Carnegie Mellon University: Neuroscientists and Game Designers Play Well Together

Jessica Hammer thinks the most important technology for making games is the brain.

“My games are designed to put the player into an altered state, so their brain becomes part of the system of play,” said Hammer, the Thomas and Lydia Moran Associate Professor of Learning Science. “Play is not something that can be done to you. It’s something that you actively do with your mind as well as your body.”

When the brain is in an altered state of play, good things can happen. Hammer studies transformational games, which are games that change how players think, feel or behave. They can even aid in medical issues and help researchers better understand how the brain works.

“Games are great for getting patients to do arbitrary activities,” Hammer said. “For example, rehab for neurological or neurophysiological issues requires patients to practice specific things repeatedly. Games can get them to look forward to doing that.”

In Aphasia Games for Health, Hammer partnered with the University of Pittsburgh’s William Evans and others to help patients suffering from aphasia, a disorder that affects how people communicate. They created a suite of free games people in the aphasia community could play with their friends, families and online communities.

“People with aphasia may need years of rehab, but not everyone has access to it,” Hammer said. “Not being able to communicate is very isolating. There is a robust online community of patients and families that were already using games as a catalyst for social interaction. We wanted to make sure the games they were using had rehab benefits as well.”

All games in Aphasia Games for Health can be played with just access to a printer or video conferencing, like Zoom. In one game, The Minister’s Cat, players use a printable deck of cards as prompts to tell and remember stories. In Do You See What I See, four to 16 players identify interesting objects in other players’ video chat backgrounds.

“If you’re rural, if you’re remote, if you don’t have access to an in-person group, you can play these games with people online. It’s a great excuse to connect with other people,” Hammer said.

“You can be a game designer or a neuroscientist and do great work with neuroscience and games. You can also stand in the middle and have a foot in both worlds. Those are all viable paths for making an impact in this area.” — Jessica Hammer

Hammer is teaming up with Barbara Shinn-Cunningham to bring neuroscientists and game designers together at BrainPlay, a conference being held at Carnegie Mellon from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

Co-organized by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (TCCI), the event will gather experts and newcomers from both fields, with a shared goal of fostering new collaborations. Yan Li, a senior program manager at TCCI, said the organization is thrilled to bring the fields together.

“The Chen Institute is dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and supporting young scientists,” Yan Li said.