Enhancing the design process with drama-related methods

This paper presents a critical review of several applications of drama-related methods to design, discussing their benefits and limitations and providing comment on practical aspects of their implementation. Drama-related methods can shed light on the contexts in which a new product will be used, helping to clarify any potential issues users may have with the design. These methods can improve communication and facilitate more fruitful collaboration between the various stakeholders. Improvisation can be used to improve the effectiveness and reliability of brainstorming sessions. However, the level of acting skill required of the participants needs consideration, and must be appropriate to the purpose of the evaluation. Also, drama methods generally add resources to the design process, and there is a lack of validation studies of tangible improvements to the designed product. We provide recommendations for design-drama approaches with the potential to benefit different stages of a product’s development

Messaging in the noosphere: theatre art, integrated media, and human-comupter interaction

Bibliography: p. 188-19

A Seeing Place – Connecting Physical and Virtual Spaces

In the experience and design of spaces today, we meet both reality and virtuality. But how is the relation between real and virtual construed? How can we as researchers and designers contribute to resolving the physical-virtual divide regarding spaces? This thesis explores the relations between the physical and the virtual and investigates ways of connecting physical and virtual space, both in theory and practice.\ua0The basic concepts of the thesis are Space, Place, and Stage. The central idea is that the stage is a strong conceptual metaphor that has the capacity to work as a unifying concept relating physical and virtual spaces and forming a place for attention, agreements, and experience – A Seeing Place. The concept of seeing place comes from the Greek word theatre, meaning a “place for seeing”, both in the sense of looking at and understanding.\ua0In certain situations, the relations between physical and virtual spaces become important for users’ experience and understanding of these situations. This thesis presents seven cases of physical-virtual spaces, in the field of architectural and exhibition design. The method of these studies is research by design. The discussion then focuses on how each setting works as a stage, and how conceptual metaphors can contribute to the connection between physical and virtual spaces.\ua0Building upon the explorations and experiments in different domains, the thesis contains a collection of seven papers concerning the relations between physical and virtual space in different contexts outside the world of theatre. These papers range from more technical about Virtual Reality (design of networked collaborative spaces) to more conceptual about staging (methods in interaction design) and virtual space (using a transdisciplinary approach).\ua0The results of those studies suggest that the Stage metaphor of a physical-virtual space can contribute to the elucidating of relations between physical and virtual spaces in number of ways. Conceptually, the stage metaphor links together the semiotic and the hermeneutic views of space and place. And, from a practice-based perspective, A Seeing Place view opens up the way to creating contemporary spaces and resolving the physical-virtual divide

An Explorative Approach to Interaction Design in Mixed-Reality Performances

Digital media have become an important element in performing arts. Artists and audience can interweave their actions on stage with digital content as they perform with and through responding interfaces. This co-play can extend the narrative and aesthetic possibilities of storytelling. However, digital media is still not well understood as a means for dramaturgy. As directors are exposed to many challenges and difficulties when combining live performance with digital elements, technicians at the same time have to learn about the theatrical frame. This dissertation aims at the development of a fundamental understanding of dramaturgical interaction design as well as at the creation of new theatrical experiences. The major research question is whether there are general criteria that can guide the design of interactive storytelling in participatory settings. Approaching this question, this work is structured into two parts. First, I examine how the inclusion of media and technology has reconfigured traditional means of storytelling during the last decades. The dramaturgical potential of digital media is presented and the most important design challenges for performative works at the intersection of HCI, interaction design, and the performing arts are discussed. Second, I describe the design of the two participatory mixed-reality performances Parcival XX-XI and Operation:Parcival . Their evaluation reveals different audience reactions concerning its involvement in these plays and the use of digital media. Based on these specific results, we develop in a more general manner the four major performance components of participatory mixed-reality shows mixed media, spectatorship, limitations, and timing as well as the four interaction-enabling criteria interest, ability, experience, and sharing. Using the findings from these two plays, we finally outline a methodology for dramaturgical interaction design