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Play And Performance In Game-Based Interfaces

(PLAYPR) Play and Performance

New Name: Play and Performance Interfaces for Culture and Games

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Techniques and applications for interfacing with digital media are rapidly expanding. Increasingly, interface controllers for ubiquitous computing technologies for cultural and entertainment applications raise new questions for critical interface and software design, meanings of technology, and patterns of use. This project addresses questions of interface in the context of game studies / game design and interactive design for museums and related cultural and entertainment contexts (Doursih, 2001; Greenspan & Biddle, 2009)..

While control and transparency in interface design often remains a key goal, expression and experimentation through play and performance in interfaces are emerging, highly desirable features in digital games, museum design and other areas of digital culture. Focusing on the issue of the relation of playability and expression to content, our goal is to integrate the analysis, evaluation and design of cultural and entertainment applications with the development of interfaces for play, storytelling and expression, social collaboration and learning. Research/creation will be concentrated along three conceptual dimensions of interfaces: spatial play, gestural play and vocal/audio play.

1) Spatial Play – This dimension considers the body’s movement in physical space in relation to cultural and entertainment applications. How do we design “full-body” games or games that promote physical movement beyond that allowed by current controllers and game design? How do the physical and material spaces of engagement in museums (and digital media) affect the experiences and understandings of viewers and visitors?

(2) Gestural Play – This dimension considers the more discrete movements of bodies in relation to screen-based media, interactive installations, and exhibition environments. For example, gestural play in digital games covers the gamut of action from traditional button presses, through joystick control, the DDR mat, Sony eyetoy and Guitar Hero controller, to the motion sensing control schemes of the Wii and project Natal. This raises the question of how gestural motion and the implication of the body affect the player’s relationship to the primarily visual representations on the screen? In digital arts and museum exhibit design, how may gestural interfaces be used as a means to generate meaning in the physical context of exhibit environments that support expression, embodied learning, and engaged participation.

3) Vocal/Audio Play – This dimension considers the roles of voice and audio as important and largely unexplored input and output channels in interfaces. Central to our exploration is a consideration of vocality as a corporeal practice used to affect one’s experience and enhance levels of engagement and interactivity within gamespaces, exhibitions, and interactive installations. How can vocal interfaces be used not only to communicate with others but to control or augment experiences like gameplay? In games today, how can vocal play be used to move beyond the SingStar style vocalization of popular lyrics to create new categories of expressive speech that can influence a range of cultural and entertainment applications? Can vocal control and expressiveness be integrated with more traditional input modalities? What are the limits and potential of innovative audio interfaces and applications as an alternative, or supplement to, visual displays?

Dourish, P. 2001. Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Greenspan, B., Biddle, R. Linking Narrative and Locative Media, Proceedings of Media in Transition 6, 2009. MIT.

HQP: Unique collaborative research structure for interdisciplinary Grad students across faculties focused through the field of game studies and design, and broader interaction design for museum and other cultural context; designer-in-residence program providing paid leave for industry-based game or museum designers/programmers/artists to work on one or more subprojects over a 2-3 month period each year; internship program.

N+P: Interdisciplinary academic research team. Partnered with CFI-funded Hexagram Institute and the center for Technoculture, Art and Games (Concordia). Non-Academic industry support from Electronic Arts Montreal, gsmprjct, Softcactus, Carre Technology, Darwin Dimensions, McCord Museum, Museum of Anthropology UBC, and Science World at Telus World of Science. Community support Kokoromi, the Elektra Festival, Alliance Numérique. International collaborators include the Play Research Group at Bristol University, The Centre for Games Research at ITU Copenhagen, and Fluid Engage Research Network.

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Other: This project functions as an important HQP and interdisciplinary knowledge flow interface between GRAND researchers in Canada and the increasingly important creative industries (such as the games and related multimedia entertainment industries) as well as the complementary public sector contexts (such as museums, science centers etc)