Virtual Environments, Games and Society (VEGAS)

Virtual Environments and Games create opportunities for simulations that are rich in diverse experiences. VeGaS wants to understand the chances, challenges, impacts and importance of these interactive media for society.

Virtual environments and / or games serve a rich variety of purposes. Next to being mere entertainment media, their interactivity allows for profound and rewarding experiences within different settings. This is important for research in several aspects: 1) the popularity of games and virtual environments needs to be analysed concerning their impacts on society and 2) virtual environments and games can be modded (changed in certain aspects) and thus, serve as a creative and elaborate research approach with various possibilities to alter experience and therefore the media’s influence on their audiences.

VEGAS consists of international researchers who target emerging questions related to the popularity of virtual environment and games. We study how virtual environments and games have to be developed and used for the benefit of society. We are involved in the construction of new theories, and we look at the future of the opportunities of virtual environments and games and how they will influence our daily life and the life of others. Our clustermembers are heavily involved in international research networks concerned with virtual environments and digital games (e.g., DIGRA, ECREA, ICA) and are dedicated to sharing knowledge outside the academic ivory tower, for example in the Coursera MOOC Serious Gaming, in our collaboration with the Dutch network Media Literacy and with the European game industry in the PEGI Experts Group.

Coursera MOOC Serious Gaming: https://www.coursera.org/learn/serious-gaming
Netwerk Mediawijsheid rapport over games: https://netwerkmediawijsheid.nl/onderzoek/effectieve-mediawijsheidgames/
PEGI experts group: https://pegi.info/page/pegi-committees

Projects

Digital Literacy Games

Persuasive Gaming in Context

Developing digital games and VR installations

The representation of war and the Holocaust in digital entertainment games

The fogland game: Creating and validating a paper prototype of a game to fight smokers’ needs for relaxation and social contacts.