Future Of Play (Keynote:MIT:2010:Sandbox Summit)

THE MEDIUM DOESN’T June 17, 2010
MATTER
Shaping the Future of Play
Keynote: Laura Seargeant Richardson

June 17, 2010

© 2010 frog design. Conﬁdential and Proprietary.

Speaker Notes
This 45-MINUTE presentation was given as the keynote at Plato once said, necessity is the mother of invention. What do
the 2010 MIT Education Arcade/Sandbox Summit. Find our children really need to create for themselves when we o!er
out more about Sandbox here: such a packaged, formed, curated and designed world? There is
http://www.sandboxsummit.org a consequence in removing the “need.”

Note: What you are missing in this presentation: the Throw Down Consequence Cards:
presentation is very participatory: attendees experienced a 1)  In just 5 years the amount of time the average 6 – 8 year old
demo of a “paint and play” turntable (Fisher Price hack by frog spends on creative play has diminished by 1/3rd.
technologists), smelling a scent alphabet, listening to urine 2)  Harvard: by the time they are around 6 years old they slow
analysis, experiencing touch, and launching a paper airplane. down asking questions because they quickly learn that
This pdf is 10% of the overall keynote experience. teachers value the right answers more than provocative
questions.
Find out more in my interview with Ypulse Magazine: 3)  Fast Company: the art of being bored is lost. They want their
http://www.ypulse.com/ypulse-interview-laura-richardson fun to be quick and easy.
-frog-design 4)  TIME: Today’s students are less tolerant of ambiguity and
have an aversion to complexity
Title Slide: ask audience if they still have toys they played with 5)  The Futurist: A critical challenge facing our children: their
as children...ask one or two to describe. Mine is the “anti inability to think realistically, creatively and hopefully about
-coloring” book...from the author, “coloring books cheat kids. the future
Passively coloring in lines instead of creating.” Because of this
book, I have spent my life trying to color outside the lines, break Slide 8: From education to play consumption, I think we have
barriers, and make my own rules – and that’s ultimately why ultimately created more game players than game designers…
I’m a designer. Fast forward 30 years…where are we today? Why is this distinction important?
Does our play call for passive filling in or coloring outside the
lines? Is it more like a coloring book or an anti-coloring book? Slide 9: Players feel empowered in the game, designers are
empowered by making the game. While players may feel
Slide 6: In 2007 Howard wrote this, “children less able to capable of changing a virtual world, designers believe they are
transform their playthings”... Could this be true? capable of changing the real world. The medium doesn’t
matter. Whether it’s o"ine or online, we need more kids making
Slide 7: Consider this handmade ball– this wasn’t made in their games designing their futures.
America…or Asia – rather it was made in Africa...for the African
child play started when he had the idea to make a ball out of Slide 10: Working at a company like frog design, surrounded by
whatever he can find; often for our kids play starts when an a design community, one thing becomes pretty apparent. We all
existing ball is kicked. want our children not simply to be designers, but to think like
designers. And often this starts by designing their play.

Client Name Project Name © 2010 frog design. Confidential & Proprietary. 2

Speaker Notes
Slide 11: I think this interview with Eric Zimmerman is rather Slide 18: 1) narrowed their scope, making them quite literal
striking. GCG: What do you like best about being a game interpretations (chris’ example of farm blocks); and
player? EZ: A game player? Wow. I have to say that I think I like
being a designer more than a player. Maybe that's because as a Slide 19: 2) made them complete and often closed
designer, you're also playing (Examples of kids creating their environments
own games and how powerful that can be. John DeMatteo)
Slide 20: If we look at a simple two axis matrix showing open
Slide 12: Several years ago when I was at M3 Design, we ran an to closed (running horizontally) and physical to digital (running
experiment – can we make a game player a game designer? vertically), We can see that play started in the lower left – fairly
What is the outcome, what skills do they need? open game play and interpretation. Then the industry moved
First, we had them individually collage an ideal game… counterclockwise more to physical and closed. We have toys,
like Furby or a tool like a cellphone, which are moving closer to
Slide 13: then we took them through a series of game inputs digital, but still closed systems. Even the Wii and ipad were
created as consumption (not creation) platforms. With the
Slide 14: and finally they designed their own game. Let’s step advent of digital, such as video games, we still stayed closed
into their world for a moment and see what they designed… and I would suggest we’ve been there for awhile. Much is a
game or game environment defined by someone else – we just
Slide 15: but they didn’t stop there…by the end, here is the get to play the game. As cool as webkinz is, for example, the
game they created. A two-sided book that accompanied the world was created by someone else entirely and you play their
game, holes in the game board to drop them into other games to get points for outfits they designed. As we move
dimensions, an epic battle between man and machine, one forward we are seeing games like Ridemakerz and Xtractaurus,
wrong move and they would be forced to change sides – to which bridge the physical/digital divide, but also enable
understand another view point. Unknowingly, they had created creators to design some aspects of their play. Both came out
as a part of the game the very real constructs they needed as in 2009. Where we need to be, and where we are starting to see
designers. So, what are these constructs, what can we do to more play is in the open and digital space – with Shidonni,
help game players become play designers? Spore and Scribblenauts, we have closed environments, but
play that is so open no one cares that someone else wrote the
Slide 16: We need to provide them the open environments, rules. And with Scratch, Kodu, Kerpoof and Alice, kids get to
flexible tools and the opportunity to make their own rules. This make their own games in real time. In the open digital quadrant
in turn helps develop their design skills – which I like to call we see LEGO, Pleo and a very recent entrant – the Spy Trackr
“super powers.” from Wild Planet, which enables kids to write their own
applications for a remotely controlled vehicle.The sweet spot, I
Slide 17: Originally toys were tools…like a stick, a ball, even believe, is in the webjects space – a term coined by a frog
LEGOS. But manufacturing has transformed these toys in two colleague regarding the overlap between physical objects and
significant ways: the web.


Speaker Notes
Slide 21: Screen 1: My colleague, Alis Cambol and I, took on the Slide 29: How many of you remember what the periodic table
challenge of concepting the ideal future webject – one that might of elements looks like? Like this, right?
embody an open environment, flexible tools, and How many of you also learned that there are another 450 valid
spontaneous rule making and that had no literal representations of the periodic table that look nothing like
interpretation. The result is wearable in the form of a gloved this? How are our minds to be flexible when we are told there is
sleeve. Run through tech components. only one way?

Slide 22: Screen 2: It would be supported by an open Slide 30: it means the toy is so formed that you need to hack
ecosystem of flexible components it to get the magic out of it. Hacking has a purpose though – it
sets our imagination free, it answers the question, “what if?”
Slide 23-25: Screen 3 – 5: and enable various scenarios of and in the world of post consumption and DIY crowd, hacking
game play – like paintball, hide and seek and enhanced game is even seen as healing.
board play that is not bounded by time.
Two of our amazing technologists at frog – Gregg Wygonick
Slide 26: While role play serves an important purpose, at some and David Wood asked the question “what if?” of a Fisher Price
point children realize they cannot be superman. It makes me turntable. The result is a paint and play turn table. Instead of
incredibly sad to hear my daughter tell me she is not a hero or playing records it plays paintings…LEGOs…and anything else
that she doesn’t have super powers – that is reserved for you might have that is colored red, green or blue.
Spiderman. When Wild Planet Toys was developing their Spy
Game, they asked kids who they wanted to be (Spy Kids, James Slide 31: Frank Wilson in his book The Hand describes how the
Bond, etc.) and kids answered, “I want to be me. I want to be brain and hand are linked. New York Time article, Taking Play
the spy.” which is why their packaging shows regular kids, not a Seriously. In it they discussed that students who hadn’t
character. worked with their hands were no longer able to solve problems.
And both NASA and Boeing will no longer hire engineers who
Slide 27: So after leveraging my own research and the research fail to demonstrate a history of working with their hands (fixing
or sources of 50 others, I created a framework to demonstrate cars, playing instruments).
the real super powers kids need to develop. This is your chance
to experience with some of the super powers. My colleague, Kate Canales, has created an entire class based
on the idea of thinking with your hands. The kids have taken
Slide 28: Let’s take the first one. Everyone should have a piece apart household appliances, feel with their eyes and see with
of paper. The goal is to see if any of you can reach the stage their hands.
with the paper. The idea of flexible thinking is probably best
represented by the book “Paper Airplane: Flight of Change.”
Read excerpt.


Speaker Notes
Continued: We would get a deeper and enhanced
Slide 32: To send the point home, I thought we all might try to understanding of this man-made construct. It would aid in
see with our hands. Everyone has an envelope marked with a memory, in learning, in association, in appreciation. For the
black 1. without looking at the object, tear open the envelope, visually impaired, "A" which they cannot "see" (but which they
feel your object and try to draw what you think you feel. can sound and feel) would now have another sensorial
element for interpretation and recognition. It would be a
deeper way of knowing and being intimate with "A.”
Slide 33: Describe analogy. Consider this sound…what do you
think you hear? Dr. Charles Sweeley found that he could better Sir Francis Galton, known for many eminent distinctions,
determine diseases in urine samples by hearing what his including being the half cousin of Charles Darwin, decided to
do a little experiment and taught himself "smell arithmetic."
eyes could not see. Visually, we can only scan one line at a Galton associated specific smells with specific numbers; - for
time, but aurally we can hear a complete song or the 57 unique example two whi!s of peppermint = 1 whi! of camphor - and
instruments that may make up the song. claimed that he could add and subtract quite well with
This has also been done for DNA. imaginary scents, but that multiplication was too di#cult.”

Slide 39 : This is my daughter’s painting…and this is what a
Slide 34 and 35: Games as framework, Scientific American color painting sounds like (play clip). Lottolab studio is using
article, 2010. mold for micro-fluidics work, such as stem cell its Synaesthetic software to enable users to create and control
research. Made micro fluidics chips directly from shrinky dink
an orchestras with colour -which we call 'colour scores'. The
plastic.
'mapping' between notes and colour is also predefined by the
user. The basis of our workshops is the patterns we see and
Slide 36 and 37: Crayola glasses - thinking about math and hear and the possibility to create a never previously
english di!erently. What FAMPS should do is let us combine experienced relationship between them.
powers – insight combination. It’s in the multi-dimensional that
we learn.
Slide 41: Yawns Are Yellow is a story I co-wrote with my
daughter. It meant to introduce synaesthesia to kids, but to
Slide 38:
First, a simple experiment…Everyone close your eyes. also help them see di!erently. What if there is more than one
Can you imagine what the letter A looks like in your mind? right answers/ What if there is more than one way to see?
can you hear the sound A makes in your head?
Can you imagine how A feels in your hand? Slide 42: Read Excerpt: “And yawns, oh yawns, they were
Can you smell A?
yellow. She loved to see someone yawn. Can you yawn right
Why doesn't "A" have a smell associated with it, just like a now? Her father’s yawn was the deep golden color of marigold
visualization, shape, or sound? There's no reason actually. We flowers. Her mother’s was the light yellow of lemon drops. Her
just haven't considered it yet. As a matter of fact, as humans teacher, Ms. Nuttenbutter, had the lightest yellow of all – like
we never forget a scent. What would we get from a scent
alphabet, even if its unique to each of us? squinting into the bright sun and seeing just the rays.
Sometimes, Charlotte would try to yawn just to see the yellow
mist it made. “


June 17, 2010


players > designers


“[Game players] are people who
believe they are individually
capable of changing the world…

The only problem is they believe
they are capable of changing
virtual worlds and not the real
world.”
Jane McConigal, game designer & futurist


What do you like best about being
a game player?

“A game player? Wow. I have to say
that I think I like being a designer
more than a player. Maybe that’s
because as a designer, you’re also
June 17, 2010

playing.”
Eric Zimmerman, game designer
Author, Rules of Play

Photo Credit: Vincent Lam, M3 Design

What do you like best about being
a game player?

“A game player? Wow. I have to say
that I think I like being a designer
more than a player. Maybe that’s
because as a designer, you’re also
June 17, 2010

playing.”
Eric Zimmerman, game designer
Author, Rules of Play


environments tools rules

design skills
“super powers”


Morph:
Flexible Sight

June 17, 2010

Photo Credit: igniteseattle.com

Morph:
Flexible Sight

June 17, 2010


Manipulate:
Hacking

June 17, 2010


Move:
Body Thinking

Client Name Project Name © 2010 frog design. Conﬁdential & Proprietary. Kate Canales
Photo Credit: 31

Move:
Body Thinking

Client Name Project Name © 2010 frog design. Conﬁdential & Proprietary. Kate Canales
Photo Credit: 32

What do you hear? Stretch:
Analogy

June 17, 2010


Stretch:
Analogy


Combine:
Dimension

June 17, 2010


Combine:
Synthesis


Combine:
Combine:
Synthesis
Synthesis

June 17, 2010


Combine:
Synthesis

June 17, 2010


Yawns
Are
Yellow

Play is the greatest natural
resource in our creative economy.

Let’s help kids make more.


Future Of Play (Keynote:MIT:2010:Sandbox Summit)

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