IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 16
LEADING EDGE
Shoshana Eilon
I
Developed by parents of a
terminally ill child, "That Dragon,
Cancer" facilitates emotional
connection and spiritual
awakening.
ating the documentary and the
game, Ryan had to decide where
to draw the line in sharing his fam-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2018.2839221
Date of publication: 31 May 2018
16
That Dragon, Cancer
Video Game as Art Form
THAT DRAGON, CANCER/NUMINOUS GAMES
n 2012, when Ryan
and Amy Green learn-
ed that their baby
son Joel's rare can-
cer was ter mina l,
they were devastated. Searching
for a way to explore his feelings,
Ryan, an indie video game devel-
op er, found solace in the most
appropriate creative outlet he knew:
making a video game.
Ryan Green created a video game
called "That Dragon, Cancer," a game
that is at once a poetic exploration of
a father's relationship with his son, an
interactive painting, and a vivid win-
dow into the mind of grieving parents.
Green also recruited his wife
and sons into the process of docu-
menting their daily lives for a film,
Thank you for Playing, about the
video game's development. In cre-
ily's experiences of raising
a dying child. From having
his sons reenact difficult
conversations, to record-
ing Joel's giggle, to pains-
t a k ing ly photo g raphing
every detail of the hospital,
Ryan's life became con-
sumed by the complicated
process of creating a digi-
tal world that mirrors his
own, even as he continued
to care for his son.
Combining footage from both
Ryan's real and animated worlds,
Thank You for Playing examines
how we process grief through technol-
ogy in the twenty-first century, and
the implications of documenting
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine
profound human experiences in a
new artistic medium: the video game.
"That Dragon, Cancer," the video
game, was developed by Ryan and
Amy Green and Josh Larson along
with five others at their studio, Numi-
nous Games. It was released in Jan-
uary 2016. As the Numinous team
describe it: "'That Dragon, Cancer' is
a video game developer's love letter
to his son; an immersive, narrative
video game to inspire love for oth-
ers; a memorial for hundreds who
have fought cancer. It is a poetic and
playful interactive retelling of Joel
Green's 4-year fight against cancer,
and an autobiographical memoir of
how parents Ryan and Amy embrace
hope in the face of death."
∕
JUNE 2018
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018
Contents
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Contents
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 4
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 5
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 6
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 7
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 8
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 9
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 10
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 11
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 12
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 13
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 14
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 15
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 16
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 17
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 18
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 19
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 20
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 21
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 22
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 23
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 24
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 25
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 26
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 27
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 28
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 29
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 30
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 31
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 32
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 33
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 34
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 35
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 36
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 37
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 38
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 39
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 40
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 41
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 42
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 43
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 44
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 45
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 46
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 47
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 48
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 49
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 50
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 51
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 52
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 53
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 54
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 55
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 56
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 57
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 58
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 59
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 60
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 61
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 62
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 63
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 64
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 65
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 66
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 67
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 68
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 69
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 70
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 71
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 72
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 73
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 74
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 75
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 76
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 77
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 78
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 79
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 80
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 81
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 82
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 83
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 84
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 85
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 86
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 87
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 88
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com