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Thursday, June 23 • 4:30pm - 5:00pm
Panel - From Fantasy to Empathy: Changing Game Dialogue For the Real World

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In commercial games, dialogue is written to serve the player’s power fantasy — even well-intentioned games tend to reward players who put their own desires ahead of others'. But does that have to be the case? Can game dialogue actually help people build empathy and learn to communicate better? Come hear Kognito’s Seth Bleecker and Jennifer Hepler, formerly of Bioware's Dragon Age series and Star Wars: The Old Republic, discuss how Kognito has built an evidence-based conversation model, as well as games to help doctors, teachers, and parents learn how to communicate sensitively and effectively around critical topics in emotional, social, and physical health.
Speakers
avatar for Seth Bleecker

Seth Bleecker

Manager, Instructional Design, Kognito Interactive
Seth designs and writes branching narrative games to teach empathy and communication skills. At Kognito, he discovered that these skills are more teachable and learnable than we might think. Ever since, he\\'s been developing simulations in an attempt to make the world a better place.When... Read More →
avatar for Jennifer Hepler

Jennifer Hepler

Writer and Instructional Designer, Kognito Interactive
Jennifer Brandes Hepler has worked in games for over a decade, first as a senior writer at Bioware, on the Dragon Age franchise and Star Wars: The Old Republic, then lead writer on Disruptor Beam's Game of Thrones Ascent. This year, she followed a long-time interest in psychology... Read More →

Thursday June 23, 2016 4:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Room 104
  Neurogaming & Health, Panel

Attendees (70)