Gaming Is Helping Us Do More Than We Think
Thanks to a group of change-makers, gaming is helping us achieve so much more than just kicking out feet up and getting lost in the moment.
Today, owing to a bunch of radical thinkers, gaming is beginning to change the way we play sport, learn a new language, meet new people, and even how we experience our world.
Below are just some of the ways in which gaming is helping us do and achieve so much more than what we first signed up for.
It’s Changing The Way We Train
Gaming is helping to take the pain out of going to the gym.
A new startup by gaming pioneer Anna Martin-Niedecken is helping athletes become super fit with the help of what is essentially a video game.
Sphery seeks to combine the fun of gaming with a holistic approach to fitness and exercise. In a room kitted out with high-tech tracking devices, athletes power their way through various levels of a game. Points are accumulated from everything from dodging imaginary obstacles to doing push-ups and burpees.
It’s all about creating that ever-elusive “flow” that turns an exhausting activity into a fun and productive workout.
It’s Turning Us Into Superheroes
While the world of gaming is full of superhero avatars and superpowers, the world of video games is capable even to help us develop superpowers as we navigate everyday life.
Behold the SuperBetter app, created by American games maker Jane McGonigal. It’s a gaming-style tool that sees you level up every time you complete an everyday task. This could be as simple as doing the dishes or as intricate as putting the final touches on that presentation.
With SuperBetter, you level up and build your avatar and its powers every time you slay the dragons of procrastination and self-doubt.
It’s Helping Us Solve Our World
People spend days on end battling zombies and winning races. And while these are nothing to smirk at in terms of worthwhile skills to have, gamers can now put their time and skills to great use by helping to solve the many issues currently facing the human race.
Thanks to a game like Eve Online, gamers are making contributions to every possible field of research – from helping to solve a pandemic to helping researchers analyse data.
It’s Teaching Us New Skills
According to research conducted by a prominent sport scientist at the German Sport University Cologne, even occasional gaming can improve everything from our motor skills to our problem-solving abilities.
While for most people gaming is about nothing more than having fun and potentially winning big playing crypto slots, Professor Ingo Frobose considers it to be specialised training for perception and the ability to analyse.
Consider, for example, an esports player. With a player making up to 400 moves a minute, not to mention a world of explosion-dodging, teamwork-focused decisions, it’s hard not to recognise that esports enthusiasts are giving their brands a high-level cognitive workout every time they play.
Improving your motor skills while becoming stronger mentally has never before looked like this much fun.