“Seed of Light: Evoking Emotional Connections Between Physical and Virtual Game Players Through Real-Time, Mass-Scale Interaction” by Thomas, Mizutani, Xu, Chen, Hawkins, et al. …
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- Seed of Light: Evoking Emotional Connections Between Physical and Virtual Game Players Through Real-Time, Mass-Scale Interaction
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In a post pandemic era marked by an “empathy deficit” and a craving for interpersonal connection, Jenova Chen’s thatgamecompany and the Asian Art Museum have collaborated on Seed of Light, an interactive game that exists simultaneously as an interactive art installation in a museum space and as a massively multiplayer online game. This unique art game seeks to bridge the gap between physical and digital experiences, fostering authentic emotional connections across diverse audiences. In this paper, we reveal how these connections occur on three levels: through the intertwining game plot, through the fluid flow of light between physical and digital spaces, and through the custom game controller and feedback mechanism called the Seed. These contributions position Seed of Light as a transformative medium, demonstrating the potential of video games as empathy engines within cultural spaces.
References:
[1] Jonathan Belman and Mary Flanagan. 2010. Designing games to foster empathy. International Journal of Cognitive Technology 15, 1 (2010), 11.
[2] Elizabeth E. Merritt. 2017. TrendsWatch. American Alliance of Museums. Retrieved Feb 18, 2025 from https://www.aam-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/trendswatch-2017.pdf
