Calgary's 3DInternet created a training simulator to help technicians learn to fix problems with power lines. (CBC)

David Edery thinks the business world needs more video games.

They are better than any other medium for enhancing employee productivity and training, says the co-author of Changing the Game: How Video Games are Transforming the Future of Business.

"There are certain jobs which, frankly, are not very exciting," he said in a phone interview, citing factory assembly-line work as a good example.

But by layering game-play mechanics over the job — making the application of rivets seem like solving a puzzle in an adventure maze, for example — even repetitive, menial tasks can become less onerous, perhaps even fun.

"It can dramatically improve employee morale and retention," said Edery.

'"If you want to train them [younger people] with simulators or if you want them to do next-generation type things like manufacturing in a manual environment, what do you think their sense of interface is going to be? Is it going to be from MS Word and Excel or is it going to be from Half-Life?"—Ben Sawyer

This is especially with younger generations. Ben Sawyer, founder of the Serious Games Initiative, said companies have to consider what employees of the future will be familiar with.

"If you want to train them with simulators or if you want them to do next-generation type things like manufacturing in a manual environment," he said, "what do you think their sense of interface is going to be? Is it going to be from MS Word and Excel or is it going to be from Half-Life?"

Making the message stick

NTL Institute, which works in the field of corporate training and organizational effectiveness, says its research indicates that virtual training with game-like simulators results in retention of 75 to 90 per cent. That compares with 50 per cent for discussions and five per cent for lectures.

Sawyer said it might take a bit of time for people to learn how to use a training video game, "but once you're into it and you're into that habit, it might actually be more productive long-term than it would be for you to stop and start with things that aren't as motivating."

Allan Doubinin, the president of Calgary's 3DInternet, has been building 3D training simulators for 10 years. He says the interactive environment of his company's software helps technicians learn. It's a matter of learning by doing.

"When you're driving somewhere, the person who drives remembers how to get there, but the passenger won't remember," he said from his office.

NB Power, the electrical utility in New Brunswick, uses a simulator built by 3DInternet to teach technicians the bonding and grounding work method used by the utility on overhead power lines. Columbus, Ohio's American Electric Power had 3DInternet design a transformer-bank simulator for linemen to train and troubleshoot safely.

New York's Con Edison built a simulation room with 3DInternet technology, and Doubinin said the only complaint was that the experience was too short. The technicians, he said, were having fun and wanted to "play" longer.

Safely learning dangerous jobs

The virtual environments that can be created using video game technology also enable training that couldn't be conducted in the real world.

Doubinin said he could build an entire digital nuclear plant for training, as opposed to running scenarios in a real facility, which costs time and money. In the real world, such a training scenario could cost $10 million, depending on the facility, said Doubinin. His company could build a simulation for as little as a 10th of that — and the simulation could be more effective in teaching people the things they need to know.

"We could actually simulate a blow-up," he added, "and you can't do that in the real world."

Georgia Institute of Technology's Ian Bogost noted another virtue of video games: they are excellent tools for repetition, practice and mastery. An example is The Typing of the Dead, a modification of Sega's rails-shooter House of the Dead. While the original game has players aiming light guns at attacking zombies, the mod requires players to use a keyboard to type phrases, fast and accurately, to damage the undead creatures.

David Edery is the founder of gaming consulting firm Fuzbi. (Courtesy David Edery)

Because games can effectively deliver feedback to players, they are ideal for training purposes.

"The average game that you can buy at a store is very good at getting you to understand what you need to do to win, or to score better, and what will make you lose, or score worse," explained Edery.

"It's amazing how bad corporations are at that type of feedback. Most corporations are notoriously bad at getting employees to understand what they are doing right, what they're doing wrong, what they can do to improve, both in a training context and in an everyday work context."

Managers should take note, said Edery: Video games are cost-effective, context-relevant and compelling. And businesses can use them to reduce costs and improve employee morale and retention.

"I think that any senior executive in a large corporation would be foolish to not be taking games seriously."