Back to the drawing board?

World Without Oil was successful because its purpose is based in dealing a potentially real issue: petrol is not sustainable. And that’s why I’m not happy with any of my brainstormed ideas so far: they don’t have the urgency or usefulness I would like. What’s something interesting and potentially threatening about new technologies to humanity?

I’m not happy with the idea of complete restriction of social media / phones etc, but that’s just silly and they’ve proved to have many virtues (not to say I think my previously mentioned gripes are no longer valid). As with any major innovations, there’s just changes to the way we operate and communicate…

Eg: 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates

50 things that are being killed by the Internet

Psychological effects of Internet use

I’m also not happy with the idea of forcing people to use technologies in excess, because that does not sound fun to me, who would want to watch it, and turns out similar sites already exist- “lifecasting” is already a thing, it seems.
Eg: Justin.tv

New Idea: Going back to my original concern – addictions to the Internet – I could maybe make a game where users have to get by in a world if there were AN EPIDEMIC of technological addictions…
-people working inefficiently because of online distractions
-children being neglected due to parents being more concerned with screens (similarities may be drawn between other addictions like gambling and certain substances)
-other duties and services not performed as a result of people spending more time online than planned
-et cetera.
But I dunno, this doesn’t seem particularly enthralling to any audiences…

New Idea 2: What about a world where artificial intelligence is as powerful as our own? It’s got HEAPS of background in science fiction which, you know, is fiction, but often the concerns are drawn from concepts in the context of the times, and it could be interesting to see how people would actively change their lives. And this concern isn’t too abstract it seems… I just searched some journal databases via UTS library and came across these interesting articles:
-Allenby, Braden R., and Daniel Sarewitz. “The accelerating techno-human future: technology and humanity are co-evolving in ways that past generations had never imagined possible, according to the authors of the techno-human condition. This is not necessarily a good thing, they warn. With unprecedented levels of innovation come new societal tensions and cultural clashes. People everywhere are challenged to adapt to accelerating change.” The Futurist Sept.-Oct. 2011: 30+. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 22 Sep. 2011.
-Shaker, Steven M. “The coming robot evolution race: Homo sapiens may have ‘won’ the evolutionary race to perfect humankind, but artificial intelligence and robotics will evolve faster and farther. Rather than compete with them, we may do well to make them our allies and co-evolve, suggests a technology trend analyst.” The Futurist Sept.-Oct. 2011: 20+. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 22 Sep. 2011.
I could appeal to a sci-fi loving fanbase (and of course there are plenty of these online) by creating an alternate reality game if robots were to really co-exist in society- how would people change? What different behaviours, values, choices?

Is this an online documentary, or just speculation? I don’t even know anymore. I’m tired, and it feels like I’m clutching at straws. Perhaps I need to pursue a new train of thought entirely…  sigh!

WWWWOD? (What Would ‘World Without Oil’ Do?)

As World Without Oil was the first serious alternate reality game, I thought it could be a good idea to look deeper into how the creators went about their processes and what they had to do, as well as properly wrap my head around some of the concepts.

Serious game: “A game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment” … in this case, sparking thoughts and plans for the shock of a worldwide oil shortage… so designed for problem solving and social change, as well as keeping a record for when oil resources do become scarce.

Alternate reality game: “an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants’ ideas or actions” (thanks to Wikipedia for these definitions by the way)… so, WWO simulates a potential real world crisis, and it’s the players’ contributions which make up the doco.

WWO: was played in 2007, but the information and contributions are still available now. Its tagline “play it before you live it” summarises its goal- preparation and using collective intelligence in advance. Apparently it cost around $100 000 to produce, and the 1700 players were recruited via word-of-mouth and viral marketing. Following a “this is not a game” mentality, they made significant changes to their lives and posted responses:

“Players submitted video gardening tips, arranged carpools and urged one another to change their lightbulbs to energy-saving fluorescents. They sent in photos or video of themselves performing “missions,” such as preparing meals using only local food or coming up with activities beginning with every letter of the alphabet that can be performed without using petroleum products.” (from http://www.current.org/tech/tech0709itvsgame.shtml)

One reason I really like WWO is that it stretches the ‘online documentary’ genre. As an ARG, it can only exist online – ie, it’s ‘net-native’, and web relevance is something that I think is really important to distinguishing it from a ‘normal’ doco made available on a website. Although dealing with a fictional event and conjuring a lot of imagination, WWO causes us to question the real world and interact with it. The archive of players’ collaborations is and will be a very valuable document when the occasion arises. Finally, the game is only as good as its players make it – WWO embraces and relies upon interactivity and participation, rendering it a truly rewarding audience-driven multi-directional people-based experience.

…So how am I going to make something as relevant, innovative and engaging?!

More links and info:

Start: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/start.aspx

WWO demonstrates: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/metafaq4.htm

Goals and methods: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/metafaq3.htm