IoT and Serious Games: What is the connection?

What is the connection between IoT and Serious Games? How could one benefit from the other? We have been thinking a lot about the incredible sinergy that could appear between these two concepts and we are amazed about the possibilities.

Garmin Forerunner 225 – A smartwatch for runners

IoT is the short form of “Internet of Things” and a fashionable way of talking about machines connected to the internet. Which machines? Any! From your washing machine to your bycicle! IoT brings machines the possibility of gathering data, sending them to the internet and, as we talked about in our Big Data article, this opens a broad new concept of how we interact with the machines world, and how they can help us or improve our lifes.

Currently IoT’s main fields of application are energy saving, transportation and urban planning, but IoT presence in our world is growing rapidly. Wearables are the first “playable” devices that use this concept and is easy to see that in just a few years we will be wearing our intelligent bracelet/watch the same way we now carry our smartphone.

Disney Infinity’s 3.0 Starter Pack

Companies like Disney, Lego or Activision are already working on IoT and games, though just using a tiny little part of what IoT could offer. Games like Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Disney Infinity or Lego’s Life of George (out of the market since December 2014) use real toys to unlock characters or new interactions in an app or video game.

The problem with these models is the complexity in the interaction. These games, oriented to kids (around 10), ask users to buy the toy, download and app/buy the game, scan correctly a code or place characters into a special hardware, etc. You can see what I mean in this video of Disney Infinity’s 3.0 Starter Pack Unboxing.

Maybe too many steps, that provide little extra fun to the video game, but anyway, the beginning of something powerful.

A study by Accenture indicates that the Industrial IoT will produce 14 trillion USD of economic value by 2030. Are games going to miss the opportunity? I’m thinking about hidden treasure competitions all around the city, about interactive playgrounds and sports centers, about toys becoming games, about more engaging games for health and who knows what else.

Fundamentally, IoT can bring video games to the real world so the industry could get rid of the sendentarism associated with video games and gamers.

So what more could happen between Serious Games and IoT? How will we be playing in a few years?

To answer these questions we will be attending the IoT Solutions World Congress in Barcelona on 16-18 of September, 2015 that will gather the most outstanding international companies and experts in the sector to offer the most innovative applications the IoT has to offer in a variety of sectors including: manufacturing, hospitality, energy, transportation, logistics, construction, infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare.

Over 80 companies have already confirmed their participation making IOTSWC’s first edition an international benchmark event of the industrial internet already. Amazon, CERN, IBM, Accenture, Bosch, Microsoft… they all will be there. You have until the 24th August to benefit from a special 30% discount to attend IOTSWC. Follow this link for more information.

And if you won’t be able to attend, don’t worry! Just subscribe at onseriousgames.com or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn. We will keep you updated about all that happens in Barcelona!