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Tough to attend all due to time differences (event based in NYC)

Call for speakers earlier this year

One of my senior colleagues suggested that I check out this Games for Change Virtual Festival 2020 seeing how I dabble in the creation of games particularly for education. It was not easy to access all the sessions live especially due to the time difference but I managed to explore the Hopin.to platform that was used as well as the sponsors page where I learn about some meaningful games.

Hopin.to platform (with loneliness poll)

Interesting Blind ~~date~~ Networking feature

The games that I saw were mostly created by developers in the States but nonetheless some of their ideas can be adapted to the local context with existing technologies.

History Maker VR (US Context) by Schell Games allowed students to use virtual props and characters to make their study of American History come to life.

As for Hair Trigger by Nuclear Threat Initiative, You are the President. Can you avert nuclear war?

Accidents happen. They shouldn’t lead to nuclear war. Join the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) for the exclusive launch of Hair Trigger, a new mobile game developed with Simcoach Games. The game pits the player—the U.S. president—against time, luck, and real-life nuclear incidents. Check out a virtual tour that supports the cause and raise awareness about the underground nuclear test sites at Novaya Zemlya (Russia's testing ground in an archipelago in the Arctic Region).

Rabbids Coding by Ubisoft teaches players of all ages the basics of coding. In the game, the mischievous Rabbids make a mess inside a spaceship and the players clean up the ship by creating commands to move the Rabbids. Rabbids Coding aims to make programming fun and accessible for everyone. Rabbids Coding is easy to use for first-time coders, and it is suitable for players age seven and up (reading skills required). Throughout the 32 levels of the game, players will learn how to use sequential programming, loops and conditions. All skills and concepts will help the player learn how to optimize their program creating the most efficient coding sequence as possible. This game reminds me of an AR Rabbit hopping coding game on Spark AR.

KOCCA DELEGATION- MazM: Pechka by Growing Seeds

* An interactive story game with a movie-like feel - Experience an epic tale based in the chaotic Russian Far East in the early 20th century in a unique dramatic production from MazM - Explore Russian streets of the time and meet intriguing characters. * Discover historical trivia that you can only find with MazM - “MazM: Pechka” is steeped in fascinating history. - Collect historical “footnotes” while making your way through the story. - Learn about the historical events that led to the Russian Far East descending into chaos. This one reminds me of the CYOAs or multi-disciplinary Visual Novels that I have made and published in the past like Trigo Stars (clearly their production is of a superior quality).

KOCCA DELEGATION Virtual Barista Coffee by Softzen- Providing both fun and educational effects for the disabled students so that students can be immersed in this job training special educational program. This to me is truly meaningful especially since it is meant for those with disabilities to pick up skills and live a dignified life with purpose. However, as of now it is still only in Korean so let's hope they get funding to expand and bring the impactful simulation for more parts of the world.

Note: The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is South Korea's leading government agency that oversees the advancement of Korean creative content, both domestically and internationally.

Sea Monster shifts mindsets using unharnessed imagination, powerful digital technology and a fierce passion for storytelling. Using our specialised skills in animation, gaming and immersive technologies, we solve the toughest communication challenges. The experiences we create have the power to grip hearts, spring people into action and shatter beliefs. AR is a fundamentally improved method of sharing digital information, overlaid on the real world using a phone or tablet in a way that is contextual, visual, and gamified. Animation transcends gender, language and culture. By creating relatable characters, we bridge the gap between your message and your audience. The site really has some interesting apps that I recommend trying.

Developer Sindi Breshani Diktatura is an upcoming VR docu-game that explores life inside a totalitarian regime, based on true accounts from four individuals who experienced the Albanian dictatorship. You will be transported to the center of a dystopian country, where you will adopt the role of the Secretary of the Party monitoring your neighborhood by collecting information on its residents. At this stage of game development, we are inviting players to a short read-through of Diktatura, which simulates gameplay. By the end of the experience, we kindly ask you to share your feedback, which will be invaluable to our project.

Developer Tribe of Pan's The Choice is an interactive Virtual Reality documentary experience allowing the viewer to meet and engage in authentic conversations with women who share their personal stories about their choice to have an abortion. The project will highlight the various stereotypes surrounding abortion, as well as show the many obstacles/hardships women face when deciding to terminate their pregnancy; whether it be the financial aspects, social stigma, or feelings of isolation and guilt. This experience is currently in development and is targeting both PC and standalone Virtual Reality devices. This is a bit more controversial especially since it is relating to a taboo topic.

Tinker Studio: Discover first-hand what it is like to witness a loved one develop Alzheimer’s Disease. Through the fusion of virtual reality and live, unscripted performance, experience storytelling like never before. Another video here.

In Invite Only VR by play4REAL XR Lab, Yale, the player must navigate different types of peer pressure, including the pressure to vape in various social settings and situations. As the game progresses, the player develops powers to help him successfully navigate these situations, including the power to observe his environment, apply his new knowledge in conversations with others, and effectively refuse his peers. Invite Only VR also uses voice recognition software, allowing for real-time practice refusing peers. The game is for the Oculus Go and takes 1.5 – 2 hours to complete. Invite Only VR was designed to align with National Health Education Standards. This alternative is good too relating to racial bias.

Synesthetic Echo's Bizarre Barber is a surreal, fun & fast-moving haircutting game set on a subway platform. Have you ever wanted to be a hairstylist? Or maybe you just love having fun? Grab your VR controllers, and get ready to snip away! Bizarre Barber is a surreal, fun & fast-moving haircutting game set on a subway platform. There were no comfy barber chairs left after the apocalypse, so your eccentric clientele moves chaotically through the colorful worlds, unable to sit still even for a second. Are your reflexes, creativity, and strategy skills strong enough to defeat the United Underground hairiest president? Alternatively, try Booper to see from the eyes of kids' drawing with an occulus device.

Double eye studio's Metropoles is a multiplayer gamified VR experience that incorporates participatory democracy and tactical urbanism. Our aim is for the experience to be both a tool for communities to begin engaging in dialogue, but also an entertaining and non- threatening approach to exploring change within a neighborhood, and the active part that community members can play in shaping their neighborhoods. Players will be introduced to a city block in Brooklyn that is undergoing gentrification. The role of each player - a neighbor. The mission of the neighbors? To solve the problems of the neighborhood through collaboration. Try watching some of the 360 VR videos here to have a feel of immersive virtual reality experiences.

Luden.io Rewire.Education is a project for building gaming simulations for autistic players. One of its parts is ABA VR, a selection of virtual reality simulations for education in autism. Co-developed with educators and therapists from the US and Europe, it provides a distraction-free environment that helps children learn new skills and concepts, such as establishing eye contact, distinguishing spatial categories and more.