The project “Building a community for the co-creation of games with high impact on innovation, sustainability, social cohesion, and growth“, abbreviated as i-Game, implemented under the “Horizon Europe” Programme, aims to create an accessible platform for the design and development of open-source games. This platform will facilitate the co-creation of games by different interested parties in ecosystems of cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI), to enhance innovation with a positive impact on social cohesion and sustainability.
In European society, video games are significant both as a cultural and commercial industry and as an important aspect of people’s daily lives. Recognizing the importance of video games in the modern cultural environment, the three-year European project, “i-Game,” aims to :
- Attract interested parties and professionals from the world of video games, of different abilities, specializations, and expertise, providing them with knowledge, presenting new ideas, in order to enable them to exploit new opportunities.
To this end, the iGame project team has already started the field research to understand and capture the needs and requirements of the upcoming users of i-Game, a serious game co-creation platform.
Interviews and focus group discussions are now taking place, involving a wide range and very diverse group of experts and professionals with particular focus on:
(i) museums and cultural sector,
(ii) game and creative industry,
(iii) textile and fashion industry,
(iv) digital accessibility and inclusion,
(v) serious games and gamification.
A few highlights extracted from the initial interviews with potential game co-creators have already provided interesting ideas and diverse perspectives about how the i-Game platform could facilitate and promote inclusion:
● An expert on digital accessibility for people with vision loss, who is 100% blind himself, suggested using the serious games as a tool to indirectly promote inclusion: “I remember an uncomfortable experience I had at a hackathon, when a person tried to help me around, but did not how to do it correctly. I realized that it would have been easier if there is a game where a character is blind, and the player has to do in-game actions (e.g. take the person across the street) and get points for doing it correctly.”
● A researcher, and expert on game accessibility for the physically disabled, suggested that the i-Game could be a “an adaptive ecosystem that could offer additional training, employment and visibility opportunities for people with disabilities.”
● However, as pointed out by a game sound producer, who has vision problems, it is important for the co-creation platform to provide “alternatives for the traditional interaction methods, as for example for the mouse drag-and-drop functionality present on all co-creation platforms, which is extremely hard to use by blind people. Also, it can be quite disorientating when trying to locate your mouse on the screen and within a page, where there can be like 10 other people in that collaborative project, and you try to find out where you are in it.”
- Are you experienced in game co-creation, accessible gaming, games and culture and creativity? Other aspects related to a platform like i-Game?
- If so, we invite you to share with us your expertise and experience, by taking part in our field research activities (interviews, focus groups, surveys) either at personal level or as a representative for your organization.
Get involved today and contact us at: otilia@raisingthefloor.org