Video link: https://youtu.be/0Jzdqigao7I
Theme: Play&Place
Context:
By watching the videos presented on class, I am reminded of my favorite toy RC car when I was a child. Since I was too young to learn about how to control it, I always drove the car into the corner, such as the place where under the sofa and bed. Whenever I lie on the ground and try to see the car in the gap, I envy its small body that can go to any narrow place. And I also want to know what it looks like under the bed, will there be a tooth fairy?
This week I decided to explore unnoticed places in a perspective of RC car, and each scene will set several search targets for players to explore and find. By manipulating a remote-control car to explore places which humans are unable to go to, the controller will experience a brand-new journey and have unique interactions with them.
In book Rules of Play (2004) Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman describe these close links between play, games and interactivity. "Play implies interactivity, to play with a game, a toy, a person, an idea, is to interact with it. More specifically, playing a game means making choices within a game system designed to support actions and outcomes in meaningful ways.
After reflecting the internship between player and place, I want the image to be showed in real time. According to it, players can choose their route freely and have a better game experience.
Method:
Setting my phone on a RC car, and control the car to explore places.
Response:
My first idea was installing a GoPro on the RC car and shoot videos when it moves. However, due to the limited budget and time, I cannot prepare these in a week. After re planning, phone will replace GoPro to transmit images in real time through face time. And the RC car also has lighting function to let player see clearly in dark space.
Reflection:
The outcome of this week is a very rough experiment, with many imperfections.
-Camera
The Phone is too bulky to fit in narrow place. If this project is further developed, a small camera is necessary. For example, a small surveillance camera can transmit images in real time and has a small volume.
-Place Design
Victor Turner (1969) calls play "liminal" or "liminoid," meaning that it occupies a threshold between reality and unreality, as if, for example, it were on the beach between the land and the sea. Some fantastic scenes can be made to blur the boundary between reality and unreality, just like Lego world hidden in the wall. Moreover, there should be a number of eggs or goals to increase the interaction between player and the place.
Getting into and exploring places inaccessible to humans through electronic devices has been applied in many fields, such as gastroscopy, UAV search, scout and so on. Adding play element will bring more possibilities of this technology.
Reference:
Sutton-Smith, Brian. The Ambiguity of Play, Harvard University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=3300549.
Mary Flanagan.Locating Play and Politics: Real World Games & Activism,2007.https://leonardo.info/LEA/perthDAC/DAC-SocialMedia.html
Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play (2004)
