TimeLab 2100

TimeLab 2100 is anugmented reality (AR) game. It was designed to create a participatory educational experience, leveraging existing AR technology in which participants consider and discuss local issues of scientific and societal significance and prompting civic media and citizen/political action.

TimeLab 2100: Game Description
It is the year 2100 and the TimeLab needs your help. Climate change has not been kind to Cambridge, Massachusetts, or the rest of the world. TimeLab researchers have determined that a pivotal election held in 2008 might have changed the course of history. As players in this AR game, your goal will be to research possible laws to put on the 2008 ballot (out of 17 possible laws, TimeLab can put 5 on the ballot). Players will factor in two things about each potential law:

1. Each law has a predetermined impact rating (low impact, medium impact, high impact)
2. Each law has a pre-determined popularity rating (unpopular, somewhat popular, very popular)--meaning how likely a law is to pass (reminder: players are just putting laws on the ballot, which still must be voted upon).

As players walk around outside, they meet virtual characters or get other virtual information to tell them about the laws. Then the players reconvene, review what they learned during the outside portion of the game, and prepare a thirty-second plea to the group in which they nominate potential laws. As each new law is mentioned, it is added to a 3x3 grid reminding the group of its impact/popularity. Once all groups have spoken, the non-nominated laws get put aside. Then each player (or team of players) gets ten minutes during which they decide where to cast their three votes. When the voting is complete, the whole group sees which laws got the most nominations. Then to account for whether a law is voted into legislation, a 20-sided dice is rolled to determine if votes pass (1/20 unlikely, 10/20 moderate likely, 19/20 very likely). Outcomes are read for each of the laws which DID pass.

Additional collaborators: Joshua Sheldon, Judy Perry, Marleigh Norton

How might communities use it?
Can be used to see what the impact of two competing proposals would mean to a neighborhood, town, campus, etc.

At what stage of development is it?
Deployed at the Cambridge science festival, a summer camp for students at MIT, and at the conference last summer.