On 30 January, we were joined by transmedia storyteller Karen Palmer, who came to talk to us about her recent Parkour Neurogame, SYNCSELF 2. The game combines an interactive narrative with EEG biosensor technology to enable players to overcome obstacles by cultivating their own sense of mental focus.

What is SyncSelf? Karen showed us a trailer for SyncSelf 2, which offers a taste of the stunning footage used in the game. While playing SyncSelf 2, you progress through a branching narrative, which is centred around the act of freerunning. The game uses EEG scanners to monitor brainwaves as you play. You have to maintain a certain level of focus in order to make each jump and move on to the next challenge. SyncSelf was designed to simulate the intense level of mental focus that a free runner experiences just before a jump. 

How she got there - Karen’s background is in film-making. She told us that although working in the music video industry was glamorous at the time, she felt that there was a lot more to explore. Having developed an interest in interactive narrative, her work bridged into the digital arts. This is when Karen discovered neurogames, which make use of new and accessible brain scanning technologies, allowing players to control the game with their minds. She was interested in these examples of non-passive games, which encourage players to ‘tune in and switch on rather than switch off’, and was impressed by their ability to improve people’s sense of mental focus. ‘We live in an era where people are obsessed with having the latest update on their phones, but we aren’t talking enough about improving our own internal operating systems’. Being a freerunner, Karen feels that the level of concentration that Parkour requires makes it the perfect subject for a neurogame. Although SyncSelf 2 is distinguished by its use of cutting edge apparatus, the narrative of the game was always top priority; ‘technology is the service that enables the story to be told but story is first. I want people to really connect.’

Demo - At the end of Karen’s talk, a few of us had a go at SyncSelf 2. While we played, it became clear that we all had different methods of staying focused. Some people tried to focus on small details in the film, like the reflections in water, a cloud or a handrail. Some tried to work out the trajectory of a jump, and others didn’t focus on the film at all, but retreated into their own minds, working out sums or remembering phrases. It was really interesting to see a visualization of our own levels of focus, as it isn’t something that we are usually able to quantify. 

Future – Karen’s work has received exposure on an international platform. Last year she exhibited SYNCSELF 2 at the V&A’s Digital Design Weekend. This year she will be a Keynote speaker at DiGRA 2015 Germany and will be showcasing her work at Sheffield interactive 2015. She is currently talking to Barcelonan company Starlab about using their new brain scanner, which uses more sensors to give a more complete picture of brain activity, and is in the middle of developing the next iteration of her SyncSelf project; Future Self. Follow @thisisIF for the latest project updates.