@phdthesis{nokey,

title = {How Play Moves Us: Toys, Technologies, and Mobility in a Digital World},

author = {Katriina Heljakka},

url = {https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-9611-7},

isbn = {978-951-29-9610-0},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-03-02},

publisher = {University of Turku},

abstract = {The 21st century has been described as the Century of Play. The change in current play is particularly noticeable when looking at technological developments. This thesis deals with the technologization, digitalization, and connectedness of play between 2010–2020. The research explores forms of contemporary play, playthings, and players in a time when digitalization and connectedness have extended to various tools and realms of play—devices, toys, games, apps, and mediated playful environments.



At the heart of the research are playthings and technologies conceptualized here as play machines, players using these tools within their communities and contexts, and, due to technological change, play research that increasingly expands into digital and networked cultures. Interactive digital devices have made play ubiquitous, and this includes play activities related to toys, mobile technologies, digital cameras, smartphones, digital toys, social media, and social robotics.



The purpose of the thesis is to increase the understanding of what the rapid technologization of play, or what is conceptualized in the thesis as the digital leap of play, means in terms of mobilizing the players physically, cognitively, and emotionally. The thesis opens up prospects for technology-enriched play by presenting a range of empirical studies interested in the mobilization tendencies of current digital devices, toys, and connected media cultures that inform and inspire contemporary play and players of different ages as a form of digital culture that unites players and generations.



The assumption is that digital technology connected to modern play experiences can move players in physical, cognitive, and emotional terms. Through six qualitative case studies, the thesis proposes to answer the central question: “How has play moved human players of the Western world in 2010–2020 in terms of physical, cognitive, and emotional mobility/movement?” The sub-question inquires what kinds of digital play are encountered in interactions of people of different ages as part of technologically enhanced leisure, learning, and environments where play is increasingly happening with and through machines and social media platforms by asking: “How are the acts of play realized in each instance of digital play through technology use, and what are the functions of the play for the players in each study?”



The thesis seeks to understand the nature and various aspects of the digital transformation of play and balance the prevailing negative assumptions with more positive and optimistic views on the effect of technology-oriented play on the lives of players of different ages.



The scholarly contribution of the thesis is to generate new play knowledge: The publications included in the thesis highlight various play patterns and practices among children of preschool age, adults, and seniors who engage in digital play through the use of digital devices or digital toys, either solitarily or socially, as part of

intergenerational play.



The findings of the thesis illustrate how changes in the ecosystem of play (primarily made possible by developing mobile technology and social media) are linked to the opportunities for players to engage in creative play activities, their documentation, and their social sharing. The connections of evolving digital technology (for example, digital toys, social media networking, and social robotics) to play are diverse; mobile devices with and without screens are used as an extension of play to enrich the experiences and outcomes of play and to empower the players by allowing them to showcase their imagination, creativity, and ability to connect with peers and other player communities.



The thesis concludes that contemporary technology embodied in digital devices and Internet-connected playthings as the play machines of 2010–2020 allows for the expansion of play into human and toy interactions that non-technological playthings would not support. Technological development thus expands the historical, digital-material, and narrative dimensions of play. Social, technology-supported play triggers cultural processes that also support intergenerational interaction in play. Consequently, this thesis suggests that 1) digital technology is a driver for societal changes that affect play, 2) digital technology is a mobilizer of players in a physical, cognitive, emotional, and social sense, and 3) digital technology is an enabling, empowering, and enriching resource for contemporary digital play.},

keywords = {Digital technology, Digitalization, Domestication of technology, Playing, Toys},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {phdthesis}

}

@phdthesis{Nylund2020,

title = {Game Heritage: Digital Games in Museum Collections and Exhibitions},

author = {Niklas Nylund},

url = {http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-1697-6},

isbn = {978-952-03-1696-9},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-10-09},

urldate = {2020-10-09},

publisher = {Tampere University Press},

abstract = {Digital games are undergoing a process of heritagization, as demonstrated by how they are increasingly displayed in exhibitions and preserved in heritage institution collections, not to mention engaged with by numerous heritage communities both online and offline. What is lacking, however, is a critical understanding of what constitutes game heritage and how it is produced by the stakeholders involved. In order to provide a critical framework for thinking and working with games as heritage, this dissertation engages in theory building and conceptualizations around key heritagization issues.



The study utilizes a versatile methodology consisting of interpretive analysis and extensive use of insider knowledge and participant observation, as well as theoretical triangulation between heritage studies, games studies, and game preservation research. With the help of these approaches, the dissertation conducts pragmatic theory building around issues related to the heritagization of games, as well as provides critical frameworks for engaging with it.



In the results, the study shows how social actors beyond retrogamers and hobbyists act as stakeholders in the heritagization of games. Further, the dissertation provides a high-level theoretical ontology for dealing with the complex assemblage of games and play, which looks beyond playable games. After that, the research shows how games are changed and modified when becoming heritagized. Finally, the study sheds light on tensions that exist between various stakeholders and their heritagization strategies.



As such, the dissertation demonstrates how the complex issues and processes that arise when games become heritage are in need of more reflexive practices. In the discussion, the study points towards possible strategies that can be used in order to mitigate stakeholder tensions around the ownership of game heritage. However, further empirical research is needed in order to validate the theoretical constructs and guidelines provided in this study.

},

keywords = {Cultural heritage, Game heritage, Game preservation, Games, Heritagization, Museum, Play, Playing, Preservation, Reflexiveness},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {phdthesis}

}