sparking and evolving with innovation, invention, and creativity, manufacturers and game designers seek the new console, the new playing method. Perhaps we can refine those clunky, claustrophobic VR glasses...maybe one day we’ll have interactive contacts you can turn on and off in the blink of an eye (laugh please).
Never, in the course of human history, has technology been so replaceable. Until the advent of the cellphone, you needed a console to play games, and now you can opt for only your phone and pocket storage when you’re finished gaming.
But we’re not done; we’re never done.
At Interlokit, we see how wearable technology and video games can converge into a “Technological Keeper.” We see that wearable technology has the unique ability to immerse the player, to take them fully into the world of their game.
Smartglasses are no longer a thing of the future, a coercion device falsely tied to Orwell’s 1984, or a lofty idea for espionage. No. Smartglasses are here, and along with microcomputers within our wearables, we could usher in the next wave of gaming.
Imagine not needing a mouse and computer, a controller and console, a TV. Imagine all you need is to slip on a pair of glasses, to ensure you’re wearing your wearables. Remembering your smartphone, finding your ear buds, having access to your data and a viewing screen at all times could be as simple as remembering to put on your glasses.
Slip into a world where you’re pursued by the Illuminati or chasing a bullshark, disappear among the snow of another world while you sweat in your own, use your optical magic wand like you wish you could (and me too, don’t worry). Then, get back to reality as your wearable ensures your attendance at a trade conference halfway around the world.
Don your eyewear with concealed smart capabilities and live in a world entirely your own, or one you share with your friends or colleagues—those with you, and those around the world—while looking like you, not a tech gadget.
The possibilities are boundless. Infinitesimal. But farfetched? Not at all. At Interlokit, we want to unite the technology that is already here for the next wave of engagement, of connection, of access—all while reimagining healthy, efficient, individualized, human connections through the convergence of discrete wearable tech.
Sources/Websites:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X19302908
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096751617300696
