Communications of the ACM
Play Your Way to Work With Interactive Games
The Chromaroma game records the location, date, and time of every Oyster card swipe on London's public transportation system. This image is a visualization of the data.
Credit: Flickr
New interactive games are designed to make commuting to work more of an entertaining experience, with possible application toward boosting the efficiency of transport networks.
Researchers at the Exertion Games Lab at Australia's RMIT University have developed Cart-Load-o-Fun, which can be installed on buses, trams, or trains. The game involves two players who must cooperate to move a dot around a screen, acquiring objects and avoiding enemies by squeezing pads affixed to a tram's overhead handholds. The tram's movement adds to the fun because players need to use the handholds to steady themselves as they play. RMIT University's Floyd Mueller says the game helps create the perception of a faster trip among passengers, while the tram company likes the game because it encourages the use of the handholds, increasing passenger safety.
Meanwhile, Chromaroma can transform the London Underground into a gaming environment for commuters by converting data collected every time they check in or out of a station into game stats. Players earn points for passing through certain stations or by competing for the fastest time between stops. Transport for London thinks the game has crowd control applications, in which players are rewarded for avoiding crowded stops, for example.
From New Scientist
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