NASA, Fuentek evaluating MMO game proposals

August 5th, 2008

By Allan Maurer

RALEIGH, NC—It’s no secret that convincing bright students to pursue science, engineering and math careers is vital to the nation’s continuing as a worldwide technology innovator. NASA thinks a massively multi-player online game might just do the trick, and NC-based Fuentek is helping the agency evaluate proposals for such games.

Fuentek Senior Consultant Jack Spain tells TechJournal South that NASA wants to engage students through innovative platforms and technologies. “Today’s paradigm of how the younger generation learns, engages and interacts is different than it was a couple of decades ago,” Spain says.

So, the Learning Technology office of NASA has been studying and evaluating that type of platform initiative for several years, he notes.

Spain serves as Fuentek’s client lead for the NASA Kennedy Space Center, NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and University of Illinois, and he is a member of the NASA MMO project team based at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Fuentek, a virtual consulting company, is NASA’s largest contractor in North Carolina. It helps the agency find commercial uses for its aerospace technologies as well as existing technologies it can apply to its own needs.

Spain has been speaking at game industry conferences and to others to explain what NASA was seeking in terms of an MMO that will engage student interest in science, math and engineering.

MMOs include such popular online phenomena as “World of Warcraft,” and “Second Life.”

“We were overwhelmed by the initial response in January,” Spain says. “We issued a request for information, looking for insights, best practices and advice from commercial game developers, MMO developers, the academic community and other organizations.”

Spain says a core team is now evaluating the responses and may announce the next step later this year such as project plans.

The idea of “serious games” used for education, training and other real world purposes, has proponents at numerous Research Triangle area companies and academic institutions such as Wake Tech, which recently held a conference Spain attended to explain what NASA was looking for. North Carolina State University in Raleigh also focuses on the field.

“Serious games are really gaining traction,” says Spain. He also noted that one of the reasons he participated in the Wake Tech Digital Game Expo 2008 conference was because “This has become such a hot area in the gaming space.”

“We envision a platform that will attract young middle school and high school students, entice them and keep their interest for long periods and have a viral effect. The goal is for this to be widely popular and successful.