Jessica Hammer thinks the most important technology for making games is the brain.
The Thomas and Lydia Moran Associate Professor of Learning Science, jointly appointed in the HCI Institute and the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, Hammer says “My games are designed to put the player into an altered state, so their brain becomes part of the system of play.”
Hammer is teaming up with Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, the Director of the Carnegie Mellon Neuroscience Institute, to bring neuroscientists and game designers together at BrainPlay, a conference being held at Carnegie Mellon from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.
Sponsored by the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (TCCI), the event will gather experts and newcomers from both fields, with a shared goal of fostering new collaborations. Yan Li, a senior program manager at TCCI, said the organization is thrilled to bring the fields together.