Chris Bennett

What Can an Octopus Teach Us About Emotion?

Some of the most innovative thinking at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco every spring comes from alt.control.GDC, where finalists are invited to show off their games and interactive experiences that use alternative controls and interaction schemes. Chris Bennett had a chance to demo some of this work and talk to the people who… Read more What Can an Octopus Teach Us About Emotion?

Interactions Dynamics Notation in the HIVE

Have you ever been in the HIVE?  The HANA Immersive Visualization Environment is a scientific visualization wall that is 10 x 24 feet and is made up of 35 monitors that allow up to 16 users to connect at once. Quite a piece of technology for the Stanford Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME).… Read more Interactions Dynamics Notation in the HIVE

What is "Critical Play"?

Mary Flanagan studies and creates games as researcher and director of the TiltFactor game lab at Dartmouth College. Chris Bennett was fortunate to be in attendance as she spoke at the Theory and History of New Media Studies Lecture Series at University of Berkeley. But Mary doesn’t just look at games for entertainment sake. She studies embedded… Read more What is "Critical Play"?

Center For Brain Health in Dallas

Margarita Quihuis and Chris Bennett visited the Center For Brain Health at University of Texas at Dallas. The Center is doing groundbreaking work studying not only how to repair damaged and aging brains, but also improving the healthy brain for better cognition. And speaking of groundbreaking, we could see construction work starting on the Brain Performance Institute… Read more Center For Brain Health in Dallas

Think Like A Game Designer Workshop

Chris Bennett and Margarita Quihuis worked closely with Karin Forssell, Director of Learning, Design & Technology Master’s program at GSE to create a one day workshop for her current and former students. We spent a fun and educational day learning to deconstruct tabletop games, and practicing key GDT concepts like the Core Loop and the Compulsion Analysis.… Read more Think Like A Game Designer Workshop

Of Quests and Brain Chemicals

Lauren Hall-Stigerts interviews Chris Bennett, and does a nice job of explaining to her casual gaming audience at Big Fish Games how playing games can effect the neurochemicals in our brain. Well worth a read.

Castilleja School Global Week 2015

Our primary area of investigation in 2014 was Trust, so it seemed proper to end that year sharing some of what we had learned with younger students. Chris Bennett was invited by the wonderful ACE (Awareness Compassion Engagement) Center at Castilleja School in Palo Alto to speak to the senior class about trust; how it is… Read more Castilleja School Global Week 2015

Watchables Will Change How We Work and Play

Lauren Hall-Stigerts quoted Chris Bennett in her story ‘The Future of Gaming is On Your Wrist‘. “Just think of how wearing a gaming device that is less conspicuous than a visor and more accessible than a mobile phone will change the way we work and play,” Bennett says. “Watchables will integrate into every aspect of… Read more Watchables Will Change How We Work and Play