Tech Shout!

Video games have incited a mixed reaction from the public. On one hand, they have been cited to be responsible for violent behavior, and on the other hand there are a bunch of good things emerging with regards to playing video games. Playing video games helps to improve judgment and can thus aid surgeons, and then there’s the Nintendo Wii which forces kids to get off the couch and work up a sweat. Also, PS3 users who sign up for folding@home could be helping to cure cancer.

Now, a UK university project, slated to be released this week will allow people to use their cell phones to help track down abducted children. The mobile game project called ‘Lost & Found’, has been conceptualized by professor Lizbeth Goodman, director of Smartlab Digital Media Institute at the University of East London.

‘Lost & Found’ is described as ‘a portable system to track missing children and exploited children (and adults). The game works by using GPS and mapping technology within mobile phones.

For instance, users can sign up for alters when someone goes missing in their area, and if they see someone who resembles the photo of the missing child, the user is advised to click a photo, after which authorities will be alerted to the possibility that the abducted child could possibly be nearby.

Goodman said, “When you’re drinking your milk in the morning there’s always a picture of someone who is missing. But who can remember what the person on your milk carton looks like at the end of a busy day?”

On being asked why the ‘Lost & Found’ project is being classified as a game, Goodman said, “If it’s a project that sounds worthy, or that there are cops involved, or that you have to hand over personal data, people aren’t interested. But of we let them use an avatar, they are okay with that.”

The ‘Lost & Found’ mobile game project is being partnered by big names like the BBC R&D, Microsoft Research, The UK Serious Crimes Unit and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (US).

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