Gesamt-say-what?
Gesamtkunstwerk: It’sboth the coolest word you’ll learn all day and the hardest to say. A Gesamtkunstwerk, German for “total art”or “all-embracing art form,” is a work of art that uses multiple art forms in asingle composition. Richard Wagner and other 19th-century artistsand philosophers coined the term and explored the idea of combining every artform possible into one—specifically, combining music, dance, and theater tocreate an opera performance. Seems obvious to us now, but at the time, this wasa revolutionary concept.
Virtual reality (VR) video games are the latest incarnationof Gesamtkunstwerk. Theysimultaneously employ myriad art forms in creative new ways, including cinema,documentaries, interactive theater, music, soundscapes, literature,architecture, visual art, electronic graphic design, fashion design, sculpture,and dance. A few brave souls are even working to integrate the culinary and olfactory arts into their experiences. VR andvideo games appropriate virtually every art form imaginable, but they don’tstop there, also adding in liberal doses of entertainment, education, commerce,social media, science, and, of course, technology.
VR video games are the Gesamtkunstwerkto end all Gesamtkunstwerk. The total“total work.” Let’s call it Gesamt-gesamtkunstwerk.Wagner would be proud.
What an opportunity! We can create whatever experience wewant, for whatever purpose we choose. No, we should create this. Building life-changing VR games is not only ouropportunity, it’s our responsibility. It’s a tool that is changing the world,whether we realize it or not. It’s art at its most powerful. In the future, theworld will consist of two kinds of people: those who create and play VR and AR games,and old fogeys quickly getting left behind.
Educators of all stripes better pay attention. Can youimagine a better way to teach or train than to fully immerse your students intoa beautiful, exciting, repeatable, and memorable interactive experience that whollyengages their minds and bodies at whatever pace they choose? Can you imagineday-to-day lessons being any more fun*? Any more cross-disciplinary? Any moreeffective, efficient, affordable, or scalable? We have no excuse for lettinglearning be boring ever again.
*Besides an African safari or a field trip to the Louvre,perhaps, but even those could probably be enhanced with a VR game or two.
Gesamtkunstwerk in action
But Matt, you may be asking, are there any VR and seriousgame projects that actually demonstrate these lofty Gesamtkunstwerk principles? I’m glad you asked. Below you’ll findseveral examples of how GesamtkunstwerkVR games can be used for eLearning.
Firsthand Technology
Firsthand Technology isa company that creates VR games to help people relieve pain. The founders firstcreated SnowWorld in 2008, a VR game builtat the University of Washington HITLab in collaboration with the HarborviewBurn Center to help burn victims forget about their pain. During painfultreatment sessions, players don VR goggles and throw virtual snowballs at penguins,snowmen, and other icy targets, all while listening to an upbeat Paul Simontrack. Patients report reduced pain and even feeling physically cooler whileplaying, and it’s not just a psychological trick, either. Brain scans madeduring game play back up the claims. Check out this uplifting ScienCentral video formore about the project.
Firsthand has since developed more advanced (but equallyentertaining) VR games for pain reduction, including Cool! and Glow!, both of which alsoteach users how to use biofeedback to control bodily functions such asheartbeat.
SnowWorld, Cool!, and Glow! provide examples of eLearning in action. Through beautiful imageryand calming music, these serious video games act as psychological treatments,teaching people how to consciously control their bodies and distract theirminds from pain.
Notes on Blindness: Acoustic Space
In 1984, the writer and theologian Dr. John Hull began to goblind. Throughout the two-year process, he recorded audio diaries on cassettetapes, which were transcribed into a book in 1991. Last year, a short film and feature film were also created aspart of the project, plus a Twitter page toconnect with the community building around the film.
In November, the New York Times added to this ever-growingproject by releasing a cool multimedia experience called Notes on Blindness: Acoustic Space.Readers download the free NYT VR app and use a Google Cardboard headset toexperience a simulation of what it’s like to be blind. The viewer sits on apark bench, staring at blackness in 360 degrees. An excerpt from Dr. Hull’saudio diary begins to play, a recording he made while actually sitting in apark. In addition to his voice describing the nature of sounds and theexperience of being blind, the various background sounds you hear—cars, birds,children, rain—are visually represented by evanescent lights. This builds up aneerie and continually fading visual scene all around you, representing how ablind person might “see” his or her surroundings by listening carefully.
On the same day the NYT released this VR experience, it alsopublished an “op-doc” (opinionated documentary) explaining the background of theproject, as well as a personal essay on what it’s like to go blind by acclaimed writer Edward Hoagland,who went blind late in life.
Like Firsthand’s games, this project is a visually stunningVR experience that includes a rich soundscape, but it also includes audiodiaries, documentary/drama film with musical tracks, a nonfiction book, anop-doc, and a personal essay with an accompanying graphic image. l learned alot about blindness as well as gained empathy for people with physicaldisabilities by exploring the project. These results were clearly at least partof the project’s aim, making it another fine example Gesamt-gesamtkunstwerk at work.
Other examples
While I’d love to discuss many more examples in depth (and Imay in a future article), for now I’ll just list a few more excellent examplesfor you to explore on your own:
- Kahoot is a fascinating educational quiz show game with Gesamtkunstwerkqualities
- Minecraft, which can be played onsmartphones, on computers, or in VR, teaches children and adults alike to be creative, solve problems, and navigate thedigital world in novel ways
- The Crystal Reef, a mostly underwater360-degree documentary, educates viewers on ocean acidification and how elevated CO2 levels are damaging ourcoral reefs
- Fragments of Him is a serious gamewith an interactive narrative allowing players to experience one man’s death,the people he influenced, and their stories and emotions after he died
- Deep is a beautiful serious VR game withaccompanying haptic belt that teaches players to alleviate their stress,anxiety, and mild depression through game movements controlled by slow,conscious breathing instead of traditional hand controls
Summary
VR games embody Gesamtkunstwerkprinciples more completely than any other art form has before. Thus, teachers,instructional designers, and corporate trainers can use this aesthetic conceptto create educational experiences like no one has ever experienced before. Thepossibilities are limitless, and plenty of people are already creatingfascinating projects in the space. Let’s get to work!
What VR and serious game eLearning projects are you workingon that demonstrate Gesamtkunstwerkprinciples? What additional examples do you know about? Please tell us and linkto them in the comments below.
