Designing for the dichotomy of immersion in location based games

The interaction design of mixed reality location based games typically focuses upon the digital content of the mobile screen, as this is characteristically the primary navigational tool players use to traverse the game space. This emphasis on the digital over the physical means the opportunity for player immersion in mixed reality games is often limited to the single (digital) dimension. This research seeks to redress this imbalance, which is caused, in part, by the requirement for the player?s attention to be systematically switched between the two worlds, defined in this research as the ?Dichotomy of Immersion?. Using different design strategies we propose minimising the reliance of the player upon the mobile screen by encouraging greater observation of their physical surroundings. Using a ?research through design? approach for the mixed reality game PAC-LAN: Zombie Apocalypse, we illustrate design strategies for increasing immersion in location based games, which we believe will aid designers in enabling players to more readily engage with the physical context of the game and thus facilitate richer game experiences

Exploration Games:Can Game-Guided Systems Support Users in Automated Exhibition Sites?

This article delves into the potential of incorporating elements fromadventure games into museum exhibitions, with a particular focus on automatedexhibition sites. We advocate that principles derived from adventure games canadeptly bridge the two primary expectations of exhibitions: enlightenment andexperience. Exploration-based games, such as Explore the Redoubt (XTR)crafted for automated venues, enable users to fulfill both these objectives. XTR,conceived to address the prevailing research voids, integrates game mechanicsinto the automated exhibition environment, enhancing visitor motivation andengagement. It harnesses interactive digital mediums to present cultural heritagein a relaxed, informal manner.Existing research scarcely touches upon the design of experiential learninggames developed for automated sites, which encompass both indoor and outdoordisplays. Our methodology contemplates the transformation of visitor conduct atexhibitions, morphing them into avid knowledge seekers. We challenge theadequacy of current user experience models in portraying exhibitions striving toprovide both enlightenment and an immersive experience. Consequently, weintroduce a framework for museum interactions that deeply engages users, urgingthem to define their exploration trajectories, seamlessly fusing enlightenment,and engagement. Our study is set in a 17th-century redoubt where initialobservations indicated greater outdoor engagement compared to indoor spaces.This observation fueled our initiative to amplify indoor visitor participation.After testing XTR with 30 participants and employing a combination ofobservations and interviews, we derived key insights on designing digitalexploration games that seamlessly combine enlightenment and engagement. Weconclude with three design strategies to enhance visitor curiosity and exploration

Mapping the beach beneath the street:digital cartography for the playable city

Maps are an important component within many of the playful and gameful experiences designed to turn cities into a playable infrastructures. They take advantage of the fact that the technology used for obtaining accurate spatial information, such as GPS receivers and magnetometers (digital compasses), are now so wide-spread that they are considered as ‘standard’ sensors on mobile phones, which are themselves ubiquitous. Interactive digital maps, therefore, are are widely used by the general public for a variety of purposes. However, despite the rich design history of cartography digital maps typically exhibit a dominant aesthetic that has been de-signed to serve the usability and utility requirements of turn-by-turn urban navigation, which is itself driven by the proliferation of in-car and personal navigation services. The navigation aesthetic is now widespread across almost all spatial applications, even where a be-spoke cartographic product would be better suited. In this chapter we seek to challenge this by exploring novel neo-cartographic ap-proaches to making maps for use within playful and gameful experi-ences designed for the cities. We will examine the potential of de-sign approaches that can producte not only more aesthetically pleasing maps, but also offer the potential for influencing user be-haviour, which can be used to promote emotional engagement and exploration in playable city experiences

Exploring the Meaningful Qualities of Transactions in Virtual Environments for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Gamers

To date, most research on massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has focused on the effects playing MMORPGs have on players’ health and wellness. The virtual environment of MMORPGs has yet to be explored as a space where meaningful occupations occur. This qualitative descriptive study examined the virtual environment using a transactional perspective to describe the qualities of gaming to which MMORPG players ascribe meaning. Participants included six MMORPG players with experience playing World of Warcraft, Runescape, or Guild Wars 2. Data were gathered using interviews, participant observation, and a focus group, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes were generated: Creating collective occupational experiences, Facilitating personally transformative occupational experiences, and Unlocking immersive virtual environments. Participants described collective occupational experiences of gaming as creating a sense of community and belonging. Transactions in the virtual environment facilitated a transformative occupational experience to foster identity development and personal growth. The virtual environment was described as meaningful by unlocking an immersive experience through the aesthetics of the environment and engagement with in-game occupations. These findings provide occupational scientists with an increased understanding of the qualities of transactions within games that are meaningful for MMORPG players

Rethinking the Virtual

Burbules faz uma sÈrie de consideraÁ?es para montar um conceito teÛrico do virtual. Primeiro, examina os quatro processos da vinculaÁ„o (interesse, envolvimento, imaginaÁ„o e interaÁ„o) para que ocorra a imers„o, muito importantes para entender-se o potencial educacional da virtualidade. Segundo, aplica o conceito do virtual ‡ discuss„o do espaÁo e do tempo virtuais decorrendo daÌ que, ‡ medida que os espaÁos virtuais tornam-se conhecidos e importantes, passam a ser lugares virtuais. Essa transformaÁ„o pode acontecer de duas maneiras: por arquitetura e por mapeamento, em plausÌvel paralelo aos pontos de vista respectivamente do professor e do aluno. Este trabalho pode ser visto como uma tentativa de desmistificar a virtualidade como sendo exclusivamente tecnolÛgica e de encar·-la como a base de um conceito educacional. Destacam-se, neste artigo, os conceitos de virtualidade, lugares virtuais educacionais e arquitetura e mapeamento

Cartography, location-based gaming and the legibility of mixed reality spaces

This paper presents a number of cartographic design solutions to the creation of a web-map for the mixed-reality location-based game ‘Pac-Lan: Zombie Apocalypse’. The research-purpose of this game is to explore ways to encourage players to become more fully engaged with the physical location in which the game is played, by designing the game interface in such a way as to discourage players from becoming reliant solely upon the device screen for navigation. By increasing the level of player interaction with their surroundings, it is intended that a more immersive game experience within mixed reality space may be created. The map is a crucial on-screen element in any location based game, and four maps are presented here as potential solutions for ‘Pac-Lan: Zombie Apocalypse’, each of which approach the design goals of the game in a different manner

A Phenomenological Inquiry of Virtual Worlds

In synthetic worlds, such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, or SIMS, the dichotomy between reality and virtuality still remains one of the unsolved philosophical inquiries of our time. There remains skepticism regarding the value of virtual experiences versus those of real life. This research presents a starting point for an ethical discourse on the technology of virtual worlds and addresses two questions: What are unique affordances of virtual worlds? And, what are the ethical implications that emerge due to these unique affordances? Four unique affordances of the technology of virtual worlds - self-expression, co-experience, co-creation, and crowd-sourcing, are identified. Questions from positivist, social-constructivist, and phenomenological perspectives of ethics are recognized and preliminary phenomenological insights of societal pressures contributing to the emergence of virtual worlds are ascertained. This research attempts to analyze virtual worlds from multiple ethical perspectives, starting with a broad phenomenological inquiry within which subsequent impact and discovery studies can be framed. Understanding the societal attitudes and moods that make technologies necessary and valuable help uncover the interests and constraints they embody as well as their potential impacts

Augmented reality meeting table: a novel multi-user interface for architectural design

Immersive virtual environments have received widespread attention as providing possible replacements for the media and systems that designers traditionally use, as well as, more generally, in providing support for collaborative work. Relatively little attention has been given to date however to the problem of how to merge immersive virtual environments into real world work settings, and so to add to the media at the disposal of the designer and the design team, rather than to replace it. In this paper we report on a research project in which optical see-through augmented reality displays have been developed together with prototype decision support software for architectural and urban design. We suggest that a critical characteristic of multi user augmented reality is its ability to generate visualisations from a first person perspective in which the scale of rendition of the design model follows many of the conventions that designers are used to. Different scales of model appear to allow designers to focus on different aspects of the design under consideration. Augmenting the scene with simulations of pedestrian movement appears to assist both in scale recognition, and in moving from a first person to a third person understanding of the design. This research project is funded by the European Commission IST program (IST-2000-28559)

Beyond the blandscape:utilizing aesthetics in digital cartography

Despite the rich design history within the field of cartography, the majority of digital maps exhibit a dominant aesthetic that is primarily designed to serve the usability and utility requirements of turn-by-turn urban navigation producing a so-called ‘blandscape’ of map design. In this research we consider not only how to produce more visually appealing digital maps, but also how the cartographic decisions made in the production of maps can influence behavior, particularly with regard to the encouragement of explorative experiences. Novel cartographic and technological solutions are therefore presented, which address exploration using digital maps in the context of location based gaming and tourism. These examples demonstrate the potential of digital cartography to influence behavior and the importance of aesthetics in the cartographic process