World Without Oil

Today on Future Tense (RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes) I talked with Jane McGonigal, one of the architects of the alternate reality game World Without Oil.

As the price of gas continues to rise to record levels in the real world, Internet users around the world are playing this game, in which they pretend the U.S. is facing an acute oil shortage that's driving gasoline prices to crisis levels.

The point of the non-profit venture is to encourage conversation about our dwindling oil supply, and to tap the collective intelligence to help generate ideas for dealing with a possble oil shock in the future.

I enjoyed meeting McGonigal, who's also the resident game designer for the Institute of the Future. She's incredibly bright and doing interesting work. She told me that one day, a game designer will will the Nobel Peace Prize.

Jane McGonigal