Computer games help make the world a better place, according to ongoing research in game play at Calit2 and UC Irvine, which has been studying gaming for several years.
According to an article by Calit2’s newsroom:
Take the U.S. military. As many as 100 video games currently are used in military training programs and in 2006, the Department of Defense reportedly allocated $120 million for the development of new versions. Computer simulations and immersive virtual reality games effectively create combat or terrorist scenarios for soldiers to hone their skills in a near real-life setting.
Computer games also have the capability to manipulate time and space in a way that is not possible in reality, a characteristic that intrigues Calit2 researcher Bill Tomlinson. The assistant professor of informatics studies human-computer interaction and computer-assisted learning. He teamed up with Lynn Carpenter, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, to design EcoRaft, a computer game for teaching restoration ecology to children.
“In the real world, it would be impractical and immoral to wipe out a species to see how the rest of the species react, but you can do that in a virtual world,” says Tomlinson.
