Gaming has reached levels of fidelity with reality that the same approaches are starting to be used for simulating real life job. This is true for aircraft piloting, as well as driving cars and more and more in surgery training.

This is the case reported by a paper published by Wolters Kluver few days ago on the use of a simulator for training future neurosurgeons.

NeuroTOuch – National Research Council of Canada

Researchers have developed a brain surgery simulator with 3D graphics able to match what a surgeon would actually see through the microscope used for surgery. The simulator makes use of haptic interfaces shaped as the surgical instruments used during the operation to recreate the exact feeling to the trainee. A consumer PC is now sufficiently powerful to support this kind of simulation and precise force feedback in the interaction.

The graphics make use of the same “engines” being used in games, and also the engagement of the students follows the same paradigm. Students gets points determined on the accuracy and speed of the operation, when they remove cancerous tissue they get penalties if they touch healthy parts of the brain…

Using the gaming paradigm in education (gamification) is now becoming common in several areas, from learning physics and math, to chemist. And it is likely to be adopted also in other subjects.

Take a look at a video clip of the simulator at work (if you are not faint of heart):

I had the opportunity of participating at a workshop in Shanghai at the 2010 Expo on Culture and Arts. I am no artist and my cultural level is …well not good; I was there to discuss how to use technologies (the ones we have today and the ones that are moving their first steps in the labs).
It was interesting to see how the future is already shaping today’s arts and culture. In the restoration process neutron accelerator are used to look inside a statue, special lasers can tell us what is under the paint of a portrait and may be help in understanding the thinking of the artist who changed his mind several times before coming to the final masterpiece.
I found interesting the 3D reconstruction of monuments and entire cities, like Rome and Alexandria, created by Altair, http://www.altair4.com . It made me wonder how it would have been like walking in those narrow streets hand in hand with Julius Cesar. He was not there, but the 3D rendering was so effective and so “credible” that it meade me feel I could have been there.
And then I made the next step: since that reconstruction felt so real, why don’t augment that “reality” to provide me with the feeling of being a citizen there at that time.
We already have Simulation Games, add to them environments feeling really … real, get your avatar to roam the place and experience the feeling. Engage yourself in a discussion with Cato, let Julius tell you about his latest war campaign in the Gauls.
I am pretty sure I would be able to learn so much more than by reading a textbook.
Yes, I feel my nephews will enjoy much better ways of learning.