Over the course of the last 15 years there has been a great amount of debate about how video games are shaping the minds and behavior of young people. Video game addiction has become a prevalent concern, and some researchers suggest impressionable adolescents may be driven to brutality by the violent fantasy world of video…
May the Force (Shoe) Be With You! It’s a long way from the runways of Milan to low-earth orbit, but the two have one thing in common: a new generation of shoes called ForceShoes. While certainly eye-catching, they don’t look like designed footwear, but are designed to help NASA gather data on how astronauts are walking…
GLEAMING INFORMATION FROM VIDEO GAME SCORES Neurological disorders have been in the news lately in large part due to the stunning revelation of Robin Williams’ Parkinson’s diagnosis and the viral ice bucket challenge campaign to raise money and awareness for ALS. Meanwhile, the diagnosis rate of another neurological disorder, Alzheimer’s Disease, has been steadily climbing…
A Serious Game Helps Analyze Complex Cancer Research Data Although serious games have many uses – employee engagement, marketing and learning among them – one area that may prove as a surprise is cancer research. After all, researchers don’t need games, and cancer research cannot be done by just anyone, right? Play to Cure: Genes in Space…
SUGAR-COAT THE PILL WITH GAMIFICATION These days, it seems like you unlock a reward or achievement on every social media site and platform you use. Even sites like Wikipedia and Q&A sites like Stack Overflow have gamification concepts integrated into their community. So can the health industry be gamified too? It would surely make life…
Join 130,000 People from 145 Countries Already Helping Neuroscience Those who think that scientists are all work and no play haven’t met MIT scientist Sebastien Seung (@SebastianSeung). In his quest to map the cells in the mammalian retina, he launched the EyeWire online game (@eye_wire). The game was first announced in late 2012 when Seung launched it…
Mango Health Improves Adherence to Medication with Gamification Mango Health (@MangoHealth) offers a new type of game in the health field – one that aims to help users remember to take their medication. Former executives from the ngmoco, a mobile gaming company, wanted to create an application that would help people remember to take their medication. The…
Crowdsourced Dr House Fills a Niche in Creative Diagnostics A new gamification startup, CrowdMed (@CrowdMed), has broken into the gamified health field with a unique mobile application that is looking to change how rare diseases are diagnosed. CrowdMed targets two different audiences. First, the company targets patients who have bounced around from doctor to doctor looking for a diagnosis that fits…
EXERCISE THAT CORTEX! Gamification mobile apps enter the field of neuroplasticity with UltimEyes, an app now available for tablets and other mobile devices. An article in Popular Mechanics focuses on the new app and how it improves eyesight through neuroplasticity, the re-wiring of the brain by forming new neural pathways. The app was developed by a…
KNOWLEDGE IS THEIR SUPERPOWER Medikidz (@Medikidz) is a global initiative dedicated to teaching young people medical information in form they can understand. Thus far it has relied primarily on a series of comic books featuring a group of superheroes, called the Medikidz, each of whom are experts on different aspects of the human body. According to…
With a great deal of demand for Gabe Zichermann’s Advanced Gamification Workshop (Expert Level 3 w/ Certification) at GSummit this year, the community has pushed us to offer more workshops around the country. We’re excited to announce that we’ll be bringing our always sold-out Advanced Gamification Workshop to Los Angeles (Nov 4), San Francisco (Nov…
JOIN For ME Engages and Educates Kids about Weight Management We’ve all been in the same boat – you’re running on the treadmill, seemingly for ages, yet you glance at the clock and it’s only been three minutes. We want to live a healthy lifestyle, but sometimes it can be so boring. We especially want…
The prospect of talking about the dangers and downfalls of gamification gone wrong sounds a bit taboo for a gamification conference. But just because something is uncomfortable doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, and Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products, wants people to know the dangers of gamification. In a recent article, “Is…
We were excited to have Stella Grizont join us again this year at GSummit. Stella is the Founder and CEO at WOOPAAH. Below are her bio, video and slides from GSummit SF 2014: Stella Grizont is the Founder and CEO of WOOPAAH, dedicated to helping people and their companies’ flourish. WOOPAAH is loved by Google,…
We were excited to have Dr. BJ Fogg join us this year at GSummit. BJ is the Director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University. Below are his bio, video and slides from GSummit SF 2014: Dr. BJ Fogg directs the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford. An experimental psychologist, Fogg has created breakthrough methods…
