Title: The Reduction of Impaired Driving Using a Video Game - The Booze Cruise
Speaker: Dr. James Parker, Professor of Art, Digital Media Laboratory, University of Calgary
Date:
Time: 3:30 pm
Place: Thorvaldson 124
Abstract:
Impaired driving is a serious problem and is universally seen as being a preventable form of death and injury. It has a high profile at the present time, and non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and police services are always searching for ways to reach the public with the message that drinking and driving is dangerous.
The Booze Cruise is a game that shows how difficult it is to drive drunk, and is thus intended to discourage the act. The game is relatively simple: the initial splash screens ask the player for their sex, weight, and the number of drinks they have consumed. The player’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is calculated from the specified parameters, and usually runs from between 0.0 to 2.4.
This game is a simulation of the perceptual impairment created by alcohol, and shows its effect on a driver by allowing him/her to actually try to drive. The player has 90 seconds to get home, and there are pedestrians, traffic, police cars (a check stop) and animals on the road. The chance of even getting home in time is small, based on observations of game play over a six month period.
We discuss the game design and construction and the reaction from the public and the press.
Biography:
Jim has degrees in Applied Mathematics (B.Sc. Calgary, 1977), Computer Science (M.Sc., Calgary, 1980) and Informatics (Ph.D., Universiteit Ghent, with greatest distinction, 1998). He has been a Full Professor of Computer Science, a professor of Drama, and a professor of Art in a 30-year career in academia. He has published over 160 technical articles on simulation, video games, computer vision, and artificial intelligence. He is also the author of five books, including the most recent one “The Guide to Simulations and Games” (Wiley).
Dr. Parker has taught game design and has designed a score of games in the Serious Game category, including OceanQuest, ViPER, and the acclaimed Booze Cruise. This was an impaired driving simulator in game form, and was designed to show that concentrating hard could not account for alcohol impairment when driving a vehicle.