The transformative power of video games | Herman Narula

Hello.

大家好。

My name is Herman,

我叫赫尔曼。

and I've always been struck by how the most important, impactful,

我一直在思考 为何这世上最重要、最具影响力、

tsunami-like changes to our culture and our society

最能翻天覆地，改变我们文化和社会

always come from those things

总是来自于

that we least think are going to have that impact.

那些我们不认为会产生影响的事情。

I mean, as a computer scientist,

作为一个计算机科学家，

我记得当脸书还只是个 大学寝室发家的图片分享网站，

I remember when Facebook was just image-sharing in dorm rooms,

and depending upon who you ask,

而现在，基于你问谁，

it's now involved in toppling elections.

脸书已经可以左右我们的大选。

I remember when cryptocurrency or automated trading

我记得当加密货币和自动交易

were sort of ideas by a few renegades

还只是小众人的想法

in the financial institutions in the world for automated trading,

存在金融行业，自动交易行业，

or online, for cryptocurrency,

和网络上。

and they're now coming to quickly shape the way that we operate.

而它们现在正加速塑形着 我们的办事习惯。

你们每个人都应该记得一种时刻，

And I think each of you can recall that moment

where one of these ideas felt like some ignorable, derisive thing,

当一个想法看起来一无是处，

and suddenly, oh, crap, the price of Bitcoin is what it is.

但突然，它发展得 正似比特币价值般突飞猛进。

Or, oh, crap, guess who's been elected.

你再想想，谁当选了美国总统？

The reality is that, you know, from my perspective,

现实是，在我看来，

I think that we're about to encounter that again.

我们将会再次遇到这情况。

And I think one of the biggest,

我认为

most impactful changes in the way we live our lives,

对我们生活，

to the ways we're educated,

对我们如何受教育，

probably even to how we end up making an income,

对我们如何挣工资 有着最大影响的

is about to come not from AI,

并非来自于人工智能技术，

not from space travel or biotech --

并非是太空旅行或者生物科技，

these are all very important future inventions --

虽然这些都是非常重要的科技，

but in the next five years,

但在下五年，

I think it's going to come from video games.

我认为最大影响来自于电子游戏。

So that's a bold claim, OK.

好大的口气！我知道。

I see some skeptical faces in the audience.

我也看到了观众中质疑的脸。

But if we take a moment

但让我们试着

to try to look at what video games are already becoming in our lives today,

看看电子游戏当下已变成了什么,

and what just a little bit of technological advancement

以及一点点的技术进步

is about to create,

将会创造出什么，

it starts to become more of an inevitability.

我们会发现电子游戏的影响是 越来越不可避免的。

And I think the possibilities are quite electrifying.

我认为它的可能性穷乎其穷。

So let's just take a moment to think about scale.

让我们想想它的规模。

I mean, there's already 2.6 billion people who play games.

现今已经有着26亿人玩电子游戏。

And the reality is that's a billion more than five years ago.

比五年前，多了十亿。

A billion more people in that time.

五年内增加了十亿人。

No religion, no media, nothing has spread like that.

没有任何一个宗教和媒体 可以如此大规模发展。

And there's likely to be a billion more

我们可以展望下一个十亿的增加，

when Africa and India gain the infrastructure

当非洲和印度的科技发展到位，

to sort of fully realize the possibilities of gaming.

可以充分发挥电子游戏的可能性。

But what I find really special is -- and this often shocks a lot of people --

但我感到十分特别的是， 这常常会惊到他人，

is that the average age of a gamer, like, have a guess, think about it.

是玩家的平均年龄。 你们猜一猜。

It's not six, it's not 18, it's not 12.

并不是六岁，不是18岁， 也不是12岁。

It's 34.

是34岁。

[Average age of an American gamer]

[美国玩家平均年龄]

It's older than me.

我都比这年轻。

And that tells us something,

这也告诉我们，

that this isn't entertainment for children anymore.

游戏不再是儿童的娱乐。

它已成为像文学一般的媒介，

This is already a medium like literature or anything else

是我们生活不可或缺的一部分。

that's becoming a fundamental part of our lives.

我很喜欢的一组数据显示了

One stat I like is that people who generally picked up gaming

在过去十五到二十年中 开始打游戏的人们

in the last sort of 15, 20 years

generally don't stop.

不会放弃这个喜好。

Something changed in the way that this medium is organized.

在这一媒介发展的途中， 有些东西变了。

And more than that, it's not just play anymore, right?

这已经大于游戏本身， 人们不再仅仅是玩游戏了。

You've heard some examples today,

你听到过这些例子，

but people are earning an income playing games.

人们现在通过打游戏挣工资。

And not in the obvious ways.

还不是通过直接的游戏竞技。

Yes, there's e-sports, there's prizes,

是的，现今有电子竞技，有奖金，

there's the opportunity to make money in a competitive way.

有很多机会可以让人们从竞赛中挣钱。

But there's also people earning incomes modding games, building content in them,

但是也有很多人正在游戏中模组， 设计桥段，

在游戏中做艺术， 通过这些得到薪酬。

doing art in them.

I mean, there's something at a scale akin to the Florentine Renaissance,

这种规模堪比佛罗伦萨文艺复兴，

happening on your kid's iPhone in your living room.

而这一切可能就发生在你的客厅里 孩子正玩弄的iPhone中。

And it's being ignored.

它被很多人忽略了。

Now, what's even more exciting for me is what's about to happen.

现在，让我更加兴奋的是 未来还会发生什么。

And when you think about gaming,

当你想到游戏 ，

你可能已经在想象

you're probably already imagining

that it features these massive, infinite worlds,

游戏中无限的世界，

但其实，

but the truth is,

游戏在很长一段时间中， 都被限制了，

games have been deeply limited for a very long time

in a way that kind of we in the industry

而我们这些业界人士

一直努力用各种伎俩 把这一事实掩盖。

have tried very hard to cover up with as much trickery as possible.

我喜欢用一个比喻， 让我变身极客稍许卖弄一下，

The metaphor I like to use, if you'd let me geek out for a moment,

就是剧场的概念 。

is the notion of a theater.

For the last 10 years,

在过去的十年中，

games have massively advanced the visual effects,

游戏的视觉效果得到了很大的提升，

the physical immersion, the front end of games.

包括前端效果和视觉冲击。

But behind the scenes,

但在幕后，

the actual experiential reality of a game world

游戏世界的经验实在

has remained woefully limited.

仍然被限制。

I'll put that in perspective for a moment.

我来解释一下。

I could leave this theater right now,

我现在可以离开这个舞台。

I could do some graffiti, get in a fight, fall in love.

我可以去涂鸦，可以打架， 可以坠入爱河。

I might actually do all of those things after this,

我可能真的会在这演出之后 做这些事，

but the point is that all of that would have consequence.

但是，这些事会有后果。

这些事会改变我的现实，

It would ripple through reality --

all of you could interact with that at the same time.

所有人可以在同一时间做出反应。

It would be persistent.

它的影响是持续性的。

And those are very important qualities to what makes the real world real.

这也就是真实世界真实的重要原因。

Now, behind the scenes in games,

但在游戏幕后，

we've had a limit for a very long time.

我们很长一段时间都被限制了。

And the limit is, behind the visuals,

在视觉效果背后，

the actual information being exchanged between players or entities

在单个游戏世界中

玩家之间或物体之间交换的实际信息

in a single game world

has been deeply bounded

已经被一个事实所深深束缚,

by the fact that games mostly take place on a single server

即游戏大多发生在一台服务器

or a single machine.

或一台机器上。

Even The World of Warcraft is actually thousands of smaller worlds.

就算是“魔兽世界”， 也是几千个小世界.

When you hear about concerts in Fortnite,

当你在“堡垒之夜”中 看到一场演唱会时

you're actually hearing about thousands of small concerts.

你其实看到的 是几千场小演唱会。

You know, individual, as was said earlier today,

这些全都是独自存在的，

campfires or couches.

无论是游戏里面的篝火 还是沙发。

There isn't really this possibility to bring it all together.

我们没有什么机会 将这些世界联合到一起。

Let's take a moment to just really understand what that means.

让我们来想一想这是什么意思。

When you look at a game, you might see this, beautiful visuals,

当你在玩一个游戏时， 你可能会看到美好的视觉效果，

all of these things happening in front of you.

许多事在你眼前发生。

But behind the scenes in an online game,

但是每一个网上游戏的幕后，

this is what it looks like.

看起来却是这样的。

一个计算机科学家

To a computer scientist,

all you see is just a little bit of information

看到的仅仅是一点点信息

being exchanged by a tiny handful of meaningful entities or objects.

交换于一小撮对象或物品。

You might be thinking, "I've played in an infinite world."

你可能在想， “我正在探索一个无限的世界。”

Well it's more that you've played on a treadmill.

其实，你仅仅只是在跑步机上前进。

As you've been walking through that world,

在你探索游戏世界时，

we've been cleverly causing the parts of it that you're not in to vanish,

我们很聪明地使 你没到的地方消失不见，

而你正处在的地方显示出来。

and the parts of it in front of you to appear.

这是一个不错的小伎俩， 但是这并不能成为

A good trick, but not the basis for the revolution

我刚刚向你们保证的游戏革命的基石。

that I promised you in the beginning of this talk.

但我想告诉你们之中

But the reality is, for those of you that are passionate gamers

对此非常兴奋的狂热玩家

and might be excited about this,

和感到些许恐惧或毫无反应的人们

and for those of you that are afraid and may not be,

这一切将要改变。

all of that is about to change.

Because finally, the technology is in place

因为，我们的科技终于到位了，

to go well beyond the limits that we've previously seen.

可以跨域我们之前遇到的瓶颈。

I've dedicated my career to this,

这是我的事业，

there are many others working on the problem --

还有其他的战友一起在研究这个，

I'd hardly take credit for it myself,

我不想把这个功劳加在我身上，

但我们现在终于可以开始

but we're at the point now where we can finally

do this impossible hard thing

做以前我们认为完全不可能的事：

of weaving together thousands of disparate machines

把几千台独立的机器联合到

into single simulations

一个模拟世界中，

that are convenient enough to not be one-offs,

这个模拟世界并非 由一方所控制并建造的，

but to be buildable by anybody.

而是可以被所有人建造的。

And to be at the point

在那时，

where we can start to experience those things that we can't yet fathom.

我们会开始经历 我们现在还无法想象的事。

Let's just take a moment to visualize that.

让我们想一下。

I'm talking about not individual little simulations

我说的并不是 单独的模拟世界，

but a massive possibility of huge networks of interaction.

而是一个巨大的交互网络。

Massive global events that can happen inside that.

全球性事件可以发生在其中。

Things that even in the real world

这些事在现实世界中的

become challenging to produce at that kind of scale.

可做不到那么大的规模。

And I know some of you are gamers,

我知道台下的一些人 是游戏玩家，

so I'm going to show you some footage of some things

我想给你们看一些视频，

that I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to do, from some of our partners.

这些来自于我们的合作伙伴

我和TED讨论了很久了。

TED and me had a back-and-forth on this.

These are a few things that not many people have seen before,

这些很多人都没见过，

它们是由当今科技支持的新游戏体验。

some new experiences powered by this type of technology.

我现在给你们看看。

I'll just [take] a moment to show you some of this stuff.

这是一个单独的游戏世界，

This is a single game world

其中， 数千人同时参与了一场冲突。

with thousands of simultaneous people participating in a conflict.

It also has its own ecosystem,

这个世界有独自的生态系统，

its own sense of predator and prey.

自主分类出的捕食者和猎物。

你在这里看到的每一个物体 都是以某种方式模拟出来的。

Every single object you see here is simulated in some way.

这个游戏是世界上最大的公司之一，

This is a game being built by one of the biggest companies in the world,

网易，一个中国公司。

NetEase, a huge Chinese company.

他们创建了一个创造性辅助模拟世界，

And they've made an assistant creative simulation

where groups of players can cocreate together,

很多玩家组

可以用不同的机器一起创造 一个游戏世界，

across multiple devices,

in a world that doesn't vanish when you're done.

这个世界不会在你创立完后消失。

在这个世界中，人们可以讲故事， 可以畅游冒险。

It's a place to tell stories and have adventures.

Even the weather is simulated.

游戏中的天气也是模拟的。

And that's kind of awesome.

这太棒了。

And this is my personal favorite.

这是我最喜欢的。

This is a group of people, pioneers in Berlin,

一群在柏林的游戏玩家，

a group called Klang Games,

他们叫做Klang Games

and they're completely insane, and they'll love me for saying that.

他们特别疯狂， 他们也喜欢我这样称呼他们。

他们找到了一种方式 来建模整个星球。

And they found a way to model, basically, an entire planet.

他们将要建造一个模拟世界， 有百万个非玩家和玩家角色

They're going to have a simulation with millions of non-player characters

and players engaging.

共同创造。

They actually grabbed Lawrence Lessig

他们还邀请了劳伦斯·莱斯格

to help understand the political ramifications

来帮助他们认清

他们所创建的世界的政治影响。

of the world they're creating.

这是一种令人震惊的经历，

This is the sort of astounding set of experiences,

well beyond what we might have imagined,

远超过我们所想象的，

而如今成为了现实。

that are now going to be possible.

这仅仅是这种科技的第一步。

And that's just the first step in this technology.

So if we step beyond that, what happens?

所以若我们跨过那一步，什么会发生？

Well, computer science tends to be all exponential,

计算机科学倾向于指数增长，

once we crack the really hard problems.

在我们解决很难的问题后。

And I'm pretty sure that very soon,

我确定在很近的未来，

我们会到达一个境界

we're going to be in a place where we can make

那时，这种计算机技术根本不算什么。

this type of computational power look like nothing.

And when that happens, the opportunities ...

那时，我们的机会穷乎其穷。

It's worth taking a moment to try to imagine what I'm talking about here.

花点时间想想我说的是什么。

成百上千，百万的人

Hundreds of thousands or millions of people

可以栖息在在同一空间。

being able to coinhabit the same space.

The last time any of us as a species

上一次我们人类

had the opportunity to build or do something together

有机会大规模共同塑造

with that may people was in antiquity.

还是在古典时代。

And the circumstances were less than optimal, shall we say.

而当时的环境可没如今那么完美。

Mostly conflicts or building pyramids.

人类当时不是战火纷飞， 就是在造金字塔。

Not necessarily the best thing for us to be spending our time doing.

并不是我们应该花时间做的。

But if you bring together that many people,

但如果现在你可以组织起这么多人

the kind of shared experience that can create ...

它创造出的共同体验， 无法想象。

I think it exercises a social muscle in us

我认为，它可以活动

我们体内被忽略了很久的社会肌肉。

that we've lost and forgotten.

Going even beyond that,

在这之上，

I want to take a moment to think about what it means

我想谈谈

这对于关系，对于身份的影响。

for relationships, for identity.

如果我们能给彼此世界，给彼此经验，

If we can give each other worlds, experiences at scale

where we can spend a meaningful amount of our time,

我们花大量的有意义时间，

we can change what it means to be an individual.

我们就能改变个体的意义。

We can go beyond a single identity

我们可以超越单一的身份，

to a diverse set of personal identities.

去拥抱更多元的个人身份。

The gender, the race, the personality traits you were born with

性别，种族，这些与生俱来的特征

might be something you want to experiment differently with.

可以变成你可以 尝试变化的。

You might be someone that wants to be more than one person.

你可以成为有多重身份的人。

We all are, inside, multiple people.

在我们的内心深处， 我们都是几个不同的人。

We rarely get the opportunity to flex that.

而我们以前没有机会展示这些。

It's also about empathy.

这也有关同理心。

I have a grandmother

我的祖母

who I have literally nothing in common with.

我和她没有任何共同点。

I love her to bits,

我爱她至深，

but every story she has begins in 1940 and ends sometime in 1950.

但她讲的每一个故事 都始于1940年代，终于1950年代

And every story I have is like 50 years later.

而我的故事都发生在五十年后。

But if we could coinhabit,

但如果我们可以共同栖息

co-experience things together,

共同体验，

that undiminished by physical frailty or by lack of context,

而不被物理上的隔阂或 背景环境的缺失所阻碍，

create opportunities together,

我们可以共同创造机会，

that changes things, that bonds people in different ways.

这会改变很多事， 它以不同的方式把人们联系在一起。

I'm struck by how social media has amplified our many differences,

我深刻地感受到社交媒体 放大了人与人之间的不同，

and really made us more who we are in the presence of other people.

并可以让我们在他人面前 展示真实的自己。

I think games could really start to create

而我相信游戏也会开始创建

an opportunity for us to empathize again.

这样的机会，让我们可以拥有同理心。

To have shared adversity, shared opportunity.

同甘共苦，分享机会。

I mean, statistically, at this moment in time,

数据上来看，在这个时代

there are people who are on the opposite sides of a conflict,

身处对立战国的人们

who have been matchmade together into a game

可能在一个网络游戏中 匹配为战友

and don't even know it.

而他们对此一无所知。

That's an incredible opportunity to change the way we look at things.

这是一个非常棒的机会， 让我们改变看待事物的方法。

现在，你们之中 对这感到有些怀疑的人，

Finally, for those of you who perhaps are more cynical about all of this,

你们可能觉得虚拟世界 或者游戏并非是你们所喜欢的。

who maybe don't think that virtual worlds and games are your cup of tea.

但你们得接受一个事实，

There's a reality you have to accept,

就是它的经济效益

and that is that the economic impact of what I'm talking about

会是深远的。

will be profound.

现在，上千人将游戏 作为他们的全职工作，

Right now, thousands of people have full-time jobs in gaming.

这个数字马上会上升至百万人。

Soon, it will be millions of people.

Wherever there's a mobile phone, there will be a job.

哪里有手机，哪里就有工作。

An opportunity for something that is creative and rich

这个机会充满着创新的机会，

and gives you an income, no matter what country you're in,

无论你身处何方，都可以有工资拿

no matter what skills or opportunities you might think you have.

无论你觉得自己的资历和机会好不好。

Probably the first dollar most kids born today make

而现今出生的孩子们 赚的的一块钱

might be in a game.

很有可能就是在游戏中。

That will be the new paper route,

这将成为一个新的收入渠道，

that will be the new opportunity for an income

新的薪资来源

at the earliest time in your life.

在你非常年轻的时候。

So I kind of want to end with almost a plea,

所以我想以一个恳求， 而非一个想法

really, more than thoughts.

来结束我的演讲。

A sense of, I think, how we need to face this new opportunity

我们应该如何面对这个新的机会，

a little differently to some we have in the past.

我觉得应该和过去的我们有些不同。

It's so hypocritical for yet another technologist

台上站着个科技人员

to stand up on stage and say,

告诉大家

"The future will be great, technology will fix it."

“未来是美好的，因为科技可以改变一切” 这好像有一点虚伪。

And the reality is, this is going to have downsides.

事实是，这个机会当然会有缺点，

But those downsides will only be amplified

但是这些缺点会被放大

if we approach, once again, with cynicism and derision,

若我们以犬儒主义和 嘲笑的态度来面对

the opportunities that this presents.

它所带来的机会。

The worst thing that we could possibly do

我们可以做到最糟糕的就是

is let the same four or five companies

让同样的四五个大公司

end up dominating yet another adjacent space.

再次垄断了一个产业空间。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Because they're not just going to define how and who makes money from this.

因为他们不只会定义 如何以及谁能从中赚钱。

The reality is, we're now talking about defining how we think,

事实是，我们现在谈论的 将会主导我们的思维，

what the rules are around identity and collaboration,

影响我们对于身份和合作 定下的条规，

the rules of the world we live in.

改变这个世界的秩序。

This has got to be something we all own,

这些一定要成为所有人共同拥有的，

we all cocreate.

共同创造的。

So, my final plea is really to those engineers,

所以我最终的请求 面向观众中所有的工程师

those scientists, those artists in the audience today.

所有的科学家，所有的艺术家。

Maybe some of you dreamed of working on space travel.

也许你们畅想过太空之旅。

The reality is, there are worlds you can build right here, right now,

但事实是，在这里，在这一时刻 就有很多世界等待着你们的创造，

that can transform people's lives.

它们会永远地改变人们的生活。

There are still huge technological frontiers

仍有巨大的技术前沿

that need to be overcome here,

需要我们去攻克掌握，

akin to those we faced when building the early internet.

就像早期建立互联网的时候一样。

All the technology behind virtual worlds is different.

建立虚拟世界的科技 是非常独特的。

So, my plea to you is this.

我的恳求就是，

Let's engage, let's all engage,

让我们都参与进来，参与进来！

let's actually try to make this something that we shape in a positive way,

让我们把它变成一件 我们可以积极创造的事，

rather than once again have be done to us.

而不是再次变得被动。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）