thoughts...

sitemaps

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:59:39 -0400

http://www.iccp.org/iccpnew/sitemap.html

http://www.cancerleadership.org/sitemap.html

http://visiblearea.com/cgi-bin/twiki/view/Patterns/Site_map

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/trends/modern-sitemap-and-footer/

www.leannewagner.com http://www.newschool.edu/parsonsbenefit/ http://a.parsons.edu/psdtu/ http://cdtp...

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:28:03 -0400

www.leannewagner.com

http://www.newschool.edu/parsonsbenefit/

http://a.parsons.edu/psdtu/

http://cdtproto.parsons.edu/cdt_new/petlab.dev/

http://biggamelab.com/

http://biggamelab.com/dishwhere/development.html

DishWhere Lite

Sun, 03 May 2009 07:53:41 -0400

DishWhere Lite is projected to launch in the iPhone app store in June 2009. The light version will be available for free and will focus on establishments in New York City’s lower east side. I was hesitant to release the game with out the community integration, because with out the community much of the player motivation is lost. But in the end I think the feedback gained from a single player experience will be more valuable. I’m thinking it may be wise to frame it as a tool rather than a game though. By framing it as a tool people don’t have expectations of a game system being in place with a proper win state and motivation.

CHINA!

Sun, 03 May 2009 07:46:12 -0400

Looks like DishWhere is going to have an opportunity to be tested in China this summer while I’m co-teaching a four week course in Beijing and Shanghai with Parsons. The curriculum is focused on an input, process, output model of creation and collabortion. DishWhere will be used as a media collection tool for a larger project, culminating as an installation in the EArts Shanghai arts festival.

disneyorgchart1.jpg

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:33:00 -0500

disneyorgchart1.jpg

Civilian playtest #1

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:35:13 -0500

We tested Civilian as a paper prototype today. (dave.parsons.edu/courses/course/view.php?id=5) Feedback:

Big Games and Smart Mobs

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:12:57 -0500

Big Games and Smart Mobs

challenge matrix

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:44:00 -0500

A link to the challenge matrix for ChowLocate. Still very early in development

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=ptV8flik9DGEpqP9DZl9hOg

Game Doc v1

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:15:26 -0500

Off The Menu – Game Document

•    Game is played on an iPhone with an application that must be downloaded.
•    There is no time limit on the game.
•    Players earn points by visiting Hot Spots, which are designated restaurants and food establishments, and completing challenges, interviews, and questions. Point values vary based on difficulty.
•    Players can also earn points by creating new Hot Spots and accompanying challenges
•    The players have a map of the Hot Spots on their phone, but will also receive alert messages, similar to a text message, when they are near a Hot Spot. This allows players to play deliberately or unintentionally (casually.)
•    Intended to be a single person game, but could be played by a group of people acting as a team.

Learning Goals

•    Level 1: Awareness of location and significance of restaurants/establishments. GPS triggered brief history or intro when a challenge is accepted on-site.
•    Level 2: Engagement. Interaction through challenges, on-site learning from the people and place. Techniques for approaching unfamiliar people. New ways to explore an environment.
•    Level 3: The role of the restaurants/establishments in the neighborhood, thus a better understanding of the neighborhood. When challenge is complete suggest Hot Spots that are near-by or related.
•    Level 4: Player as designer. Through the user generated content of Hot Spots players take another level of learning through the creation and feedback.

Website

•    Media collected from challenges is archived online
•    Players can blog about specific experiences and interviews
•    Showcase leader boards of overall game
•    Show Hot Spot ownership
•    Players can decided if they want their stats to be public or private
•    Players can check their progress in the game and the progress of others
•    Create new Hot Spots through a form like interface, precedents whrrl.com, wikibivouac.org

User Experience – Unintentional, push

•    The application is always running in the background of their phone.
•    The user is reliant on GPS to receive updates at unanticipated times of the day.
•    As the player travels about the city they receive a message when they are near a Hot Spot
•    The player can choose to ignore the message and ask to be remind at a later time or accept it and seek out a challenge
•    If challenges are completed the user can upload or blog results on the spot or wait until later, possibly at a computer terminal
•    Possibly used by tourists to point out significant establishments while traversing the city

User Experience – Intentional, pull

•    The application map is used to seek out Hot Spots in a specific area.
•    Possibly played when the player has a few minutes of free time, maybe waiting for someone, or when the player is deliberately looking for a place to eat
•    The GPS is still used to verify that the user has visited the Hot Spot, but the user is not reliant on it to find them.
•    The user can manually request challenges or wait for the application to suggest based on location
•    If challenges are completed the user can upload or blog results on the spot or wait until later, possibly at a computer terminal
•    Can see this scenario of the game being played by multiple people acting together
•    Possibly used by tourists as guided food tour

Creating New Hot Spots

•    Roughly based on a Parking Wars mechanic of owning a spot and putting time limit on ownership
•    To help populate the database with Hot Spots, players can earn points by creating spots, when a player creates a new spot (i.e. is the first at the location) they own the spot
•    Spots can only be owned for 30 days, after 30 days, option 1: the owner needs to change the challenges associated with the spot to retain ownership, option 2: the spot becomes open for someone else to grab
•    The owner of a spot receives points for each visitor to their spot, thus making it more valuable to own more popular places and create enjoyable challenges at the site
•    Need a feedback model to encourage good challenges and learning on both sides

Challenges (method of archiving/proving)

•    Challenges would vary from 5 – 15 minutes challenges and points would be awarded accordingly
•    Try the food (photo)
•    Interview (blog post summarizing the exchange)
•    Find the answer to a question in a physical place (photo, fill-in-the-blank)
•    Find the answer to a question from a person (blog)
•    Collection (photo)

what's in a name?

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:14:00 -0500

What to name my app. After reading a very useful article on Mashable (http://mashable.com/2009/02/21/how-to-build-an-iphone-app/) on mobile development, I’ve been thinking more about the name of my game. I’m currently using “Off the Menu” but I’m not in love with it. Here’s my simple criteria for naming:

1. one or two words

2. have some blantant reference to food

3. like the idea that it can be made into a verb (i.e. googling.)

(4. open domain name, though not a priority at this point)

Here’s some brainstorming on the topic, PS - I am not good at naming things:

Off The Menu

dishWhere

chewtopia

eat@, eat.at

Grub Hub

Urban Fork (not serious)

Fooducate (not sure if I want to reference learning)

GPSavory (good play on words, but not catchy)

Food Finds (blah)

The Wondering Foodie (I like the sentiment, not a good name, good blog name maybe)

Edible Adventure (kind of reminds me of edible underwear)

City Eats

Sidewalk Foodie

Curious Cuisine

Chow Locate

Chow Challenge

Curb Appeal

Oregano Trail

Top Banana

Quick Bites

Peer Review Abstract

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:41:27 -0500

Off the Menu is a big urban game for the adventurous foodie. The game invites people to explore new restaurants and food shops by completing and creating challenges that give players insider information about restaurants and shops around the city.

The game is played with an iPhone and makes use of the GPS functionality to track the players movements as they travel around the city. The game is constantly running in the background of the phone and only surfaces when the player is near one of the designated restaurants or shops, or “hot spots” as they’re referred to in the game. When near a “hot spot” the player receives a message that asks them to engage with the site through a challenge. Challenges can range from trying something on the menu to chatting with an employee to find the answer to a question. Players earn points by documenting the completion of their challenge through uploading photos, videos, or blogging on the Off the Menu web community. Players can also earn points by adding new hot spots to the game.

The primary research goal is to better understand how situated learning can be facilitated through embodied play and urban gaming. There are multiple levels of learning explored through the game: basic topic knowledge, player as designer, public/social interaction, cultural and neighborhood nuances. Off the Menu also explores new mechanics in urban gaming as well as the integration of real world and web presence.

play-test 10.31

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:11:00 -0400

to do:

create a pre and post assessment questionaire
find a laser printer for Tuesday
set up the printing flow for volunteers
masking tape and sticky tack

feedback:

1.What was the most fun part of the game?

getting updates, made us more frantic
challenges made us feel silly (chalk outlines, rioting)
getting people to do things
running around, racing other teams to locations
running into other teams
time constraints, competition between groups
like an educational amazing race
people’s reactions to trying to ask them questions
buying pens from the store
finding locations

2. What are three things you learned from this game?

Tirangle Fire
no protesting in Washington Square
Writing with chalk is fun
using my phone
dealing with crashed server
the riots and where they were
NYC people can be extremely rude
deaths by Washington Park
146 people died in the Shirtwaist fires
New Yorkers aren’t very open to interviews
history of the Stonewall Riot
number of deaths in the Shirtwaist fire
no one in a Union office wants to commit to answering simple questions
unity for Barak will win the ware
didn’t learn anything
Stonewall Riots about gay rights, never knew those kids of protest happened so long ago
146 people died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
no rallying or performing in Washington Sq Par

3. Do you have any suggestions for improvements?

scoring for task, unbalanced
some of the photos were hard to match up
include a fact about the different topics in domestic violence fact, Cindy Sherman fact
bigger maps of a key
heave teams read through instructions before taking off
more frequent status updates
working materials, pen was out of ink
more options for tasks
fix the damn server
quicker phone responses

4. Were the rules clear? If not, what was confusing?

yes
yes, very clear
yes, but we were confused initially because were trying to read while on the go
for the most part, missed the bonus cards
yes
it was unclear how to send off a completed task to the game master
player to game master mechanic could use work
directions on contacting seemed repetitive

5. Would you recommend this game to a friend?

yes - 5
hell no
i’d recommend it to younger age group, like a school group who would be more apt to learn

Flickr upload

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:51:08 -0400

quip80six@photos.flickr.com

clue kit enevelope- location - 100pts- event - 300 pts- date - 400 ptscards- 3 location clues- 9...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:52:18 -0400

clue kit enevelope
- location - 100pts
- event - 300 pts
- date - 400 pts

cards
- 3 location clues
- 9 event clues (3 that are your own, 6 that are other teams)

challeneges
- list/menu, more specialized to the site
- deal cards, less specific, general catagories like interview, recreate the event, and collect something

cards can be traded from one team to another by negotiating your terms with the other team:
- challenging the other team to a physical challenge, winner gets a card, loser nothing
- mutual trade
- rock paper scissors
- collaboration on activity

* to clear a site the answers collected must be sent by text to moderator

* send pictures as they are completed

research & experiments

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:26:00 -0400

1. A brief list of the research and experiments you’ve performed the past two weeks.

I interviewed Katie Salen and among other things discussed the possibility of working with her and the Wagg Society on a big game called the Island Project. She also gave me a list of relevant contacts and offered to make introductions for me. Katie also pointed me towards some areas of pedagogy that I should research.
I met with Anne Gaines, the director of Parsons Summer, Pre-College Academy & Continuing Education, about planning a special Election Day run of Re:Activism with prospective students. Following the game I will be facilitating a workshop about game design and testing some post game curriculum activities.
I have been in email correspondence with Mary Flanagan from Tiltfactor. She has agreed to have a phone interview with me.
I called a meeting with the Re:Activism collaborators to discuss refinements of the game.
I wrote a new design document for Re:Activism that outlined new rules and game play that are congruant to my research questions. In conjunction, I have been working on creating playing cards for a new mechanic that will be tested.
I have been working on a prototype of a multi-media timeline that will archive the media that is collected during the play of Re:Activism. I would like to have the media upload in real-time from phones during game play.
I participated in the Little Big Planet game jam. My team’s game won the “most personal” award.
I have been working with area/code on the creation of a game about the fiscal crisis. The game will be played on college campuses in the Spring. The development process is still in the brainstorming/concepting phase.
I ordered buttons to use in my next prototype. The buttons say “Hablame en Espanol. Quiero aprender!” which is Spanish for “Speak to me in Spanish. I want to learn.”

A list of questions about process/procedure that have surfaced for you, as a result of what you’ve done.

From my discussion with Katie Salen I have been reading specific texts about education theory. This has lead to questions about cognitive vs. situated learning. My research makes an argument for situated learning, but I would like to explore more about how cognitive principles can used in my game.
Also from my discussion with Katie I have been asking questions about assessment. How can the learning experiences that I am creating be assessed after play?
Drawing from the big games I have participated in I would like to question the notion of interface in big games. How can simple interfaces assist in the learning process when playing a game? How can they encourage public engagement in a big game?
From my work with area/code I had been thinking about the value of spectacle in a big game. Does this encourage quality interaction with the public? Does spectacle serve as a secondary learning experience to the general public that observes or partakes in it?
What game mechanics can be applied to a Re:Activism to replace the race or treasure hunt mechanic? Will other mechanics encourage more quality learning? Will losing the race mechanic make the game less fun?

post-game timeline

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:43:00 -0400

post-game timeline

Democracy in America

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:49:11 -0400

I found Sharon Hayes piece at the Democracy in America exhibit to be the most inspiring. The recreation of the demonstrations she held this summer was compelling and recreated the ephemeral experience quite well. The scattered speakers and projections through out the space felt very much like you were walking through a chanting crowd, giving you the gutteral response to participate. The emotion and ernest expressions of the people participating also creates intimate moments while you watch them recite. Overall, I think it left an impact because it felt like a very immersive and personal experience.

On a side note, the Armory building is amazing. To be honest I was distracted from some of the peices by the architecture and interior design. I do feel like the show couldn’t have asked for a better space. The satire in many of the pieces was really elevated by the military ganduer of the building.

Who couldn’t use that?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:51:30 -0400

Who couldn’t use that?

Communities of reference

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:52:00 -0400

2008 AIGA Design Education Conference in Baltimore
http://www.massagingmedia.org/call-for-papers
FH3: Twenty-First Century Curriculum
http://www.futurehistory3.com/
https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:9062.1338635007/rid:cfc8d302f99962e9a8187933087dfcfe
Meaningful Play Conference - presenting a poster on Oct. 10
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu/
Cumulus Conference - presenting a paper on Nov. 2
http://www.saint-etienne-cumulus08.fr/
Games for Change
http://www.gamesforchange.org
http://www.gamesforchange.org/campg4c/Homepage/
American Educational Research Association
http://www.aera.net/

igfest

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:36:17 -0400

igfest:

igfest is the festival of interesting and experimental games, taking place in Bristol from 19th-21st September 2008 as part of the Bristol Community Festival.