“We Come In Peace” presented by Hobbs

We Come in Peace (WCIP) is a 3D antiwar game addressing issues of non-‐violence, absorption and play. In the game, players absorb weapons from the surface of planet Earth using tractor beams emitted by customizable UFOs. The goal of the game is the eradication of all weapons from the planet. The game is deployed across the “real” earth using terrestrial satellite data. Players can localize to any longitude or latitude location, or choose a preset city. Weapons are generated dynamically at each location using brute force spawning algorithms. At ISEA 2015, we propose a live public performance in which participants play to remove no less than 1,000,000 weapons from the planet.
The issue of weapons proliferation continues to plague the planet. Given the scope of the problem, We Come In Peace proposes a solution from the most unlikely place ~ outer space. Leveraging publicly available datasets of earth terrain and known weapons data, the game proposes a solution to earth’s many wars: total eradication of both known and unknown weapons stockpiles. The political and aesthetic strategies employed by the game include: engaged Buddhism activism, “ahimsa” (nonviolence), the reclamation of public data for simulation and play, and a healthy dose of hyperbole and levity through the creative deployment of spaceships and laser beams in a thought-provoking game.