There are several strategies that can be employed to educate users or clients. In some settings, traditional methods might not work. This is often the case when teaching unwilling participants. Ideally, a training medium should be:

• engaging in itself, regardless of the material or “lessons” being taught, and
• non-intrusive – the material or “lessons” should not try to guilt users into better behaviour; users should not even realise that they are learning!

A game, as a training medium, satisfies these requirements very well. Games are very engaging, and indeed appeal to a children and adults alike. With careful design, the learning material can be made part of the game in such a way that the users internalises knowledge without realising it. By focusing on a younger audience, the game can also educate parents indirectly through their children.

Games have been used successfully to educate children and adults in various fields:

• Games such as Monopoly and the Tycoon series (includes Zoo Tycoon, Lemonade Tycoon, and Transport Tycoon) have been used to teach kids about business and its principles. (See http://www.sparkplugging.com/sparkplug-ceo/14-educational-games-to-teach-your-kids-about-business/).
• The American military developed America’s Army specifically to aid in training soldiers. The game was very successful outside the military as well – some 3.4 million players registered to play it. Since then the Pentagon has opened its own game development studio, where new games are designed and built. (See http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2004/06/63911).
• The Entertainment Technology Center worked with the Fire Department of New York City to develop Hazmat: Hotzone, a game used in training firemen. The game is especially helpful in training situations that are hard to emulate in real-life, and is aimed at their younger firemen. (See http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0606/p11s01-legn.html)

Currently we are engaged in the development of computer games to assist users and decision makers to provide energy efficient solutions at home and in communities. Here, choices are made about energy efficient end-user equipment and generation technologies, and the benefits of changing human behaviour regarding energy usage are highlighted in a fun way through gaming.

The deadline of the SA Software Development Capability Survey has expired. More than 180 people registered for the survey, offering a wide variety of inputs from various sectors (see above). These inputs, together with interviews conducted with local and European software developers will inform the Meraka roadmapping workshop, that will take place February 2009. The winner of the iPod touch will be announced before the end of the year.

We have extended the deadline for the Questionnaire for South African Software Development Capability to give respondents more time to complete it. The new deadline is 15 October 2008.

So far more than 170 people have registered for the survey, and as can be seen from the chart above, they represent a wide variety of industries. If you want to know what other developers are doing, complete the survey before the expiration date. More information about the survey is available on the survey web site.

InnovationLab, one of the five initiatives that make up this program, is developing solutions for education and crime prevention using hi-tech virtual environments. These solutions could result in local sales revenue of approximately R30 million and potential sales export opportunities of the same amount for entrepreneurs and their partners.

Using a virtual classroom, for example, InnovationLab will look at creating comprehensive ICT solutions for schools, including networking solutions and surveillance products.

The virtual classroom will be launched in a year from now, and policy makers and investors will be able to visit it and see how they can invest in developing educational solutions for rural areas.

For more information, see Cisco’s press release.

A virtual demonstrator is a room that takes the user into a simulated world, where he or she can use and experience new technologies in close-to-real circumstances.

The virtual demonstrator features the following:

• 360 degree display of 3D environments that surrounds the users;
• theatre surround sound;
• interconnectivity with real devices (for example, cell phones, GPS devices, and computers);
• interconnectivity with an innovation show case;
• software that simulates environments, artificial characters and specific scenarios; and a
• industrial acting stage.

Supporting this immersive area is an observation station, where the reactions and behaviour of users in a test situation can be monitored.

The demonstrator as a tool that supports innovation has many uses; it can serve as

• a test bed;
• a usability lab;
• a training facility; and
• a technology showcase and playground.

The virtual demonstrator will make many of the tenuous ideas of new technology explicit, and so help reduce the number of unknowns that characterises innovation before it is taken to market.