The design of mobile games as a context to rethink representations of space

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Roderick Lynch
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1 The design of mobile games as a context to rethink representations of space Nikoleta Yiannoutsou, Christos Sintoris, Nikos Avouris Human-Computer Interaction Group, University of Patras Maps and Games, Workshop at the 26th International Cartographic Conference in Dresden August 25th 2013

2 Outline Representations of space in games Modalities of interaction with space Analysis of the representations in one case How players experience space 2/20

3 Representations of space in location-based mobile games "All maps state an argument about the world "*: not only a view of the world but also a way of interacting with it Visibile representations (i.e. maps) "Implied" representations which shape spatial experience (i.e. treasure hunt) offer different ways of interacting with space impose a specific way of navigating in space *(Harley 1992 pp 242, in Propen 2009) 3/20

4 J. J. Gibson (1979) Affordances are the allowable actions specified by the environment pic from 4/20

5 Affordance implied actions, awarness of functional significance What actions does this stile afford? - pic from rethinkingchildhood.com 5/20

6 Wasteland (1987) Most of the game is about moving and performing actions in a place 6/20

7 Ingress (2012) The map aids the traversal of real space. 7/20

8 Ingress (2012) Site-specificity: meaning is superimposed onto places and objects. existing meaning is altered 8/20

9 Representation of space, encodes and enforces rules Places afford actions, depending on goals and motivations Places are codified, new meaning is superimposed, existing meaning is altered 9/20

10 Representing information about a place How does a game incorporate information? What is there? selected spatial content (sites of a city or exhibits of a museum) Where is it? position and information about this content. How is it presented? rules/conditions for presenting information on content (e.g. depending on player position, on game state, on player actions etc.) 10/20

11 Representing information about a place Where am I? position of player and / or co-players Where do I go? order of navigation in the different sites (dependent on time or on the structure of the information or on the actions of the player) linear order of navigation nodal organization 11/20

12 Modalities of interaction with space What does a game ask of a player in relation to space? Moving, Be there Be there at a specific time Follow a trail navigate in space with a specific order Interacting with other players, Be there first Co-locality: be there at the same time with someone else and perform a task (e.g. two-man rule) Synchronicity: be at specific different spots at the same time and coordinate with other players (e.g. Ingress) 12/20

13 CityScrabble A connection game: connect real objects to concepts In CityScrabble, teams compete to find "hidden" connections Players read info on devices Locate related QR tags Associate located QR tags to info 13/20

14 CityScrabble A connection game: connect real objects to concepts In CityScrabble, teams compete to find "hidden" connections Clues are organized in themes Players / teams compete on the grid 14/20

CityScrabble A connection game: connect real objects to concepts In CityScrabble, teams compete to find "hidden" connections Locations are spread out (224 tags)

15 CityScrabble A connection game: connect real objects to concepts In CityScrabble, teams compete to find "hidden" connections Locations are spread out (224 tags) Players cannot always observe each other Meaning is fragmented Incorporation of contextual information Observing features of places/objects Scanning QR tags 15/20

16 How do players experience space? Discussing with players after playing a game (invisiblecity.gr) [ Extract 1 ] Coordinator: Did you learn something about the city that you didn t know before playing the game? Player A: We didn t know any of it. it was all new. Player S: Yes, everything was new. Player M:. we walk every day by these sites but we had no idea of all these things about them 16/20

17 How do players experience space? Discussing with players after playing a game (invisiblecity.gr) [ Extract 2 ] Coordinator: Did you have the chance to look around when you were playing? Player K: I knew the surroundings more or less.. Player R: Do you think that the game would be useful for a visitor who doesn t know the city? Player S: It would take ages for someone who doesn t know the city to play the game because first he has to find out where the different sites are. Not easy if you don t know where you are going. Player A: The game is not about getting to know the city, it is about discovering the city. The game is not designed for a visitor who wants to learn what the characteristic sites of this city are. The questions are about discovering the invisible city- things that were hidden and not obvious when you look at the buildings for example. 17/20

18 Finally, how do games use space? (I) Backdrop, space plays no role Confrontation space, space is the object of dispute, (e.g. CTF) Challenge, space offers resistance to players e.g. how do I traverse space?, way finding based on clues 18/20

19 Finally, how do games use space? (II) Embed content, where factual content is encoded in the represenation of space, learn about this and that Going beyond factual information What to I see when I look from a specific point? What about the people who live in it? How do I behave here? How can we take into account the city narrative?* *(Gentes et al 2010) 19/20

20 Thanks! Christos Sintoris

Invisible cities: urban games mediated by mobile technologies

Invisible cities: urban games mediated by mobile technologies Christos Sintoris¹, Soterios Dimitriou¹, Nikoleta Yiannoutsou¹, Nikolaos Avouris¹ http://www.invisiblecity.gr ¹Human Computer Interaction Group,