2022
Meriläinen, Mikko; Heljakka, Katriina; Stenros, Jaakko
Lead Fantasies: The Making, Meaning and Materiality of Miniatures Book Section
In: Germaine, Chloe; Wake, Paul (Ed.): Material Game Studies: A Philosophy of Analogue Play, pp. 83-101, Bloomsbury Academic, 2022, ISBN: 9781350202719.
Links | Tags: Game studies, Gaming, Materiality, Miniature figures, Miniaturing
@incollection{Meriläinen2022g,
title = {Lead Fantasies: The Making, Meaning and Materiality of Miniatures},
author = {Mikko Meriläinen and Katriina Heljakka and Jaakko Stenros},
editor = {Chloe Germaine and Paul Wake},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202301301831
https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/149420/leadfantasies.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/material-game-studies-9781350202719/},
isbn = {9781350202719},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-12-01},
urldate = {2022-12-01},
booktitle = {Material Game Studies: A Philosophy of Analogue Play},
pages = {83-101},
publisher = {Bloomsbury Academic},
keywords = {Game studies, Gaming, Materiality, Miniature figures, Miniaturing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
2019
Leorke, Dale; Wood, Christopher
'Alternative Ways of Being': Reimagining Locative Media Materiality through Speculative Fiction and Design Journal Article
In: Media Theory, vol. 3, iss. 2, pp. 63-102, 2019.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Anthropocene, Digital infrastructure, Locative media, Materiality, Mobile media, New media art, Speculative design, Speculative futures
@article{nokey,
title = {'Alternative Ways of Being': Reimagining Locative Media Materiality through Speculative Fiction and Design},
author = {Dale Leorke and Christopher Wood},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202001031033},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-12-20},
journal = {Media Theory},
volume = {3},
issue = {2},
pages = {63-102},
abstract = {Following the ‘material turn’ in media studies and a growing intersection with posthuman philosophies, theorists and practitioners in the field of ‘locative media’ have recently sought to make more explicit and visible the underlying material infrastructure and processes of location-aware technologies. These approaches, we argue, concentrate on two, interrelated layers of locative media materiality: the ‘infrastructure’ itself and its socio-political consequences; and the material relations between human and non-human elements that act upon one another to create the ‘performance’ of locative media. These approaches offer a vital and necessary challenge to the predominantly human-and user-centric focus of existing locative media studies. To date, however, they have been focused on rendering visible the infrastructure and performance of locative media as it presently exists; and stillremain centred around the human body as the site and metaphor for understanding this materiality. In this paper, we further complicate this human centricity around the infrastructural and performative layers of locative media to challenge and reimagine the role of the human in locative media art and practice. Drawing on the traditions of speculative fiction and design, we propose fiction, design, and world-building as methods for developing imaginaries and alternative futures that expand the potential for locative media to be reframed from a non-human centric perspective. Such an approach emphasises creativity and imagination, in addition to purely empirical knowledge of locative technologies and processes; and allows for a more speculative, playful, and questioning approachto this materiality, taking into accountnot only ‘what is’ but also ‘what could be’. Through a discussion of two experimental projects undertaken by one of the authors of this paper, we advocate opening up locative media studies to encompass speculation about its alternative and future potentialities.},
keywords = {Anthropocene, Digital infrastructure, Locative media, Materiality, Mobile media, New media art, Speculative design, Speculative futures},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Following the ‘material turn’ in media studies and a growing intersection with posthuman philosophies, theorists and practitioners in the field of ‘locative media’ have recently sought to make more explicit and visible the underlying material infrastructure and processes of location-aware technologies. These approaches, we argue, concentrate on two, interrelated layers of locative media materiality: the ‘infrastructure’ itself and its socio-political consequences; and the material relations between human and non-human elements that act upon one another to create the ‘performance’ of locative media. These approaches offer a vital and necessary challenge to the predominantly human-and user-centric focus of existing locative media studies. To date, however, they have been focused on rendering visible the infrastructure and performance of locative media as it presently exists; and stillremain centred around the human body as the site and metaphor for understanding this materiality. In this paper, we further complicate this human centricity around the infrastructural and performative layers of locative media to challenge and reimagine the role of the human in locative media art and practice. Drawing on the traditions of speculative fiction and design, we propose fiction, design, and world-building as methods for developing imaginaries and alternative futures that expand the potential for locative media to be reframed from a non-human centric perspective. Such an approach emphasises creativity and imagination, in addition to purely empirical knowledge of locative technologies and processes; and allows for a more speculative, playful, and questioning approachto this materiality, taking into accountnot only ‘what is’ but also ‘what could be’. Through a discussion of two experimental projects undertaken by one of the authors of this paper, we advocate opening up locative media studies to encompass speculation about its alternative and future potentialities.
Innocent, Troy; Leorke, Dale
Heightened Intensity: Reflecting on Player Experiences in Wayfinder Live Journal Article
In: Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 25, iss. 1, pp. 18-39, 2019, ISSN: 1354-8565.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Digital games, Game design, Location-based game, Materiality, Mobile media, Play and public space, Playable cities, Psychogeography, Urban codemaking, Urban play
@article{Innocent2019,
title = {Heightened Intensity: Reflecting on Player Experiences in Wayfinder Live},
author = {Troy Innocent and Dale Leorke},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202101131253},
doi = {10.1177/1354856518822427},
issn = {1354-8565},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-02-01},
journal = {Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies},
volume = {25},
issue = {1},
pages = {18-39},
abstract = {Location-based games use smartphones and other location-aware devices to incorporate their players’ actions in everyday, physical spaces – the streets and public spaces of the city – into the virtual world of the game. Scholars and designers of these games often claim that they reconfigure their players’ relationship with the people and environment around them. They argue these games either engage and immerse players more deeply in the spaces of the game or distance and detach them from the physical environment through the screen interface. To date, however, relatively few detailed empirical studies of these games have been undertaken to test out and critique these claims. This article presents a study of the 2017 iteration of the location-based augmented reality game Wayfinder Live, in which players use their phones to search for and scan urban codes hidden across Melbourne’s laneways, alleys, and public spaces. Players of the game were interviewed and invited to reflect on their experience. This article relates these experiences to the design and development of the game, particularly to five play design principles that characterize its approach to haptic play in urban space. We begin by outlining these principles and the motivations behind them. Then, drawing on an analysis of the player interviews, we evaluate the impact of the game on their perception of the city.},
keywords = {Digital games, Game design, Location-based game, Materiality, Mobile media, Play and public space, Playable cities, Psychogeography, Urban codemaking, Urban play},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Location-based games use smartphones and other location-aware devices to incorporate their players’ actions in everyday, physical spaces – the streets and public spaces of the city – into the virtual world of the game. Scholars and designers of these games often claim that they reconfigure their players’ relationship with the people and environment around them. They argue these games either engage and immerse players more deeply in the spaces of the game or distance and detach them from the physical environment through the screen interface. To date, however, relatively few detailed empirical studies of these games have been undertaken to test out and critique these claims. This article presents a study of the 2017 iteration of the location-based augmented reality game Wayfinder Live, in which players use their phones to search for and scan urban codes hidden across Melbourne’s laneways, alleys, and public spaces. Players of the game were interviewed and invited to reflect on their experience. This article relates these experiences to the design and development of the game, particularly to five play design principles that characterize its approach to haptic play in urban space. We begin by outlining these principles and the motivations behind them. Then, drawing on an analysis of the player interviews, we evaluate the impact of the game on their perception of the city.