André Lemos is Associate Professor, Faculty of Communication, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. PhD in Sociology, Sorbonne (1995), Visiting Scholar University of Alberta and McGill University, Canada (2007-2008). Coordinator of Cybercity Research Group (UFBa/CNPq) and Researcher level 1 at CNPq. Member of Prix Ars Electronica, Wi. Journal of Mobile Media and Canadian Journal of Communication Board. This Carnet is online since March 1st, 2001.
Imagine uma corrida de fórmula 1 na sua console ou na TV mas a corrida que voce está virtualmente participando, está realmente acontecendo...A empresa holandesa iOpener Media propoe, com uso de GPS diferencial, colocar objetos reais no mundo virtual. Vejam trechos do post do GPS Obsessed: "iOpener Media from the Netherlands has already gone a step beyond, working on bring real world objects into virtual environments. Imagine this: you're racing the world?s best F1 drivers on your PC or HDTV screen in a race that's actually really happening at that moment somewhere in the world. Incredible to imagine, but that's exactly what iOpener Media is working on.
By pulling GPS data in real-time from racing events, and pumping it into compatible game consoles, you can sit and race the best drivers in the world from the comfort of your living room-in the same rice they?re currently driving. iOpener Media has received funding from the European Space Agency and claims it'll have its first games on the market by this September, as soon as they find suitable partners to develop on top of their technological platform."
Alguns projetos interessantes para brincar na rua com os novos brinquedinhos móveis... Esses são jogos que usam celulares e alguns têm propriedades pervasivas com uso de dispositivos de localização, outros não. Para os jogos pervasivos com instrumentos de localização vejam o excelente projeto IPerG:
"IPerG was a EU funded project (FP6 - 004457) which started on 1 September 2005 and came to an end on 29 February 2008. The aim of IPerG has been the creation of entirely new game experiences, which are tightly interwoven with our everyday lives through the objects, devices and people that surround us and the places we inhabit. The approach has been through the exploration of several showcase games which come under the description of 'pervasive games' - a radically new game form that extends gaming experiences out into the physical world. To achieve a high quality of interactive experience for these games, new technologies and methods were explored for the creation of novel and compelling forms of content. The web site documents the main findings of the project and its public documentation - publications, deliverables and dissemination materials."
Vejamos alguns jogos interessantesm, usando as ruas, como os antigos jogos e brincadeiras...
Manhattan Story Mashup. Diversão garantida em Manhattan usando fotos, celulares e web. O objetivo é ganhar pontos tirando fotos para ilustrar histórias escritas via web...
"Manhattan Story Mashup is an urban game, taking place on September 23rd 2006 in Manhattan, New York City. During the event, approximately 250 players will move around Manhattan, taking photos which match a given target. Targets are words from stories, written by you and other visitors on this web site collaboratively while the game goes on. The resulting illustrated stories are shown on large public signs in Times Square in real-time and on this web site."
Vejam o vídeo:
Exposição Homo Ludens Ludens. Mais sobre jogos na cultura contemporânea na exposição Homo Ludens Ludens realizada em abril último (via We Make Money Not Art). Vejam os projetos aqui:
"its two-day programme to situate the frame context of contemporary play, to highlight its interdisciplinary character and to present the multifaceted reality of the playful society we are living in. To achieve this, the Conference forms a special setting for dialogue and experimentation where it brings together international experts from the field of game theory as well as artists and practitioners who embrace elements and signs of play and playfulness in their work and research activities."
Snap-Shot-City, mais um jog de caça ao tesouros com celulares usando fotos.
"(...) A world wide photographic treasure hunt that will open your eyes to the Extraordinary. Everyday. Everywhere. Snap-Shot-City returns to settle one of the northern hemisphere's long standing urban rivalry's, New York or London? In June 2008, Snap-Shot-City will facilitate a trans-Atlantic Snap-Shot duel, inviting both Londonite's and NewYawker's to become artists for a day, to focus their (camera) sights on their home cities and shoot. Rather than aiming to eliminate the opposition, Snap-Shot-City hopes to bring New York and London closer by celebrating the similarities, differences and mind boggling quirks of each."
"In 2006 the Come Out & Play Festival turned New York City into a playground for a weekend, then did the same for the city of Amsterdam in 2007. Hundreds of players gathered to play dozens different games across each city. Players raced through the night in a city-wide game of zombie tag. Friends faced off in life-sized Pong using only their ears to 'hear' the ball. Payphones produced points and Tompkins Square Park became a putt-putt course. 200 people performed stunts to display on the Reuters screen in Times Square. It has been darn good and fascinating fun. Well, the festival is back. In June 2008, the New York will have the chance to come out and play again across the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Right now we're accepting applications for games in Come Out & Play 2008 in New York. Drawing international media attention, designers from around the world and hundreds of players, Come Out & Play features innovative work in the emerging world of street games, big games and pervasive games."
Estou concentrado revisando a bibliografia e escrevendo uma artigo sobre "pervasive games" (coloco os resultados aqui até fim de junho), e por isso esse Carnet está um pouco parado...Os "pervasive games" são jogos na rua com tecnologias móveis e redes sem fio. Há inúmeros exemplos e experiências de fusão do espaço eletrônico com o espaço físico, criando um "território informacional" próprio do "ludico". E o lúdico sempre foi uma maneira de socialização, de criação da cultura (ver Huizinga e Callois) e de apropriação das tecnologias e do espaço urbano.
Bom, no domingo fui ao parque Mont-Royal, a praia aqui, e pude ver um "role play game" medieval onde equipes travavam batalhas de campo (costumes, discussão de estratégias e táticas...). Vemos aqui tudo de um street game: sociabilização, suspenção do espaço (público) e do tempo (objetivo, racional e eficiente), na criação do "mundo do jogo", apropriação e resignificação do espaço público. O espaço do jogo atraía pessoas que ocupavam esse espaço para ver, participar ou apenas "estar alí" estabelecendo um sentido "temporário" do lugar. Os "pervasive games" evocam a mesma ambiência, saindo das telas dos computadores e indo para as ruas. Nada muito novo, mas uma nova forma de apropriação das tecnologias móveis, de resignificação dos lugares e de formação de redes sociais, abrindo inclusive um leque de aplicações comerciais e artísticas no futuro próximo.
Para a coleção....mais um location-based mobile game, Timehole (junho de 2007).
"Spirits from the past are entering our world through a mysterious 'Timehole'. Help world famous Paranormal Investigators Pat and Dave lay these spirits to rest and close the Timehole!
(...) The Timehole Mediascape can be played anywhere out doors by any number of people.Once you start a new game, Pat and Dave will guide you through the set-up and playing of the game. The Timehole Mediascape is comprised of a central Timehole point with four Spirit Spaces placed around it. We recommend you mark your Timehole point with a visual reminder when first placing the hot spots. This is particularly useful if you choose to play in an area without any obvious landmarks such as a playing field. You'll remove this of course before the game starts as discovering the five invisible zones using the GPS is all part of the fun! Oh and it's best not to do it in flip-flops on wet grass but if you're Mediascaping on a beach, lucky you!"
Universidade de Vic, na Espanha, faz experiência com LBS, "Location-Based Mobile Games", tendo como inspiração os games "Geocaching" e "Urban Target". A organização é de Irene García Medina e o post do Carlos Scolari. A idéia do game é coletar provas e enigmas relacionados à morte de Antoni Gaudí, na cidade de Vic. A morte é cercada de mistérios (supostamente ligada a uma seita maçonica). Vejam detalhes no digitalismo.com. Vemos aqui mais um exemplo de resignificação dos lugares, de apropriação lúdica do espaço por meio das tecnologias móveis digitais de comunicação. O jogo baseado em localização, busca regantar a história, o imaginário e uma lenda do lugar, fazendo com que alunos e professores possam "explorar o lugar" e achar "pistas" sobre seu significado. Trechos do post:
"(...) El 15 de abril es la fecha escogida. Junto a un grupo de alumnos y un par de profesores hemos diseñado una gincana móvil donde hay que resolver una serie de pruebas y enigmas relacionados con las leyendas urbanas que envuelven la ciudad de Vic y su Universidad y que parten del tema de la extraña muerte de Antoni Gaudí y su posible relación con una secta masónica.
A través del uso de tecnologías como Internet o el móvil, los participantes han de recolectar una serie de pruebas físicas y virtuales para poder resolver el juego y optar al premio final. Los participantes estarán divididos en equipos con un máximo de cinco componentes cada uno. Para poder realizar correctamente la actividad, cada equipo tendrá que llevar un móvil con tecnología bluetooth y cámara de fotos para poder resolver los enigmas.
Con esta actividad se quiere experimentar las posibilidades virales y de reacción de respuesta del público objetivo ante una comunicación a través de móvil, así como demostrar el concepto de ?comunicación circular? con ejercicios y pruebas reales. Consideramos el móvil como nuevo medio de comunicación circular, debido a que es posible editar un contenido, enviarlo, recibirlo, modificarlo, cambiarlo, mejorarlo, volverlo a enviar a tantas personas como quieras y éstos a su vez lo pueden difundir al instante, cambiarlo cada uno a su manera y volverlo a mandar, reproduciendo y mutando el mensaje original, todo ello gracias a la tecnología aplicada a través del teléfono móvil que integra y converge distintos formatos y servicios (video, Internet, TV, etc.).(...)"
Mais um location-based mobile game, A-Lure, agora na Austrália. Jogadores podem criar e caçar iscas pelas ruas da cidade de Melbourne de 12 a 20 de abril. Vejam descrição do game no geekgirl:
"Come and play the real world between April 12th - 20th, as streets and buildings become the canvas for innovative media artworks that trigger social interactions and active engagement within the community. The A-LURE game elements are artworks installed as digital projections, interactive video, sound works and other innovative media throughout the City of Melbourne. Mobile phones and the internet will be used as tools to discover, interact and create where players are 'lured' to locate and interact with the artworks in public spaces.
A-LURE examines the modern cultural lures present in our society that tempt us away from confidence, self-respect and acceptance. Through A-LURE, young people with experience of hardship and artists at Visionary Images have been collaborating to create alternative 'lures' that will encourage empathy, understanding and respect for cultural diversity. Game players can also add their own 'lures' via the internet or mobile phone."
Post do MediaShift Idea Lab, de Leslie Rule, mostra como os "Location-Based Mobile Games" podem ser usados de forma mais "séria", para educacão, por exemplo. Sobre o conceito: "The term Serious Games is in the vernacular, and we see games that teach, inform, and enlightened but are not necessarily in formal learning environments. They are being used to teach more traditional organizational change issues like Systems Thinking, Collaborative Learning, Leadership, and Professional Development. There are Games for Health being built for healthcare applications and to explore new ways to improve global healthcare. Games are also being designed to effect overlay on the physical spaces you inhabit, thereby sharing the embedded cultural knowledge we all have."
Um projeto interessante informado nesse sentido é o "Create-A-Space", também usado para a educação e que permite a criação de histórias (produção de textos, imagnes, sons) e localizá-las com GPS. O Create-A-Scape é fruto de uma parceria do Futurelab - Bristol e a HP, e é um software modificado do mSpace da empresa. O software permite criar o que eles chama de "mediascape":
"A mediascape is composed of sounds, images and video placed outside in your local area. To see the images and video, and hear the sounds you need a handheld computer (PDA) and a pair of headphones. An optional GPS unit can automatically trigger the images, video and sounds in the right places.To create a mediascape, you start with a digital map of your local area. Using special, free software, you can attach digital sounds, pictures and video to places that you choose on the map (see below). By going outside into the area the map covers, you can experience the mediascape. Using the handheld computer and headphones, you can hear the sounds and see the pictures and video in the places the author of the mediascape has put them. All sorts of exciting things can happen as you explore the mediascape." Aqui é possível ver um vídeo feito por um estudante.
Em relação ao post de ontem sobre comunidades e tecnologias móveis, o post do MediaShift informa também sobre o projeto "Pleasurable Cities", do Futurelab, Bristol, GB, que visa investigar como as tecnologias podem ajudar a criar reforço comunitário, logo politico e social, entre os jovens, principalmente com o uso de telefones celulares e serviços baseados em localização.
Sumário: "The Pleasurable Cities project is an investigation into how everyday technologies might be used to create a dialogue between young people about their local community spaces. The project explores the pros and cons of technology-enhanced systems (utilising located media and mobile phones) to enable young people to share their ideas with peers and policy makers and to affect change to the environments in which they, live, play, work and learn."
A questão das comunidades, e mais precisamente das "Mobile Communities", o do "Mobile Social Networking" é um tema chave para compreender as relações sociais mediadas pelas tecnologias móveis e consequentemente, a dimensão política (em breve um post sobre essa questão). O evento, "Mobile Communities Unconference", na California vai precisamente discutir isso. Justificativa:
"Another? Scale. The number of mobile handsets in use just dwarfs the number of PCs. Another? Experience. You can take it (your network) with you. With the user experience that advanced handheld devices like the iphone bring, you no longer signifignanty compromise your online experience when using a handset. And last but not least: Location. Locative experiences and media are going to explode soon. I got a taste of this when I worked at Autodesk, but just the simple fact of knowing where you are geographically, and where friends, family and potential contacts are relative to your position adds a whole new layer of meaning and experience to social networking. Want to join the conversation? We have an AWESOME group of folks lined up to discuss this next Thursday, March 20th in Palo Alto." Mais infos no link do evento.
"Wherigo lets anyone build games (or tour guides or local reviews or real estate apps) using the Lua programming language. The games can be tied to a specific location or they can be 'play anywhere'. The games are generally task-based. As you are given tasks you move from location to location and pick up items (inventory). Your inventory is used to complete other tasks (such as disable an evil robot or a fix a virtual spaceship). Wherigo games can also be played on the PocketPC platform (other platforms coming in the future). You can also download the Wherigo builder (windows-only, requires .NET) and use the emulator to try out the games (screenshot after the jump). You can use the Builder or their webservice to compile games.
(...) The Wherigo platform was designed for games, specifically GeoCaching-esque games. It allows Wherigo's fanbase (one-million strong) to create virtual caches in parks and residential neighborhoods (places where physical caches weren't desired or safe). If you're wondering who will play these games look no further than the Garmin blog. Garmin and Groundspeak threw an event on Saturday to show off their new platform. When I stopped by the large room was packed and the crowd couldn't wait to try the tutorials.
Where I think Wherigo will gain the broadest appeal is for more general content delivery. As I was playing with the demo game I kept thinking how useful Wikipedia would be on this platform (there are thousands of geo-tagged pages). Groundspeak is also thinking this way. (...)"
Mais um "Wireless Street Game", ou "Location-Based Game", o QR-Kill usa celular, etiquetas QR e o centro de Madri como área de jogo. O objetivo é encontrar pessoas com as etiquetas QR, fazer uma foto e enviar uma mensagem de texto. A pessoa que recebe a mensagem está fora. Os LBG têm se desenvolvido e temos postado aqui no Carnet sobre eles. Para o que me interessa, os LBG usam as novas tecnologias móveis no espaço público, reconstituindo o que era no passado o "brincar", o "jogar". É mais uma forma de apropriação do espaço urbano pelo lúdico.
"QR-Kill is a Spanishmobile game, played using phones and signs with QR codes on them. The object is to pick other players out of a big crowd (downtown Madrid), capture their QR codes with camera phones, then text them. If you receive such a txt, you?re out of the game..." (Via Smart Mobs
Estou escrevendo um artigo sobre os "jogos baseados em localidade", os "location-based games", como tenho postado nesse blog. Como sempre esse Carnet é um "work in progress" para futuras publicações. O último post foi sobre Swordfish e Torpedo Bay. Para mais informações vejam o meu del.icio.us para referências sobre projetos nessa área.
Uma das hipóteses que estou desenvolvendo no artigo é que os "locative games" trazem de volta formas de uso do espaço urbano como os jogos antes da cibercultura. Como falo para meus alunos, sempre joguei "locative game": futebol, pega-pega, esconde-esconde, amarelinha, etc. Todos tinham (têm) como base a localização (onde será o jogo? onde está o parceiro?, como transformar esse espaço em um espaço de jogo?) e o uso do espaço público.
As práticas com mídias de localização trazem assim de volta formas de escrita e leituras do espaço urbano pelo lúdico. Melhor do que jogar sentado no sofá diante de uma console (isso é legal também ;-) ), é joga no meio da rua. O post do MediaShift Idea Lab, "Finding Overlap Between Locative Media and Location-Based Games" de Leslie Rule, toca nesse mesmo ponto. Vejam trechos:
"(...) Like locative media, location-based games take place outside. Due to this connection to the physical world, exploring how locative-based games and locative media can inform each other should be fruitful. How can online engagement contribute to a deeper off-line experience. Or, as we used to say, can it contribute to a deeper engagement with the "real world." We've started to look at the theories and theorists around space, place, and fun.
We do know that the opportunity to use the street as an environment so engaged gamers and enlivened gaming that gaming become (pick your favorite adjective) pervasive, immersive, or ubiquitous. But, if we look back, there is the history...nothing emerges fully formed on the half-shell. Geocaching was one of the first and most successful location-based games. At last count, there are 480,000 registered geocaches in 222 countries on all seven continents. But even geocaching has its roots in the earlier outdoor game letterboxing, traced to Dartmoor, England and popular during the 1850s. Letterboxing was a strange mixture of orienteering and puzzling, more akin to exploration than to the current mobile multi-player locative games (MMPLG), where the focus is on adding real-life environment in the game play. The point of MMPLGs is not to change the dynamic nature of online gaming, but to put that frenetic energy into the physical world. Locative media has a stronger connection to geocaching and letterboxing than it does to MMPLGs - more philosophical, more geographical, and more reflective."
Swordfishe e Torpedo Bay são dois "Locative Games", produzidos aqui perto, em Calgary, pela Blister Entertainment. Swordfish ganhou o prêmio, em 2005, da Canadian New Media Awards.
"Swordfish is a single-player location based mobile handset game with multi-player features. This game application allows users the chance to search, find and catch virtual swordfish on their mobile phones. Gamers compete for rank and bragging rights on the national leader board. Players also compete for the same schools of virtual fish that are scattered across the country. The leader board is unique in that it too is location-enabled. When players post their score from their phone, the leader board automatically posts the city or town where the fish was caught, creating a greater sense of competition and community amongst players. This game forces you to move to where the virtual schools of fish are."
A mesma empresa produz outro jogo de localização, o Torpedo Bay:
"Torpedo Bay represents leading-edge development in mobile location-based gaming. A number of technologies licensed from KnowledgeWhere Corp, has enabled the Blister Team to create a product that pushes the limits of today?s mobile devices. The following is some of the features in Torpedo Bay:
The Location Application Platform (LAP?) - LAP? is the hosting platform for multiplayer location-based gaming. It allows users from multiple carriers and multiple networks to interact within the same gaming environment. Its unique structure immerses the users inside a virtual world while protecting their physical locations with patent-pending PseudoPositioning algorithms. This makes for safe, fun and secure multiplayer gaming.
Predictive Positioning - GPS and A-GPS are prone to signal fading especially inside urban canyons and built up areas. This can result in frustrating game play for the user and loss of revenue for the carriers. Leveraging KnowledgeWhere?s extensive experience in mobile wireless location, Torpedo Bay? implements predictive positioning algorithms that improve the accuracy and availability of GPS locates within these problematic areas.
Use of real map data to assist in the locating of enemy ships, weapons, and health. Game items and enemies are plotted against a street map to help players navigate in the game.
A 360° view of the game play world. The direction and distance of the enemy ships that appear on the navigation screen correspond to their location in the game."
Ghost Town, Locative Game, é lançado em Perth, Austrália, no festival Byte Me!. Para jogar é preciso um celular com bluetooth e MP3. O jogo usa mensagens de texto, voz e fotos para resolver mistérios nas ruas de Perth. Postei recentemente algo sobre o game, que já foi testado em outros países.
No site do festival podemos ler o objetivo do jogo:
"Alone or with family and friends, you'll uncover clues and solve puzzles with the help of messages, pictures and even voice calls received on their mobile phones. You'll search the CBD for special stickers that unlock the game's challenges, all the while unraveling a mysterious storyline. You can explore the game at your own pace, giving you a chance to appreciate some of Perth's most interesting spaces. By taking the game from the screen to the streets, Ghost Town promotes active and healthy gaming."
"The digital world has set its sights on Western Australia, with three new computer game development companies choosing Perth as their new base. Industry and Enterprise Minister Francis Logan was today the first person to play the new locative game 'Ghost Town' at the week-long digital content festival Byte Me! at the Perth Town Hall.(...)
The game uses Bluetooth, SMS and VOIP technologies. Similar games have attracted thousands of competitors when played in New York, London, Toronto and Amsterdam.
Mr Logan said 'Ghost Town' was an exciting new concept for the gaming development industry, which was one of the fastest growing sectors in the world and worth $110million annually in Australia. (...)
'Game developers are attracted to our creative writers - we have the edge in this field, as well as internationally competitive capabilities in animation, visualisation and simulation.'(...)
'Ghost Town is an example of a locative game, which has received quite a lot of attention internationally over the past few years,' Mr Fono said.
'Ghost Town is a mixed-media game that is played on mobile phones and is the very first game of its kind in Perth. The plan is to put Perth on the map as a hot spot of cutting-edge technology to tell stories and engage audiences.(...)"
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