Gamification of CAD:

Engaging Consumers Into the Design

of 3D Printable Products

James Novak PhD Candidate, Lecturer, Industrial Designer, 3D Printing Geek

WHO AM I?...

2

1 • What is gamification?

• Why is it important?

• How might it apply to

3D printing?

Personal Case Studies:

1. Reward for Exercise

2. Game-like Controller

3. Customisation (with a

demonstration!)

Who plays video games?

From the Digital Australia Report 2016 http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Digital-Australia-2016-DA16-Final.pdf

Who plays video games?

From the Digital Australia Report 2016 http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Digital-Australia-2016-DA16-Final.pdf

EVERYONE! Who plays video games?

Yes I’ve played games most of my life...

Born

Graduated

Architecture Graduated

Product Design

Started School

Started PhD

How is gamification different to just playing games?

You want to do this You have to do this

Excerpt from “Believe in Gamification! [A Futuristic Short Film HD - by Sight Systems]” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziHCvpikLh8

Successful gamification is more than just counting points or earning badges.

1. Epic Meaning and Calling

2. Development and Accomplishment

3. Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback

4. Ownership and Possession

5. Social Influence and Relatedness

6. Scarcity and Impatience

7. Unpredictability and Curiosity

8. Loss and Avoidance

Principles from Yu-kai Chou http://yukaichou.com/

One of the big hurdles for many people is learning 3D CAD software.

A couple of hours of hands-on workshops with

high school students and Solidworks

First 3D prints

Griffith University Industrial Design course - first 2 years

Do we expect the average person to dedicate this amount of time and money to

learn CAD?

How do they get beyond basic CAD commands like

extruding and typing text?

How can we empower consumers to be creative and

achieve complex 3D form?

Gamification

Dipping toes in the water

Parametric tools have begun to show signs of more intuitive customisation for 3D

printing.

nervous system – kinematics cloth app https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/projects/albums/kinematics-cloth/

Influenced by the customisation of game characters and avatars.

nervous system – kinematics cloth app https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/projects/albums/kinematics-cloth/

Other game-like 3D printing apps.

WIZEgem Fung Kwok Pan – Fluid Vase

Toyze Ornament Creator Cookie Caster

MonsterMatic

The examples don’t encourage us to keep “playing” – missing some vital gamification

attributes.

1. Epic Meaning and Calling

2. Development and Accomplishment

3. Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback

4. Ownership and Possession

5. Social Influence and Relatedness

6. Scarcity and Impatience

7. Unpredictability and Curiosity

8. Loss and Avoidance

3d print directly from games

Minecraft – multiple companies offering 3D printing of in-game creations.

eg. Mineways from Shapeways.

World of Warcraft – print your unique characters, complete with unlocked equipment.

Traditionally if you wanted to 3D print a colour figurine, you would need years of

training using CAD software like Mudbox or 3DSMax to create it in the first place.

Strong connection between player and 3D print – these are characters they may

have spent hundreds of hours developing throughout the game.

Coming soon - Xmodule

Rewards and trophies from the game will be offered as 3D printable files. As you

build your car in the game, these parts are unlocked to build in the real world

simultaneously.

Game-like interfaces 3D printing from games

The opportunity is to explore this middle-ground.

Gamification

Example 1:

Reward for Exercise

Activity tracking – exercise has been gamified.

Activity trackers don’t encourage us to keep “playing” over the long-term. They are

missing some vital gamification attributes.

1. Epic Meaning and Calling

2. Development and Accomplishment

3. Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback

4. Ownership and Possession

5. Social Influence and Relatedness

6. Scarcity and Impatience

7. Unpredictability and Curiosity

8. Loss and Avoidance

Inside Wearables: How the Science of Human Behavior Change Offers the Secret to Long-Term Engagement

http://endeavourpartners.net/assets/Endeavour-Partners-Wearables-and-the-Science-of-Human-Behavior-Change-Part-1-January-20141.pdf

Gamifying my exercise experience, providing more unique and tangible rewards.

Gamifying my exercise experience, providing more unique and tangible rewards.

Gamifying my exercise experience, providing more unique and tangible rewards.

Gamifying my exercise experience, providing more unique and tangible rewards.

Gamifying my exercise experience, providing more unique and tangible rewards.

Gamifying my exercise experience, providing more unique and tangible rewards.

It’s easy to imagine some sort of character being the reward, and syncing with your

own 3D printer or through a provider like Shapeways.

The reward is both digital and tangible.

Yes, he’s a little furry!

The model is controlled by simple parameters.

Did you achieve the daily/monthly/yearly goal? If yes scale by X, if no scale by Y.

Do we need to create more plastic waste? Well, victory can taste sweet!

3D printed chocolate bear by XYZprinting

Data CAD Gamification

Example 2:

Game-like Controller

A custom controller for modifying 3D CAD files

Sensor + Buttons mimics many common game controllers eg. Wii.

Intuitive to use and learn while “playing” – no need to understand different CAD or

printing software interfaces.

Example 3:

Customisation

This project is called “Dizygotic” – meaning non-identical twins.

2 player “game” using teamwork to create a custom light shade.

Demo at the end!

Most games are played with others.

1. Wii Nunchuck’s and

some “secret” electronics

are used to control

aspects of the 3D CAD

model in Rhino.

2. The “players” are

shown a real-time

visualisation of the model

they are customising. This

can be rotated and built in

different ways.

3. Final designs can be

exported as .stl files and

3D printed – these 6

were printed using FDM.

Behind the visualisation – coding using Grasshopper and Firefly.

This is how the model remains parametric, and is also used to limit how much the

model can be customised so that it is always 3D-printable – the “safe zone.”

Colour can also be manipulated with the game controllers (only 3 options at the

moment).

Exhibited at Design Philadelphia 2015 for 1 month, including the interactive element

for visitors to play with.

Can’t one person just play on their own?

Yes, but you can’t get the full range of complexity with just 1 controller.

Gamification success?

1. Epic Meaning and Calling

2. Development and Accomplishment

3. Empowerment of Creativity and

Feedback

4. Ownership and Possession

5. Social Influence and Relatedness

6. Scarcity and Impatience

7. Unpredictability and Curiosity

8. Loss and Avoidance

The world will probably survive...

Achieving a cool design and keeping it.

No skills required. Learn as you play.

“This is our unique creation.”

Made together.

This is the only one like it – one-off.

How do I “play?” What are the limits?

Parametric limits prevent any loss

But gamification doesn’t have to tick every box.

Principles from Yu-kai Chou http://yukaichou.com/

Summary

2

1 • Consumers will not become CAD experts.

• Gamification empowers people to be creative.

• We need to embrace new tools that blur the

boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds.

• Data is everywhere – this is a potential area to

begin gamifying experiences for 3D printing.

• Parametric design can be used to create safe limits

for complex designs.

• Gamification ≠ points!

Thank you

James Novak PhD Candidate, Lecturer, Industrial Designer, 3D Printing Geek

Your Turn!