{"id":15997,"date":"2023-05-02T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=15997"},"modified":"2023-05-05T12:27:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T17:27:57","slug":"live-lab-explores-new-horizons-in-game-based-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2023\/05\/02\/live-lab-explores-new-horizons-in-game-based-education\/","title":{"rendered":"LIVE Lab Explores New Horizons In Game-Based Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Looking at the beautifully rendered sci-fi landscape of \u201cVariant: Limits\u201d \u2014 with its high cliffs, colorful plant life and intricately designed buildings \u2014 it\u2019s hard to believe this game was created to teach calculus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the team members at Texas A&M University\u2019s LIVE Lab, that impression means they\u2019ve done their job right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short for Learning Interactive Visualization Experience Lab, the student-staffed studio prides itself on its innovative approach to educational video game design, combining the artistic quality and fun factor of an entertainment product with the academic rigor of a college course. In the case of \u201cVariant,\u201d players explore a distant alien world, solving a variety of calculus-based puzzles to progress through each level and save the planet from impending catastrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew some students didn\u2019t learn very well just listening to a lecture, so we wanted to help students with a more interactive and fun way to learn calculus and help increase the amount of students passing calculus at college,\u201d said LIVE Lab project manager and visualization senior Gabby Fisher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results<\/a> speak for themselves, said the lab\u2019s founder and director Andr\u00e9 Thomas, an associate professor of the practice of game design in A&M\u2019s School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts<\/a>. Thomas came to Aggieland in 2014 after a decades-long career in the movie and video game industries, lending his talents to such projects as \u201cMen in Black\u201d and EA Sports’ \u201cMadden NFL\u201d series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, he\u2019s turned his focus to the creation of high-quality educational video games and other interactive experiences, finding plenty of help from students in A&M\u2019s award-winning visualization program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack when I worked at EA, I would hire a lot of Aggies to be interns and employees,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI always say you can never do better than to hire an Aggie, because they\u2019re good problem solvers, good communicators and good leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those with the motivation to join Thomas and his team, the lab can provide a career head start, giving students a chance to make money working in a professional studio setting while honing their craft on a variety of games and other projects \u2014 all before they ever receive their degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAndr\u00e9 really wants to push us and keep us at the front of what\u2019s going on in technology, and give us the experience of working with other students as if we were already in the industry,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cBeing here really gives me that hands-on experience to know what it\u2019s going to be like when I do enter the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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