Jane McGonigal, renowned game developer and an expert on alternate reality games, will speak in a special forum at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service on Oct. 4.
McGonigal is a leader in the growing movement to create online games rooted in real-world problems. She is The New York Times best-selling author of "Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World."
Shelby Taylor, digital communications director for the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, said she expects about 150 people to attend.
McGonigal has listed hunger, poverty, climate change and obesity as problems that gaming could solve by the next decade.
"What we want to do is make the future," she said at a TED conference last year. "We want to imagine the best-case scenario and then we want to empower people to make that outcome a reality."
McGonigal has already designed games that combine cutting-edge graphics with examinations of real-world problems.
After McGonigal speaks, there will be a Q-and-A session. The event will be streamed live at bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu.
"Games are a powerful platform for change," McGonigal said. "Let the world-changing games begin."
