Applied Immersive Gaming for Resilience

 Key UC Contact

What We Did

Games come in all sorts and sizes – and are usually associated with entertainment and distraction. Yet, games represent a powerful, interactive medium to tackle challenges of individuals, organisations, and society. In our work on ‘Games for Resilience’ we aim to unlock the potential of games to support people in becoming more resilient and being part of an inclusive society. Our work embraces immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to prepare for the smaller and larger challenges in life all of us face – from children with autism (ASD) and attention and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to UC students engaging in virtual field trips to places that are threatened by floods or earthquakes.

Who Was Involved

Games for Resilience’ is one research stream within the Applied Immersive Gaming Initiative (AIGI) at the HIT Lab NZ. Together with the academic staff, one postdoctoral and three PhD researchers work on immersive game technologies as interventions for young individuals with mental disorders and on games for crisis management. Research on games for resilience is conducted with colleagues from UC and with international experts from the Netherlands to Hong Kong.

Why It Matters

The New Zealand government formulated the first National Educational Goal (NEG) as ‘The highest standards of achievement, through programmes which enable all students to realise their full potential as individuals, and to develop the values needed to become full members of New Zealand’s society’. UC’s excellent research on applied immersive games addresses real contexts where resilience matters. Applied immersive games enable individuals of different skill levels to engage with safe and realistic environments for learning, training and awareness building.

Learn More

• To find out more, watch Heide Lukosch’s UC Connect Lecture on “Applied Immersive Games for Education, Work, and Wonder”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jipVPmV9Nig
• Lukosch, H., & Comes, T. (2019). Gaming as a research method in humanitarian logistics. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 9(3), 352-370.