DEMO Consultants

At present European buildings typically consume two to five times more energy than predicted at the design stage. An important cause of this performance gap is the discrepancies between the design specification and the As-Built condition. Such discrepancies are mainly due to the gaps in knowhow between design, production and construction professionals. Design is more and more contained into a virtual environment and loses touch with the physical production and construction sites. As the construction sector enters the Industry 4.0 era, Building Information Modelling (BIM) based Mixed Reality can intertwine virtual and real worlds to bridge the knowhow gaps.

A biotic game integrates real biological materials and processes into digital/video gaming platforms. Given its relatively recent introduction to the field of game design, there are limited examples and discussions around biotic games to help designers to explore this genre in depth. This paper introduces a new type of biotic game called Mould Rush. It is a part-tangible, part-digital, online multiplayer strategy game, mostly driven by real-time growth of living micro-organisms. By outlining the design process of Mould Rush, the paper aims to use the game as a case study to highlight the opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed in creating games of this nature, speed, and scale. In particular, we suggest that the slowness of microbial growth may not necessarily compromise playing experience, but rather, enhance it instead. We also highlight the complexity of human, biology and computer interaction pathways that are involved in biotic gaming. And finally, we acknowledge the potential value of designing formal evaluation models that would help in meaningful evaluation of a 'biotic' gaming experience.