Design a creepy game for teenagers to enable teachers to start discussions in the classroom about the risks and abuse of Face Recognition Technology

Night of the Nerds is:

  • An annual one day live event on Strijp in Eindhoven (4.000 visitors)
  • Aim: inspire young people (14-19 year) for creativity & technology
  • A program with attractive activities, such as workshops, short lectures & interactive experiences.
  • Themes: robotics, gaming, VR, sound design, AI, creative coding, etc
  • Key focus is Creative Tech for Good. In this context we challenge Fontys mediadesign students to develop interactive projects for Night of the Nerds

Context of the Challenge:

  • Face Recognition Technology (FRT) is developing rapidly
  • Despite all the benefits of FRT, the technology can be abused by criminals, governments, corporations, and social media platforms

Furthermore:

  • Within secondary education, digital awareness is a key learning objective
  • In secondary education, the situation now is that no attention is paid to FRT and its impact on society teenagers
  • Night of the Nerds wants to empower teachers to increase their students’ digital awareness, especially for FRT and the risks of this technology
  • We would like to offer teachers an appealing tool or application for their students to create awareness about the risks and abuse of FRT

Scope and Requirements

  • For inspiration for you herewith some facts and and a number of mini stories with concrete examples of risks and abuse of FRT. Check this link.
  • Your application has to match with the experiential world of young people (15-17 years)
  • Please do some research among young people!
  • Avoid moralism, that doesn’t work.
  • Think out of the engine, if possible, use innovative technology (VR, AR, sensors, voice/audio chatbot, interactive video, etc)
  • Interaction is a must
  • Consider innovative storytelling concepts (escape room, game, etc
  • Use the Dutch or in English Language in your application
  • OPTION: showcase the application during the Night of the Nerds event on Thursday 5 June, 2025.

Starting Resources

  • Facts and and a number of mini stories with concrete examples of risks and abuse of FRT. Check this link.
  • Highly recommended book: Jouw gezicht is nu van ons - Kashmir Hill (2023) POM Press Your Face belongs to us - Kashmir Hill (2023) Simon & Schuster
  • Alexander Klöpping about FRT on television (Op1)
  • TV series: Hunted, AVRO TROS
  • Netflix series Black Mirror, episode “Nosedive” (Season 3, episode 1)

Expected Deliverables

  • Playable demo (build)
  • Gameplay trailer which also announces the game.
  • Detailed handover document for the follow-up group that will work on the game. Including potential pitfalls and tips and suggestions for making the game better and more appealing.
  • Source code and assets (git repo)