Register for our Red Bull Discovery Lab on Tuesday, September 8

On Sept. 8, the Red Bull Discovery Lab with MIT Game Lab opens its virtual doors for a live game-design workshop and a NASA v MIT space-health exploration panel

‘Mind in Space’ is the drive behind 2020’s exclusive Red Bull Discovery Lab. In this one-off event, members of the public are welcome to join the morning game-creation session lead by MIT’s gamemaster Sara Verrilli. She will guide 2020’s Red Bull Mind Gamer champions and webinar participants through the challenges of crafting a puzzle with the perfect amount of chaos and order.

Come afternoon, an elite panel of MIT minds and NASA scientists, sit down for a live virtual discussion on the importance of finding space and time for play to help us thrive in trying times.

Director for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) Dorit Donoviel, PhD and founder and lead of the MIT Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative Ariel Ekblaw will pool their decades of space-health knowledge to show mere Earth dwellers that play could well save humanity on this planet and beyond.

“Panellists will discuss their work in designing and studying living spaces for astronauts and we’ll connect this to the stressors affecting our current living situation. Astronauts also face the challenge of living and working in extreme environments, far from home and loved ones. But throughout all of this, not only do they find opportunities to play, they make it an vital part of their lives,” explains panel moderator Scot Osterweil, Creative Director of the MIT Game Lab and the Education Arcade in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing department.

The morning game-creation session runs from 10am to 11am EST. The afternoon panel – entitled ‘Playing in Extreme Environments: What space-health research can teach us about adapting to life during pandemic’ – runs from 12pm to 1pm EST.

All Earth dwellers are welcome to join, learn and thrive. Register to attend!

As Studio Manager for the MIT Game Lab, Rik Eberhardt spends his days playing Tetris: with people, boxes, tasklists, equipment, and time. When not staring at a spreadsheet trying to fit in another computer purchase, a last minute event budget, or placing undergraduate researchers on a Game Lab project, he's chipping away at spreadsheets on his DS, reproducing pixel-art in Picross and Picross 3D. His favorite moments on the job are working on projects with student workers and having fun social interactions forced on him despite his busy schedule. Contact him about research projects at the MIT Game Lab at gamelab-request@mit.edu