The Allergic Bodies Conference: Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Research Conference, 2010

This is the programme document for the annual Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Research Conference with Keynotes: Dr Jennifer Bajorek (Goldsmiths), Marianne Sjelsford (National Academy of Arts, Oslo, Sweden); Dr Maarten Vanvolsem (Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Katholieke Universiteit, Brussels), Professor Pedro Lasch (Duke University)

Precarious Play: To Be or Not to Be Stanley

Modern game scholarship in the past two decades has known two dominant, yet paradoxical, tendencies in theorizing the subject of play: an interpellationary account and a deconstructivist one. Going from Miguel Sicart's concept of the ethical player as an initial compromise between the two, this article argues for an ideological subject of play that is a split subject. While a 'playing subject', as a phenomenologically present Foucaultian subject constructed by the governing structure of rules, we must recognize the parallel subjectivity of the fixed 'played subject', inherent to – and narrativized by – the game as an avatar, visual narrator or sheer content. In this constellation, the player shows to have a merely precarious position over the played, ready to lose control at the whim of the game

Medical rituals and media rituals

In the present article the author examines the ritual elements of theprofessionalization during medical studies, and its interference with media content of medical significance, comparing the role of medical and media rituals on the way of becoming a doctor. It is to be explored how these medical soap operas, medical dramas, medical thrillers or crime stories do exert influence on medical identity and role expectations. Do medical students and their relatives (withmedical expertise frequently) identify themselves with these roles? Is their way of reception critical or naïve? How media rituals are organizing, modulating the students’ medical perception and expectations. Is there a mediated “shadow initiation” via media or it is excluded and denied? Does it perfuse the common social experience of becoming a doctor via peer communication and peer shapingof model behavior? We search the answers in the context of a theory of media rituals

The world’s wealth in pizza: Improving the comprehension of large numbers through information visualization

Extreme numerical magnitudes are part of our daily lives, from science to economics to politics. Specifically for large monetary measures, however, there are no comprehensive models for visualization practitioners to promote their understanding. Previous works on this topic have provided a framework for the visual depiction of complex measures but did not assess its effectiveness in communicating the real magnitude of the presented measures. In this thesis I bring together findings from Information Visualization and numerical cognition to extend the existing framework and assess the effects of different strategies, with a focus on monetary measures. For this, I created three visualization prototypes and conducted a series of user tests focused on insight creation. User tests highlighted advantages and disadvantages for different strategies and yielded various findings for their implementation in Information Visualisation

Ambiguous worlds: understanding the design of first-person walker games

The ‘walker’ is a burgeoning form of videogame with a growing body of literature primarily discussing how the genre challenges the accepted norms of games. These discussions widely use the derogatory term ‘walking simulator’, which implies its non-game status. What is also clear from these discussions is how these games draw on, but also push back against game design conventions. Walking is the primary means of interaction in walker games, rather than prioritising ‘skill-based’ mechanics. For example, the mechanics of gameplay in walker games are typically minimal, slow and non-violent. The unique design focus of walker games exists within a contested and complicated area of game design literature, yet many players find the exploration and experiences of these game environments to be compelling. This research asks: What gameplay experiences do walkers elicit, and how might designers understand these experiences? What are the game design attributes that engage players to explore 3D walker environments? How can these design attributes be used to design first-person walker games and 3D games more broadly? Drawing upon game design and design research literature, I explore these questions with specific focus on player interaction and level design in walker game world exploration. My research approach consists of three major investigative stages. I conduct a formal analysis of four existing walker games: Dear Esther, Proteus, Gone Home and The Stanley Parable. My analysis reveals four key themes for investigating walker design. These four themes are then applied to the development of my design project, WORLD4, a multi-view exploration game where players explore a 3D layered abstract world. I develop a methodological approach based upon indie gameplay testing to conduct an analysis of WORLD4’s design through a two-stage qualitative player study. Based on these three stages of analysis, I conclude that a particular kind of experience of curiosity emerges, driving player exploration in walker games. My findings indicate that the experience of curiosity is fostered by incorporating ambiguity into the game design, which modifies game world exploration into a more investigative and interpretive activity. I support this conclusion through three design themes to understand the player experience of WORLD4 and six design strategies for fostering ambiguity in the design of exploratory game environments. More generally, I contribute a perspective on game design that emphasises ambiguity in order to create heightened and compelling exploration experiences

Moving towards personalising translation technology

Technology has had an important impact on the work of translators and represents a shift in the boundaries of translation work over time. Improvements in machine translation have brought about further boundary shifts in some translation work and are likely to continue having an impact. Yet translators sometimes feel frustrated with the tools they use. This chapter looks to the field of personalisation in information technology and proposes that personalising translation technology may be a way of improving translator-computer interaction. Personalisation of translation technology is considered from the perspectives of context, user modelling, trust, motivation and well-being

“PARTICIPANT PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING TO PLAY GUITAR IN A MOBILE DEVICE BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (MDBLE): A CASE STUDY OF GITSHED.COM”

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

Using Reflexive Photography to Investigate Design Affordances for Creativity in Digital Entertainment Games

This article aims to provide an account of the use of reflexive photography in capturing player creativity in practice and present a guide to how game design can support player creativity. While previous literature has examined some aspects of player creativity in digital games, there remains a dearth of work, which examines how design elements of games contribute to creative behavior. Using a reflexive photography method with photo-elicitation interviews, this study identifies eight design affordances for player creativity in digital games and outlines the effectiveness of the reflexive photography method within the context of digital games. The identified design affordances related to the degree of flexibility of the game structure (e.g., open versus linear), narrative exploration, extent and diversity of game variables, opportunities for content creation, environmental interaction and exploration, avatar customization, progression, and replayability. Implications for the design of games that support creativity are discussed

The potential of video games for exploring deconstructionist history

This thesis examines the potential of historical video games for exploring deconstructionist history. Historical video games have become one of the most popular and accessible forms of historical narratives in the 21st century, forming a key part of public engagement with history. This popularity has also placed these games under growing scrutiny, including calls for critically analysing their role in the construction and representation of historical narratives and epistemologies. For example, addressing topics like the emphasis on military history, the dominance of western perspectives and contexts, or teleological notions of progress. Such studies have become a central focus of historical video game studies, which has developed approaches for exploring how particular forms of historiographical representation and narrative arise and become embedded within historical video games. This thesis develops a unique contribution to these debates by focusing on a deconstructionist approach to history. Defined by historian Alun Munslow (2007), the deconstructionist approach presents history as a constructed narrative and aims to identify discourses behind the process of writing history. In video games, the control that players have over the narrative experience can be described as unintentionally embedding a deconstructionist perspective. Expanding on this argument, this research addressed how formal aspects of the medium exert pressure over epistemology and how historiographical ideas can consciously be shared with players. In contrast with previous approaches to the study of historical video games, this thesis goes beyond formal analysis of existing games, and includes design and reception perspectives. The arrangement of this study drew insights from several interdisciplinary fields, including the digital humanities, design and cultural studies. The result was a research through design methodology which engaged in the design, production, and evaluation of a historical video game prototype. Through the design process, the study set out to identify, implement, and test aspects of the medium that can emphasise a deconstructionist approach and allow players to reflect on their conceptualisation of history. This process involved multiple stages of data gathering and analysis. The results show that perceptions of historical video games are marked by tensions between what is seen as historical and what is seen as fictional or ludic. This thesis proposes a framework to navigate through these tensions, and uses it to develop a video game prototype, Time Historians. The evaluation of this prototype shows that players recognised the deconstructionist approach and openly discussed historiography. The findings indicate the feasibility of intentionally embedding a deconstructionist historiographical approach by relying on core aspects of the medium and navigating through the discourses surrounding it. The main contributions of the study include: a new approach for the analysis of historical video games; methodological reflections on the interdisciplinary combination of video game design and history; a set of epistemological guidelines for the design of historical video games; and new reflections on the role of video games as public history. Finally, this thesis expands on the discussions about historical video games and epistemology, offering a design-based perspective to approach this issue and unveiling further considerations on the potential of this medium