Berkeley, Craig Newmark Team Up For MMO Birdwatching

Researchers at UC Berkeley and Texas A&M have developed what could be the hottest new massively multiplayer online game experience yet: remote birdwatching.

The game, which goes live on Monday, April 23, will allow gamers to log into a Berkeley web site and control a camera pointed at San Francisco's Sutro Forest. The camera will move in the direction picked by the majority of users, who will be competing with each other to snap pictures of birds and correctly identify them. Once enough users have identified a bird, they'll earn points -- more for rare birds.

The technology behind the game is called Collaborative Observatories for Natural Environments (CONE). The camera will be set up on the back deck of Craigslist founder Craig Newmark's house, which overlooks the forest.

Berkeley professor Ken Goldberg is interested to see how different kinds of users adapt to the game:

We're hoping it attracts a wide range of players, from young videogamers who have never tried bird watching, to seniors who are seasoned birdwatchers. Initially, the gamers may be better atcontrolling the interface, and birdwatchers may be better at correctly classifying the birds. We're looking forward to seeing how things turn out.