Power Play: How Video Games Can Save the World
St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan | 2017
Co-authored with Asi Burak
The book examines how the games for change movement is helping redefine public opinion of video games. It weaves together the story of the movement through compelling case studies, with interviews including former Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O’Connor and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Some of the case studies include Half the Sky, the global movement based on Kristof and WuDunn’s bestselling book calling for the end of oppression towards women, and iCivics, the education project using video games to teach civics in classrooms across the US.
The book also explores how video games are being used in scientific research to better our understanding of how the brain works, including a chapter highlighting the work of Dr. Adam Gazzaley, whose game, Project Evo, aims to prevent cognitive decline in men and women over 60 and has since become the first FDA-approved video game to be played by prescription.
How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us
Penguin Random House | 2019
John Maeda
I collaborated with visionary designer and technologist John Maeda as his writing coach and editor. In the book, John defines the fundamental laws of how computers think. The book provides a coherent framework for today’s product designers, business leaders, and policymakers to grasp this brave new world. Drawing on his wide-ranging experience from engineering to computer science to design, John shows how businesses and individuals can identify opportunities afforded by technology to make world-changing and inclusive products–while avoiding the pitfalls inherent to the medium.
Ubisoft Pictures/Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein feature film project
In 2020, Ubisoft Pictures bought the rights to my WSJ Magazine article about a group of senior citizens in the world of esports.
Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, the co-writers and co-directors of the 2018 Amy Schumer-led comedy I Feel Pretty, are developing a feature film based on the story.