games with a purpose – introductory notes

There are a number of problems that are very hard for computers to solve, but comparatively easy for humans. One example of this is image classification: It presents a tough challenge for computers, but humans are typically easily able to point out individual objects in a photograph as well as their locations.

Luis von Ahn coined the expression game with a purpose. The idea here is that it would be very expensive to pay people to do certain tasks, particularly if those tasks involve large volumes of data. Engaging games on the other hand provide the immediate incentive of entertainment. Games with a purpose are played for the sake of enjoyment, but have the side effect of getting real work done by the players, too.

The following three papers provide a useful introduction.

• Luis von Ahn, Games with a Purpose [PDF], IEEE Computer, June 2006. Introduces the basic concept, briefly outlines some of the games in development as part of von Ahn’s research and looks at future applications.
• Luis von Ahn and Laura Dabbish, Designing Games with a Purpose [PDF], Communications of the ACM, August 2008. Presents a discussion of general design principles for games with a purpose. Luis von Ahn’s games are available here.
• Katharina Siorpaes and Martin Hepp, Games with a Purpose for the Semantic Web [PDF], IEEE Intelligent Systems, May/June 2008. Applies GWAP principles to build useful information ontologies. The games are available here.

Here is a clip of Luis von Ahn discussing some of his games and the concept of human computation.

I have no doubt that we will see lots of interesting applications of these principles in coming years.