About a year ago, faced with a huge excess of driving, I traded in my Audi S4 on a Toyota Prius.

I was pretty bummed about this. The S4 was a very fast car; being able to touch 100MPH in one's daily commute is just plain fun. But it ate a lot of gas, and the green in me could no longer brook the amount of hydrocarbons that came out of the tailpipe. So I got on the waitlist, and picked up a Prius.

Now that I'm in the club of Prius drivers, I know that there is a secret handshake, which is to discuss what mode you like to use the touchscreen display in (or, whether you've rear-ended anyone yet because you were watching the display). This display is a central part of the Prius experience.

For the uninitiated, I'll describe what this is all about. The Prius is a "full hybrid", which means that it can run completely off the gas motor, completely off the electric motor, or any combination of the two. This balance is controlled by a computer running a sophisticated set of algorithms that take into account the current battery charge, the electrical load (from the air conditioner, for instance), current speed, position of the pedals, etc. When Toyota built the Prius, they decided to expose this computer process to the user, using a video display in the center of the dashboard. Along with showing the process, the display shows the current charge of the batteries, and constant real-time updates of fuel economy.

I'd be curious to know why Toyota decided to do this. It's arguably fairly dangerous; I know of at least one person who has had a collision at least in part because of this display. My best guess is that they did it because of the "because we can" factor, and also because they knew it would help push the nerd appeal for the early-adopter set (guilty as charged).

What we have though, is in essence a game. Or what we would call in the current parlance a "serious game".

I've actually been driving cars that had a fuel economy readout for years, starting with a Volkswagen Passat I bought in 1997. But that simple numerical display while amusing for a while didn't have anywhere near the appeal of The Prius Game. The Prius Game is waaay more fun.

First, Prius has a built-in advantage, which is the 'fuzzy' break between the gas and electric modes of transit, and the all-important feature called regenerative braking (how the battery is recharged when you decelerate). A straight gas or electric car would have only part of this functionality.

Second though, Prius has an excellent interface. When you first start driving a Prius, you'll probably find yourself staring at this display a lot:


With its colorful animating arrows and rotating wheels, this display is eye-catching, and also reveals the moment-to-moment decisions the computer is making regarding where to budget the various energy flowing around underneath the hood.

I call this "training mode".

After a few months though, you'll start to learn the computer's tricks, and begin the process of optimization. For optimization, you switch over to this screen:


This mode, which shows history as well as current status, I call "advanced mode."

Now I'd say this driver has a nice high score going. The fact that there's a limited number of little leaf cars present proves that this is not a simple downhill glide. And 88 degrees is pretty hot, meaning that most likely the AC was robbing a few horsepower off the top as well. We're looking at a driver with some skills here folks.

In fact, a quick google search comes up with some great quotes:

"I just ordered a fuel-economy computer that I can plug into my car's ECU. Soon I too will be able to turn driving into a real-life video game." (www.metrompg.com)

"The digital fuel consumption gauge is so prominent, you can't help but try to beat your previous trip's fuel consumption average. Somehow, we don't think Toyota did that by accident." (www.drive.com.au)

"Perhaps even better would be the ability to pull up the "high scores" right on the Prius' in-car display. Perhaps this would be the first actual reality-based driving game." (www.gearbits.com)

There can be little doubt: with its combination of robust gameplay and excellent interface, the Toyota Prius is one of the best designed games on the road today!


This is really important
So, why is this important?

It hit home for me the other day when I had the misfortune of having to drive my family's other car (a very nice Audi A6 wagon) on my normal commute. In my usual "coast spots", I started to decelerate, and realized that I wasn't going to have any chance at all at a high score. And with the Audi's poor gameplay and interface, I couldn't really be bothered to try even for a local high score. So I just said screw it, and drove home with no particular regard for economy.

As soon as I got back in the Prius, I was back on my game though, looking to bust my average above 47.5 (my current norm for an whole tank). And here's the crux of it. Games, with their powerful motivator of FUN, can directly influence behavior. As soon as the Prius made getting fuel economy FUN, I was all over it, and so are the majority of my fellow Prius jockeys.

Most of what I read about "serious games" is games whose ultimate goal is to educate, or provide insight. While this is laudable and probably effective, it's also perfectly achievable through other, non-interactive means. Games however, if designed correctly, can actually directly impact behavior in a manner that we can call a social good. Prius's "game", which has a powerful impact on user behavior in a positive direction (less fuel consumption, less pollution), skips right over the education element, straight to the social good. (This by the way is a lot of why I found Harvey Smith's "Peace Bomb" idea so appealing...it drew people directly to action rather than just trying to be pedantic.)

And I haven't even mentioned the fact that with this nifty entertainment literally right at my fingertips, the stress of commuting has dropped dramatically.

As computers and interactive interfaces are woven deeper and deeper into our surroundings, I think it behooves us to look at these devices frequently in terms of games. Can that electronically managed refrigerator use fun to motivate the diabetic toward a better diet? Can a house's electrical system use fun to encourage its residents to maximize efficiency? Can the phone give you skill points for calling mom a little more often? Sure some of these things are goofy, but I think it all bears consideration. And let's not forget the potential of linking online for an additional motivator, competition.

So yeah, my nomination for Serious Game of the Year: Prius.