Speaker: Ben Caldwell (book talk)

We are pleased to host pioneering artist Ben Caldwell. Join us on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 5:30pm. The event will be hosted in the AU Game Center, DMTI room 113. More on Caldwell: Caldwell will also be talking about his sustained art and innovation practice in Leimert Park. He is a collaborator with the […]

Presenting at PLA in Columbus

Join us in Columbus, OH, on April 5, 2024, at the annual Public Library Association. Our topic: “Engaging Beyond Our Walls: Making Neighborhood Games and Outdoor Storytelling,” led by David Quick of DC Public Library and Benjamin Stokes of American University. DESCRIPTION: “Can your library empower residents to design their own outdoor games and bring […]

Presenting at the EdGames Expo (federal games showcase)

Earlier this week (Sept. 20, 2023) we were proud to present our Hive Mechanic system at the annual EdGames Expo. This public event is the primary federal showcase of “game-changing innovations” across 50 federal government programs, and is organized primarily by the US Department of Education. It was a thrill to showcase our work alongside […]

Poster on Recent Work

For a presentation to the Board of American University, I created a large poster (4×3 foot) of our lab’s recent work: My goal was to show a visual snapshot of the kind of research we do. Of course, I couldn’t include everything, and so I picked a cluster of projects that seemed to tell a […]

Article proposal: Hybrid cards to simplify game design

One of the neat things we are trying with Hive Mechanic is pairing paper with digital cards to make games. (Hive Mechanic is our game authoring tool for non-programmers and city leaders.) Why is this cool? Because everyone knows cards — and some cutting edge game designers use them as a creativity boost. Our inspirations […]

Presenting at Games for Change (update: photos)

We will launch the report at the Games for Change festival with two panels on June 29, 2018. Hear what cities did in partnership with the Knight Foundation and Niantic, Inc. at these sessions: Friday panel #1: Knight Foundation VP Sam Gill and Niantic VP Gabriel Stricker on “How Technology Is Changing Our Relationship to the Places […]

Provocations on the future of cities

Good lenses can amplify insights. Below are five provocations on the future of cities that help to frame our report, “Cities Remix a Playful Platform.” To guide our readers, we propose several provocations to help frame this report. For novel designs, our mental models and categories may not fit cleanly. These provocations aim to help […]