Mat’inno: Serious Games, a Biological and Social Approach

The popular belief that video games are merely casual entertainment is fading. The latest Mat’inno conference explored gamification and serious gaming, bringing companies and players together at theCentre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréalto consider social

and scientific

approaches to technologies that connect people and machines. Jason Edward Lewis, professor in design and digital arts atConcordia, presented the Skins 5.0 workshop

held

in Hawaii, where participants created short films rooted in Indigenous storytelling, in collaboration with artist Skawennati. Jérôme Waldispuhl, assistant professor of computer science at McGill, presented participatory games such as Phylo and Colony

which use playful interfaces inspired byCandy Crush or Tetris to help analyze data related to the human microbiome. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed team also presented a more educational standalone version of the game, offering students a historically faithful exploration of Cleopatra’s Egypt. Since the 2000s, researchers, artists, historians and programmers have used games well beyond entertainment; serious games now form a more conscious field where play, learning andresearch can meet.