The Art of Moon Shots - Creating Two New Industries: Game Development and Commercial Human Spaceflight
Richard Garriott de Cayeux
IBC recently enjoyed a lively and fascinating chat with video gaming pioneer, explorer, commercial space flight investor, and private astronaut, Richard Garriott de Cayeux. As the son of a NASA astronaut and an artist, the roles of pioneer and explorer were a natural evolution, and, indeed, he is a pioneer of the video gaming industry, as well as a co-founder of Space Adventures and a board member of the X-Prize Foundation, and Planetary Resources.
An avid explorer and member of The Explorers Club, Richard has traveled both into space and down to Titanic, among many other amazing places across the planet. He is also the author most recently of Explore/Create.
Richard shared his treatise with us: “If you’re going to do things that are original and important, it’s not enough to study or be inspired by your immediate competitors in your own field. It is much more important and productive to look for inspiration and opportunities by casting a much wider net of gathering information and bringing those very disparate or divergent ideas back to the field you’re working in.” Richard observes that following this treatise has helped him accomplish what he calls his “moon shots” in both video gaming and commercial space flight.
Richard developed and sold his first video game while still in high school in the eighties at a time when computer graphics and computing power were extremely limited. He was the first to use the term “avatar” in the gaming industry, mainly in response to the moral ambiguity of characters in role-playing games, up until his game Quest of the Avatar. His desire was that players would understand the real-world consequences of their characters’ actions.
He then went on to create the first “massively multi-player online role-playing game” with Ultima Online, which was the first to involve multiple players simultaneously playing across the globe, among other popular games. “Reality crafting” is how Richard approaches developing his games, even going so far as to create his own written language for a game. Part of this process also includes how the game is packaged and distributed, by including cloth maps and other items to enhance the experience.
Richard also applies this method to his efforts with commercial human space flight, as with the X-Prize and other endeavours to make those experiences more available to the public. Having dreamt of creating his own space agency from a young age and eventually making the trip as a private astronaut, Richard had to correct and overcome some medical issues in order to make it into space. This determination and desire paid off, culminating in a trip to the International Space Station in 2008.
One IBC member asked what is next for exploration, in, perhaps, the next twenty years. Richard responded, “It is actually shocking how much there is to do still, even on the places that we’ve seem to have gone a lot on the surface of the earth.” Highlighting the fact that there are substantial areas and fields here on earth that are still undiscovered, as a member of the Explorers Club, he mentions that, at any given time, there are “about a hundred expeditions in the field around the globe.” Our oceans are still largely unexplored, and, as he points out, space exploration is “wide open.”
When a member asked about how much the new SpaceX/Tesla stainless steel alloy switch may drive down rocket cost over the next five years if at all, he responded that it could help drive down costs, with the ability to reuse the vehicle, thereby making space travel even more affordable. As soon as there is more competition, Richard believes that space travel will become even more affordable and available to many more people.
Another question posed to Richard was: as the world increasingly moves towards AI, robotics, and automation, do you have a particular perspective on the relationship between technology and humans? Where is the balance and inter-connectedness between the two heading? What implications does this have for humanity, work, morality, etc.? Richard believes that AI and robotics will “provide us with incredible value” and dramatic enhancements and convenience to our lives and our safety, but he has concerns about the possibilities and ramifications of “sentient AI.”
Richard Garriott de Cayeux’s enthusiasm for thinking outside the box was truly inspiring for each of us. Our members were captivated by his determination to succeed and overcome obstacles to his success and by his passion for exploration. His encouragement to step outside of one’s own fields to draw inspiration from other areas in order to achieve our own “moon shot moments” were rousing. We look forward to welcoming him when he is next in Colorado.