Imagine unlocking the high adventure of time travel in a 3D video game. Our design heralds the next generation of immersive gaming experiences. It blends diverse digital elements including panoramic historical scenes from Hollywood films. It incorporates a list of celebrity genealogies (even a way to plug in the player's own family history from the Family Forest Project) allowing gamers to chart the unique ancestral pathways to time travel upon. During their immersion in the past, players can interact with the great inventors - as well as those making scientific or geographic discoveries. They may meet people on migrational journeys in search of a better life. And gamers may participate in the wars and other man-made events which left their mark on American and Old World history.
A simplified, purely educational version of the Wayback 2 is discussed on the U.S. Dept. of Education's website for showcasing innovations in education:
Team Profile
Guiding game development is a remarkable team of university professors, experienced game producers and leaders of companies having access to and intimate knowledge of key digital elements for the Wayback 2.
Len Annetta Associate Professor of Science Education at George Mason University.
Bernard H. Frischer Professor of Art History and Classics at the University of Virginia and Director, Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities
Brian Galvin Former CEO Aria Solutions and CTO of Genesys and founder of Galvin Patent Law
Larry Schweikart Best selling author and Professor of History, University of Dayton
How It Works
Below are links to 2 websites hosting short (2 to 3 minute) "Snippets from the Family Forest" videos. These show how clips from movies and celebrity genealogies combine in clever ways to entertain, engage and teach history including the history of scientific discoveries that shape our world.
Unique End Game Reward Features
A critical element in all games are the rewards a game provides to its players. Rewards include skill and knowledge-based challenges, accuracy competitions, scoring of points, unexpected discoveries, and seeing your name appear on a list of leading point scorers, etc..
Going beyond the routine game rewards, we're planning extraordinary "end-game" reward play to take place in ancient Rome. Players of all ages and interests will find fun adventures, age appropriate skill challenges, and thrilling vistas awaiting their arrival at the gate to ancient Rome.
