Haphazard Journey by Starlight

Having tested the waters i'm enjoying this blogging thing so I've set up official shop on Ron's ad free domain: http://www.ambientperformance.com/haphazard. Come and visit me....

...I haven't finished yet on the subject of the Mobile Bristol conference!n I wanted to note down the key learning points that were repeated throughout and that, in this new field, did not always seem immediately obvious.....

1. Sound and touch, in the light of current technologies, are the best way to augment reality.

2. integrated GPS and audio is much better than walking around with loads of devices.  If in doubt, buy a MobileBristol sash.

3. When we have gallileo and integration with smartphones these experiences will become commonplace.  Until then we've got to be ready for that moment!

4. Teenagers make brutally honest and therefore make the best testers.

5. Multiuser networked games are going to be BIG. 

An article from the BBC regarding the new Galileo positioning system fills anyone interested in location and position based media with huge excitement.  It describes Galileo as providing one-metre, worldwide accuracy.....without regional or local augmentation"  But for me, the burning question is when?  Hard to even speculate from what you find on the web...  2010 seems to be the closest guess.  Anyone have a better idea?  

Last year I went to what I thought would be the one and only MobileBristol conference - Children, Play and Locative Media. HP were in some financial difficulty and there was a sense that the authoring tool would be put to one side with no further developments, whereas Caerus, with what seemed to be some Microsoft backing, seemed to be moving ahead.

I was surprised then to see that there was going to be a similar conference this year. Even more surprised when I saw the agenda and a presentation of mobilebristol 1.8!

The new version includes the ability to create slide shows and add videos withouth using flash, for the pop up windows to pop up in front rather than behind the map. It'll be possible to flick between different maps (maybe a historic and a modern one?), calibrate maps on site on the pda and with the scheduler you can now easily ensure you have control over how many pieces of content can launch at any one time.

If there's anything you think has been missed off - an SDK kits will be made available so that anyone can build a plugin or extend the functionality.  And during the conferece there was wide opportunity to provide additional feedback.

In addition not only the conference but also the MobileBristol community has grown, with many more teachers, community workers and artists interested in and using the tool. In partnership with Futurelab, there's also a new site sharing guidelines, tips and experiences with teachers interested in getting started with their class and a simplifed version of the tool especially for use with children.

http://www.createascape.org.uk/home.html

Looks like Mobile bristol is edging ahead as an Authoring Tool!

That said, we have yet to see anything running as a commercial venture. Until we can get content running on phones, and easily transferable, it's going to remain something of an expensive hobby for us all.

My poster at MobileBristol - like a proud Mum!  And here for some more rather blurry photos from the conference.

This is bound to tell you a lot about your life!

http://www.gpsdiary.org/ 

Online social networking tools have become a big thing but in my mind they're too passive to be exciting.

Ron's making the coolest location-based game which is going to turn networking into the fun and dynamic experience it ought to be. It's based on social networing software and location-based technology, using proximity to others rather than location in place. The game requires users to communicate and collaborate in order to succeed. It' will be played on the psp which, despite the hype, and the lack of gps, really is a great device.  Keep an eye on Ron's site for more info www.ambientperformance.com/connection

I've been talking to Ron a lot recently about girls, gender and gaming. In particular because he's exploring ways to use multiplayer games to encourage team work. Trouble is, in my mind, none of the MMORPGs currently out there are very appealing to women . I love playing computer games but find myself playing the same ones over and over because few grab my attention.  I don't think it's because I'm fussy. Most of the shoot-em up game mechanics are so repetitive that having got the pattern, I can't be bothered to continue. Plus at the end of it I feel like I've come away with nothing. I haven't learnt anything, gained insight, connected with anyone. I've mainly just blown stuff to pieces.

I read a very interesting article today in BJET "Girl Gamers: the controversy of girl games and the relevande of female oriented design for instructional design" Vol 37, No5 2006, which helped me consolidate how I felt. It also confirmed that by extending our understanding of what makes a good game, and including features that traditionally appeal more to females, several of which are also features of constructivist learning:

• rich narrative
• roles involving positive action
• opportunities to design or create
• engaging characters
• communication and collaboration
• use of strategies and skills (beyond shooting guns)

we'll begin to see games which finally realise the instructional potential we have been expecting but not seeing.

So it looks like I won't be going to Ars Electronica after all. Just a bit too expensive right now...but on the bright side it gives me more time to complete my game and pilot it. S2Blue are fantastic. I was introduced to them by Saffron, and they are recording the audio for free. I can't recommend them highly enough.

The narrator, Jim, the Foreman, the Lascar and Mr Hardy are complete. Let me introduce you to Mr Hardy.......

As far as I'm aware there are only two commercial location-based mobile games that have gained a mass following: Mogi Mogi, a collaborative treasure hunt game only playable in Japan (mainly because no other country has the handsets yet to support it!) and Botfighters, a shoot-em up which I think is available in Russia, Dublin and Sweden.....

Here is a new adventure-style location-based game which, despite having been in development for what seems like years and hyping the GPS element (which I suspect will only have a minor role in game-play), is worth keeping an eye on an eventually playing! http://shroudgame.com/ . The most signficant update is that it's being sponsored by SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT

Last week I mentioned a fascinating interactive exhibit at Futuresonic, to which I couldn't find any web references...well here it is:  It's called Drawn by zachary lieberman (2006) http://thesystemis.com/drawnInstallation/ 

 ...I found it whilst drooling over the Ars Electronica festival which I am desperate to visit again this year.  My first visit was in 2003 (I can't believe it was that long ago!) and I was spellbound.  This festival is as hands on as it gets and if you want to be inspired by interactive media, or if you're planning to study it (as I was), or if you just want to revisit feelings of childhood wonderment, this is the place to go.

One of the biggest challenges for me, designing a location-based game, was how to balance rhythmn, pace, location, and player energy. Whilst Ethnography, urban planning, space and meaning are frequently cited by location-based game designers, I think there may also be something important to learn from choreography.

Choreography (literally "dance-writing", also known as dance composition), is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choreography

 

Primary and secondary schools are by no means the last to introduce new ways of thinking or adopt new technologies, but when GIS is introduced to schoolchildren we can be sure we're well past the early adopters....

Researchers call for integration of GIS, spatial thinking in K-12 curricula more>

I can't get my head around the Palestine conflict.  That two games have been developed to help understanding suggests I'm not the only one!  I'm looking forward to trying these:

Global Conflict: Palestine

Peacemaker 

Because Ron and I were only able to make the final day I'm sure we missed some of the more direct experiences, including a gps tour of Manchester, and due to to the nature of the experiences, a lot of the exhibits were, as I had feared, mainly represented through video. Even so, most were still fascinating and some provide info on how to become more directly involved.

We were very happy to finally get a the chance to try Sarah Kettley's Speckled Jewellery and Ron was a winner at RFID snakes and ladders!

Have green fingers? Try planting a sound garden Explore the Greenwich emotionmap

Alongside the joyful, more ominous questions were raised regarding privacy and surveillance. Chris Oakley's film "The Catalogue" was spell-bindingly eery and brought the point home.

The most addictive exhibit, which was mobbed by kids and adults alike, was a movement sensing music tool about which I can't currently find any further information! As soon as I do I'll be posting it.

we took photos

Want to make your own location-based experience or game? Although we're all looking to make these available through mobile phones, the easiest way to get started is to take advantage of the free tools available for creating experiences supported by a PDA.

There are three that you can try for yourself for free:

Mobilebristol Authoring Tool full version

Birmingham Universities Caerus

MITs Charles River City Tool

There are of course pros and cons to each depending on your goal:

Caerus is probably the simplest to use requiring no coding, however setting up the map is tricky (requiring a site visit), it cannot simulate the experience before piloting for real, and it is the most limited in application; create a tour guide with on demand audio and images, the simplest of treasure hunts, but little else.

Mobile Bristol is still a little difficult to set up in terms fo mapping coordinates but it can be done at your computer. The author requires you get to grips with some extremely basic coding (that children would be able to pick up without any problem), witht the option to do more complex conditional actions if you want to learn more. Once you've got to grips with the first steps its a much more flexible tool that can interface with Flash giving you a whole world of possibilities

MITs RiverCity Editor is probably the most dificult of the tools to pick up however it does not require you to learn ocde and with some effort, it's possible to create highly complex and engaging murder mystery style simulations.

PLAN, The Pervasive and Locative Arts Network are an international and interdisciplinary research network bring together practicing artists, technology developers and ethnographers with the aim of advancing interdisciplinary understanding and building consortia for future collaborative projects.

Their first gathering in Feb 2005, opened my mind to the enormous potential and challenges for location-based media, and how this might effect its use in education.

They are now hosting their final gathering - a Social Technologies Summit, at the Futuresonic festival in Manchester next weekend. I see many of the same names talking that were there in the last so I'm less excited about going along, but what interests me more is the exhibiton Off the Map running alongside it - it's free (dont' get confused like me and think entrance costs £45!. It includes work by Urban Tapestries and the Waag society, both organisations have made a huge contribution to the use of locative media for educational purposes.

I'm praying for hands-on. I rarely manage to get to locative events which are usually one-offs, time and place-based. Watching videos of other people enjoying locative media misses the point.

the ULTIMATE list of locative media and...

the portal to my world

An investigation into the value of Location-based games, May 2006

Location-based games show great promise in supporting powerful learning experiences, however a thorough exploration of their value can be difficult, especially when there is no established criteria by which to judge the value of games-based learning in general.

Eager to see a more rigorous examination I strive in this paper to clarify the unique challenges and benefits of location-based games for learning illustrated from both a theoretical and practical perspective. I begin by establishing a framework on which to base my discussion building on James Paul Gee’s Games-Based Learning Principles, develop this through an exploration of key research and examples and extend the theoretical study with a discussion of my own experiences designing and testing a historic location-based game for learning in partnership with Museum in Docklands.

The results highlight benefits, challenges and areas where further research would be valuable as well as revealing how the medium has begun to expand our understanding of the power of games as a whole.

Augmented Reality Training Simulation Games February 2005
This paper tries to give an overview of the field, exploring why we need them, what they are and where they might best be used.

MobileBristol have created a spot on Frappr for all new projects...