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Game CEO Sees "Gamification" of Work and Military
An anonymous reader writes "The CEO of Unity discusses 'gamification' — applying game design and technology to real-world applications beyond 'gamespace.' The military is using game design theory for some training programs — not just 'the 3-D, realistic, virtual world experiences, but also the built-in use of frustration and reward.' (And similar training packages were adopted by Unilever, the giant corporation which owns Ben & Jerry's ice cream.) Medical professionals have licensed a 'Google Earth for the human body,' and game design is also being used to build tax software. ('It has to be the most boring field, but I mean that's the point. You can make it slightly challenging and give people little reasons to play these tax tools — beyond, you know, not going to prison!') While some companies conduct team-building exercises using Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, others use game technology to standardize their in-house employee training programs. The interviewer adds, 'I know I'd feel better about job training if it felt more like killing zombies.'"
If you actually watch the video, its pretty hard to find a lot of fault with the heli crew. There were known combatants in the area and the way the guys on the ground were huddled at the corner looked exactly like preparations to fire what looked exactly like an RPG. They requested permission to engage (both times) and ceased fire when the targets were down. They did just what they were trained and expected to do. Its easy to sit back and blame them for a bad shoot, but in their position you would (or should) likely have done the same thing. Had that really been an RPG and they didn't fire then there would just be a video on WikiLeaks about how the army watched a couple insurgents launch and attack and sat back doing nothing, and blaming them for what ever deaths had happened as a result.
Its sad that some people died as a result, but a large part of the fault lies with them. They were doing things they should not have been doing in an area they should not have been doing it at, and they likely knew it. The good Samaritan with his kids was well intentioned, but didn't think it through either. There obviously had just been an attack and with two helicopters flying around, it doesn't take much to figure that the place is still being watched. Not that he deserved to die because of it, but it was unwise to put himself and his family in that position.