2019
Heljakka, Katriina; Ihamäki, Pirita
Toys That Mobilize: Past, Present and Future of Phygital Playful Technology Proceedings Article
In: Arai, Kohei; Kapoor, Supriya; Bhatia, Rahul (Ed.): Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2019. FTC 2019, pp. 625-640, Springer, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-030-32522-0.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Phygitals, Smart toys, Toy mobility, Toys
@inproceedings{Heljakka2019f,
title = {Toys That Mobilize: Past, Present and Future of Phygital Playful Technology},
author = {Katriina Heljakka and Pirita Ihamäki},
editor = {Kohei Arai and Supriya Kapoor and Rahul Bhatia},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-32523-7_46},
isbn = {978-3-030-32522-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-10-10},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2019. FTC 2019},
pages = {625-640},
publisher = {Springer},
abstract = {This exploratory paper focuses on the technological development of the toy medium with an interest in toys’ capacity to mobilize homo ludens, the playing human. By conducting an extensive literary review on the history and the present of mobile play objects, the study demonstrates how toys have developed from early moving and mechanical automata to playthings that move by themselves through in-built computerized components. The interest is two-fold: By analyzing the historical trajectory of mobile toys, the authors highlight the role of both toys and their players as participants in technologically mediated, phygital play. This hybrid form of playing combines the physicality of playthings with both mechanical and digital features. The results of the review show how toys—character toys in particular—have transformed from entertaining, self-moving spectacles to educational machines that mobilize the player both physically and geographically. Based on the results of the literary review, the authors suggest a continuum that visualizes the development of the types of toys that afford mobility in play of the past, present, and future. The paper concludes with the observation that phygital, playful technologies, such as character toys, have the capacity to influence human well-being in its various dimensions. By making them mobile, toys as a medium invite engagement with phygital playful technologies to enhance physical, cognitive, and social well-being.},
keywords = {Phygitals, Smart toys, Toy mobility, Toys},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This exploratory paper focuses on the technological development of the toy medium with an interest in toys’ capacity to mobilize homo ludens, the playing human. By conducting an extensive literary review on the history and the present of mobile play objects, the study demonstrates how toys have developed from early moving and mechanical automata to playthings that move by themselves through in-built computerized components. The interest is two-fold: By analyzing the historical trajectory of mobile toys, the authors highlight the role of both toys and their players as participants in technologically mediated, phygital play. This hybrid form of playing combines the physicality of playthings with both mechanical and digital features. The results of the review show how toys—character toys in particular—have transformed from entertaining, self-moving spectacles to educational machines that mobilize the player both physically and geographically. Based on the results of the literary review, the authors suggest a continuum that visualizes the development of the types of toys that afford mobility in play of the past, present, and future. The paper concludes with the observation that phygital, playful technologies, such as character toys, have the capacity to influence human well-being in its various dimensions. By making them mobile, toys as a medium invite engagement with phygital playful technologies to enhance physical, cognitive, and social well-being.
2018
Ihamäki, Pirita; Heljakka, Katriina
"Travel Bugs": Toys Traveling Socially through Geocaching Proceedings Article
In: DiGRA ’18 – Abstract Proceedings of the 2018 DiGRA International Conference: The Game is the Message, 2018.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Gamification, Geocaching, Social play, Toy mobility, Toy turism, Toys, Travel bugs
@inproceedings{Ihamäki2018,
title = {"Travel Bugs": Toys Traveling Socially through Geocaching},
author = {Pirita Ihamäki and Katriina Heljakka},
url = {http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/travel-bugs-toys-traveling-socially-through-geocaching},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-01},
urldate = {2018-07-01},
booktitle = {DiGRA ’18 – Abstract Proceedings of the 2018 DiGRA International Conference: The Game is the Message},
abstract = {This study explores emerging types of mobile and social play patterns through the object-based, but technologically enhanced practices of toy tourism. As our case studies demonstrate, object play practices in the digitalizing world are not only becoming increasingly social in nature, but even more mobile than before. As illustrated by our study focusing on Travel Bugs in the context of the international game of geocaching, toys become mobile through different practices partaken by players, willing to either become involved in toy tourism with their playthings. Our study consisted of 45 survey responses from geocachers traveling with Travel Bugs. According to the results, mobile and social object play practices enabled by the platform of Geocaching become gamified – i.e. more perceivable, goal-oriented and measurable. Our main contribution is a conceptual framework in which the relations between the digital, the physical and the social dimensions of toy tourism are modelled.},
keywords = {Gamification, Geocaching, Social play, Toy mobility, Toy turism, Toys, Travel bugs},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This study explores emerging types of mobile and social play patterns through the object-based, but technologically enhanced practices of toy tourism. As our case studies demonstrate, object play practices in the digitalizing world are not only becoming increasingly social in nature, but even more mobile than before. As illustrated by our study focusing on Travel Bugs in the context of the international game of geocaching, toys become mobile through different practices partaken by players, willing to either become involved in toy tourism with their playthings. Our study consisted of 45 survey responses from geocachers traveling with Travel Bugs. According to the results, mobile and social object play practices enabled by the platform of Geocaching become gamified – i.e. more perceivable, goal-oriented and measurable. Our main contribution is a conceptual framework in which the relations between the digital, the physical and the social dimensions of toy tourism are modelled.