UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A single-player video game developed by Andrew Hieronymi, associate professor of art and digital art and media design in the College of Arts and Architecture's School of Visual Arts, has evolved into a collaboration with a soil microbiome lab directed by Estelle Couradeau, assistant professor of soils and environmental microbiology.
Players in the game, called “CONTACT,” use long sticks as controllers to move about in a simple, abstract on-screen environment. As players move through the game, they can experience and learn about bacteria communities as if they were looking into a microscope. CONTACT is featured in the “Synergies in Art and Science” exhibition in the Borland Project Space through Nov. 15.
“The reason it’s so simplified and abstract is because the original focus of the project was more on the player and how the player is engaging with these sticks than on the on-screen activity,” Hieronymi said, adding he began development of the game in 2019. “By removing expected features of games, such as control and goal-oriented play, and emphasizing others, such as embodiment and challenging input responsiveness, CONTACT heightens the awareness of our embodied relationship with game interfaces.”
The goal of CONTACT was not always to bring bacteria communities to life, Hieronymi said. He began developing a game based on flexible software that could be adapted into many scenarios and that focused on player movement.
Thanks to an initiative by the College of Arts and Architecture’s Arts & Design Research Incubator and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ One Health Microbiome Center to encourage interdisciplinary work between the arts and sciences at Penn State, the game caught the eye of Couradeau, and the collaboration was born.
“The game is now more rooted in actual scientific observation,” Hieronymi said. “It is interesting for me to work with those rules but also interesting for them [the microbiome laboratory] to see how players would react and maybe even learn something about bacteria.”
Most video games are fast-paced and reward-based, but CONTACT is different in that it requires players to slow down and be aware of what is going on around them.
“The goal for me is that players become more aware of where they’re at and what they’re doing and how they can observe,” Hieronymi said, explaining that as the game progresses, the system reveals itself and allows the players to gain an increasing sense of control while also encountering conflicting moments of frustration and elation. “It’s not much about winning or losing; it’s more about mindfulness and being in touch with yourself.”
Hieronymi said he hopes that this project will continue to develop and grow in future years.
“The goal is to create new variations and new versions of it in the future,” Hiernonymi said. “Having a project that allows people to come and collaborate is really exciting. I’m not just working on it alone but have the ability to bring other people in and share and work with them on this project.”
CONTACT has already been displayed three times on campus in earlier iterations. This new version presents 3D-printed controllers created by School of Visual Arts faculty member Tom Lauerman and a new soundtrack by School of Visual Arts faculty member Joo Woohun.
“Penn State has been great in providing me with the ability to exhibit CONTACT and supporting me in the making of the piece,” Hieronymi said.