Via Frédéric: Affective Diary is a project conducted by SICS and Microsoft Research by Kristina Höök, Martin Svensson, Anna Ståhl, Petra Sundström and Jarmo Laaksolathi, SICS, Marco Combetto, Alex Taylor and Richard Harper, Microsoft Research.

This diary is based on a “affective body memorabilia” concept since it captures some of the physical, bodily aspects of experiences and emotions of the owner through body sensors, (and uploaded via mobile phone). Eventually, it forms “an ambiguous, abstract colourful body shape”. These shapes can be made available to others and “the diary is designed to invite reflection and to allow the user to piece together their own stories.

The usage scenario is described as follows:

“In Affective Diary users carry bio sensors that capture for example movement, skin temperature, galvanic skin response and pulse. Activities on the mobile phone is also captured, sent and received SMSs, Bluetooth presence, photos taken with the camera and music that you have listened to during the use. The user carries the sensors, for example, during a day, in the evening at home the data is downloaded into a tablet PC and the user’s day is represented in Affective Diary as an animation, where the data is shown. The bio data is visualised as characters with different body postures and colours, representing movement and arousal. The data from the mobile phone is graphically represented and clicking on the different representations makes it possible to read SMS-conversations, view other Bluetooth units and photographs and hear the music again. There is also the possibility to scribble in the diary and the characters representing bio data can be changed, both the body posture and the colour. The Affective Diary aims at letting users relive both the physical parts of their experiences as well as the cognitive parts.“

Why do I blog this? what I find intriguing (and new) here is that, compared to existing projects (such as Bio-Mapping by Christian Nold) the “history” feature is taken into account (as shown maybe by the picture above). In a sense, it’s interesting to think about how an history of physicological reactions/emotions can be turned into a design object. This is not only interesting in mobile context but also in terms of objects interactions. How would an object register emotional content. Thinking about Ulla-Maaria’s project, it would be curious to add this emotional component (especially about object created by oneself)

The role of architecture in video games by Ernest Adams is a Gamasutra column that is very relevant to my research interests. Prior jumping into his explanation about this topic, the author compares the reasons of constructing buildings in the real world and in a video game. If protection or personal privacy (toilets) are not important i game architecture, military activity and general decoration certainly are.

Then he describes the primary functions of architecture in video games:

“The primary function of architecture in games is to support the gameplay. Buildings in games are not analogous to buildings in the real world, because most of the time their real-world functions are either
irrelevant or purely metaphorical. Rather, buildings in games are analogous to movie sets: incomplete, false fronts whose function is to support the narrative of the movie.
(…)
There are four major ways in which this happens:

• Constraint: architecture establishes boundaries that limit the freedom of movement of avatars or units. It also establishes constraints on the influence of weapons.
• Concealment: architecture is used to hide valuable (and sometimes dangerous) objects from the player; it’s also used to conceal the players from one another, or from their enemies.
• Obstacles and tests of skill: Chasms to jump across, cliffs to climb, trapdoors to avoid.
• Exploration: exploration challenges the player to understand the shape of the space he’s moving through, to know what leads to where.

The Secondary Function of Architecture in Games:

• Familiarity. Familiar locations offer cues to a place’s function and the events that are likely to take place there.
• Allusion. Game architecture can make reference to real buildings or architectural styles to take advantage
  of the ideas or emotions that they suggest.
• New worlds require new architecture. To create a sense of unfamiliarity, create unfamiliar spaces.
• Surrealism: It creates a sense of mystery and more importantly, it warns the player that things are not what they seem.
• Atmosphere. To create a game that feels dangerous, make it look dangerous.
• Comedic effect. Not all game worlds are familiar, dangerous, or weird; some are supposed to be lighthearted and funny.
• Architectural clichés: set a scene and establish player expectations quickly. These are a sort of variant on familiarity, without the benefit of being informed by real-life examples

“

Adams also gives pertinent examples of spatial elements that, considered as real-world architecture, would not be very sensible or coherent, but that are perfectly functional and fun as part of the game mechanic.

Why do I blog this? a very insightful review of how spatial features are important to support game mechanics. What is also important is that this reflects the game designer vision, which is complementary to the architecture view (see for example this article I blogged about the other day).

In addition, it made me think that this could also spark some interesting thoughts regarding physical space and pervasive gaming. Maybe this correspond to how parkour people see the physical environment, as game designers.

A very unprecise Pi annotation (it does not give more than 2 digits) found on the streets of Lyon. Very concise anyway. The presence of a mathematical constant.

What is interesting is that the name “pi” (well, “π”) is the first letter of the Greek words περιφέρεια which means “periphery”. Perhaps, putting pi tags at the periphery of things would be a new trend in street art.