MAGIC Projects

Just Press Play: : Applying Game Design Principles to the Undergraduate Student Experience

We intend to build a pervasive game system that engages our students more fully (or, as McGonigal might put it, gamefully) in activities that will improve their ability to manage the college experience, help prepare them for careers in game development and new media, give them a sense of accomplishment and progress along the path to their goal of graduation, and provide them with a way to meaningfully demonstrate and record the variety of skills they have mastered. Initial work in this area is made possible by generous support from Microsoft Research. http://play.rit.edu

Lazy Eye Shooter

Lazy Eye Shooter is a game treatment for adult Amblyopia that is currently being funded by the National Eye Institute, the Office of Naval Research, and the McDonnell Foundation. First person shooters have been shown to increase visual acuity and we believe this may be used to help treat those with adult amblyopia that have previously been untreatable. Preliminary results are promising and a children's non-violent game version is currently being developed. A YouTube video of the adult version of the game is located here. Dr. Jessica Bayliss is the RIT PI on this work, and the contact for the project.

Games, Gender & STEM Education

Our work with partners Second Ave. Learning was the source of a recent article at KQED MindShift. In addition to the talented group at Second Ave., IGM Professors David Simkins, Adrienne Decker, and Christopher Egert are engaged in the current project. Professor Stephen Jacobs has also worked extensively with Second Avenue on several projects. We are also excited to note the synergy of our efforts with our colleagues at the University of Rochester, as well as others throughout the nation regarding experimental work in this area. This project is supported by the National Science Foundation and made possible through multiple awards in the SBIR program.

Mindgamers in School

A therapeutic, physiologically-controlled videogame for use by people diagnosed with anxiety and/or autism spectrum disorder. The game goal is for the player to have their “best day,” in school. The game allows the player to customize three avatars, one that represents his everyday self and two “imps”; a goal-based imp (GBImp) that represents their idealized self and a problem-based imp (PBImp) that represents the repetitive behaviors they are trying to reduce and/or eliminate. As the player goes through the game day, and encounter stressors that increase their anxiety level, the PBImp gains control of the game. As they reduce their anxiety level, the GBImp returns game control to the player. The game provides hard data on a player’s physical and emotional states during a therapy session that combines cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy and biofeedback supported psychophysiological self-regulation. Collaboration between MAGIC’s LTL, CAPS (with Dr. Laurence Sugarman) and St. John Fisher (with Dr. Rob Rice).

World of Warcraft Diabetes Mod

This project is a unique experiment in flipping the Games for Health Paradigm. Rather than creating a new game for health education, why not modify an existing game for health education? Players running the mod will have their Avatar’s blood sugar drop when they've tapped their energy stores through game-play and will have to replenish them with appropriate food available in the game. Pick the wrong food and your blood sugar will run too high. Blood sugar too high or too low will affect character abilities... This project is a collaboration between MAGIC’s LTL, the Stanford University Medical Center and Universitat de Barcelona.