1,720,987 research outputs found
Measuring Online user engagement : the limitations of Web analytics
No full textThe ability to identify and assess user engagement with transmedia productions is vital to the success of individual projects and the sustainability of this mode of media production as a whole. It is essential that industry players have access to tools and methodologies that offer the most complete and accurate picture of how audiences/users engage with their productions and which assets generate the most valuable returns of investment. Drawing upon research conducted with Hoodlum Entertainment, a Brisbane-based transmedia producer, this chapter outlines an initial assessment of the way engagement tends to be understood, why standard web analytics tools are ill-suited to measuring it, how a customised tool could offer solutions, and why this question of measuring engagement is so vital to the future of transmedia as a sustainable industry
Cipher cities
No full textCipher Cities was a practice-led research project developed in 3 stages between 2005 and 2007 resulting in the creation of a unique online community, ‘Cipher Cities’, that provides simple authoring tools and processes for individuals and groups to create their own mobile events and event journals, build community profile and participate in other online community activities. \ud
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Cipher Cities was created to revitalise peoples relationship to everyday places by giving them the opportunity and motivation to create and share complex digital stories in simple and engaging ways. To do so we developed new design processes and methods for both the research team and the end user to appropriate web and mobile technologies. To do so we collaborated with ethnographers, designers and ICT researchers and developers. In teams we ran a series of workshops in a wide variety of cities in Australia to refine an engagement process and to test a series of iteratively developed prototypes to refine the systems that supported community motivation and collaboration. The result of the research is 2 fold:\ud
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1. a sophisticated prototype for researchers and designers to further experiment with community engagement methodologies using existing and emerging communications technologies. \ud
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2. A ‘human dimensions matrix’. This matrix assists in the identification and modification of place based interventions in the social, technical, spatial, cultural, pedagogical conditions of any given community. This matrix has now become an essential part of a number of subsequent projects and assists design collaborators to successfully conceptualise, generate and evaluate interactive experiences.\ud
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the research team employed practice-led action research methodologies that involved a collaborative effort across the fields of interaction design and social science, in particular ethnography, in order to:\ud
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1. seek, contest, refine a design methodology that would maximise the successful application of a dynamic system to create new kinds of interactions between people, places and artefacts’.\ud
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2. To design and deploy an application that intervenes in place-based and mobile technologies and offers people simple interfaces to create and share digital stories.\ud
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Cipher Cities was awarded 3 separate CRC competitive grants (over $270,000 in total) to assist 3 stages of research covering the development of the Ethnographic Design Methodologies, the development of the tools, and the testing and refinement of both the engagement models and technologies. The resulting methodologies and tools are in the process of being commercialised by the Australasian CRC for Interaction Design.\ud
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SCOOT CBN
No full textSCOOT is a hybrid event combining the web, mobile devices, public displays and cultural artifacts across multiple public parks and museums in an effort to increase the perceived and actual access to cultural participation by everyday people.\ud
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The research field is locative game design and the context was the re-invigoration of public sites as a means for exposing the underlying histories of sites and events. The key question was how to use game play technologies and processes within everyday places in ways that best promote playful and culturally meaningful experiences whilst shifting the loci of control away from commercial and governmental powers. The research methodology was primarily practice led underpinned by ethnographic and action research methods.\ud
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In 2004 SCOOT established itself as a national leader in the field by demonstrating innovative methods for stimulating rich interactions across diverse urban places using technically-augmented game play. Despite creating a sophisticated range of software and communication tools SCOOT most dramatically highlighted the role of the ubiquitous mobile phone in facilitating socially beneficial experiences. Through working closely with the SCOOT team, collaborating organisations developed important new knowledge around the potential of new technologies and processes for motivating, sustaining and reinvigorating public engagement.\ud
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Since 2004, SCOOT has been awarded $600,00 in competitive and community funding as well as countless in kind support from partner organisations such as Arts Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Museum, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Art Centre of Victoria, The State Library of Victoria, Brisbane River Festival, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane Maritime Museum, Queensland University of Technology, and Victoria University
Inventing future schools
No full textA group of Australian researchers and designers have been working on ways to imagine, demonstrate and accelerate the use of ICT that extend learning relationships and environments to include the classroom, home and local community. These learning projects aim to transform how students identify and interact with learning, subject areas, teachers, other students, family, organisations and more broadly how learning tools can create connections that permeate students' life worlds now and in the future.---------- \ud
It is our intention that such demonstrators must\ud
- Be simple, flexible, scalable and adaptive\ud
- Result in increased confidence in the use of ICT for both students and teachers\ud
- Offer opportunities for personalized learning\ud
- Promote new and effective learning partnerships between students, teachers and families.\ud
- Extend the learning experience to include other environments both local and virtual.\ud
- Inspire further innovation\ud
- Provide solutions to current limitations---------- \ud
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Presenting Innovation in Practice\ud
- Innovative ICT projects currently being used by students in schools, at home and in the community\ud
- Stories of use from teacher, student, and other stakeholder perspectives\ud
- Lessons learnt so far: a design perspective\ud
- Surprising and inspiring opportunitie
Farm it right : the sustainable farming simulation
No full textFarm It Right is an innovative creative work that simulates sustainable farming techniques using ecological models prepared by academics at Bradford University (School of Life Sciences). This interactive work simulates the farming conditions and options of our ancestors and demonstrates the direct impact their actions had on their environment and on the ’future of their cultures’ (Schmidt 2008). Specifically, the simulation allows users to explore and experiment with the complex relationships between environmental factors and human decision making within the harsh conditions of an early (9th century) Nordic farm. The simulation interface displays both statistical and graphical feedback in response to the users selections regarding animal reproduction rates, shelter provisions, food supplies etc. as well as demonstrating resulting impacts to soil erosion, water supply, animal population sizes etc.---------- \ud
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'Farm It Right' is now used at Bradford University (School of Life Sciences) as a dynamic e-Learning resource for incorporating environmental archaeology with sustainable development education, improving the engagement with complex data and the appreciation of human impacts on the environment and the future of their cultures. 'Farm It Right' is also demonstrated as an exemplar case study for interaction design students at Queensland University of Technology
Virtual Mannequins: Demonstrating the future of retail experiences
No full textThe Virtual Mannequin is a new work that presents and demonstrates future interactions and experiences with emerging technologies in public spaces so that we can contemplate the potential impacts as a community.\ud
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- <strong>Idle State</strong> - Displays the mannequins as animated figures wearing dynamic garments. The system randomly scrolls through a set of pose animations that resemble the nearby physical mannequins on display in the centre, except that the clothing that they are wearing also animates randomly through various visual effects that are designed to look like garments made of bio-luminescent materials.\ud
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- <strong>Mimic State</strong> - The visitors activate the Virtual Mannequins simply by standing face on for more than 2 seconds. The visitors position and movement is captured and tracked using infrared sensors that send information back to the system to control the Virtual Mannequin models. The garments continue to change and animate as the visitors control the movements and poses of the mannequins.\ud
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This project was developed using a speculative design approach developed by Deb Polson called the "DesFi" method. This is an intentional play on the term "SciFi". Science Fiction being a genre of literature, film and TV that presents narratives about the future based on scientific experiments. The <strong>Design Fiction Method</strong>, instead imagines a future based on both scientific and technological advances and builds prototypes to present and test scenarios that are likely to occur in the near future. The iterative design process begins with researching current social practices, cultural concerns and emerging technologies that informs a series of technical and conceptual experiments to eventuate in refined project experiences that are robustly tested in authentic settings.\ud
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<strong>The Virtual Mannequin project draws on concepts and technologies related to:</strong>\ud
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- Retail experiences of the future\ud
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- Bioluminescent materials \ud
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- Fashion design for robots\ud
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- Motion sensitive and responsive public spaces \ud
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- Smart surfaces and displays\ud
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<strong>Demonstrating:</strong>\ud
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- Subversive adaptations and integrations of technologies and systems\ud
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- Feasible and scalable installation design innovations\ud
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<strong>Collaborations:</strong>\ud
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- Interaction Design (experience and interface design, system logic)\ud
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- Fashion Design (consultation)\ud
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- 3D Technical Art (interactive model and materials physics)\ud
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- Programming (sensor data and virtual environment integration)\ud
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The Virtual Mannequin project presents a playful way to imagine a future-like experience in public domains. More significantly, it demonstrates how close we are to deploying and being surrounded by responsive public displays such as this. \ud
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The team led by Deb Polson, are committed to designing and installing projects that give people access to emerging experiences so that we can interact, consider and discuss the potential implications and impacts well before such technological deployments are pervasive. It is important to exercise our creative and critical agency within an increasingly virtualised environment.\ud
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The Virtual Mannequins are displayed in the Wintergarden Complex on the Queens Street Mall in Brisbane, Queensland. The Queen Street Mall is the most successful pedestrian mall in Australia with over 26 million visitors each year.\ud
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This project was first proposed to executives at JLL, a company that manages the Wintergarden Complex. Subsequently, the design team was awarded funding for commercial research from ISPT to develop and instal the Virtual Mannequins in the Wintergarden complex in October 2017. These Virtual Mannequins will be deployed across multiple retail sites managed by ISPT and JLL across Australia.\ud
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Total Funding for this project is $264, 000 (includes funding for other 'Retail of the Future' projects by Deb Polson, namely 'The Virtual Design Studio'
The ZomPoc Project: A large scale mixed reality event
No full textIn 2011 and again in 2012, deb Polson was commissioned to design and deliver a unique experiment in large scale, live, game design and public performance, bringing together participants from across the creative arts to design, deliver and document a project that was both a cooperative learning experience and an experimental public performance.\ud
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The four month project, funded by the Edge Digital Centre, culminated into a 24 hour Mixed reality event involving over 100 participants in December 2011 and again in December 2012. Using the premise of a viral outbreak, young enthusiasts auditioned for the roles of Survivor, Zombie, Medic and Military. The main objective was for the Survivors to complete a series of challenges over 24 hours, while the other characters fulfilled their opposing objectives of interference and sabotage supported by both scripted and free-form scenarios staged in constructed scenes throughout the venues. The event was set in the State Library of Queensland and the Edge Digital Centre who granted the project full access, night and day to all areas including public, office and underground areas. These venues were transformed into cinematic settings full of interactive props and various audio-visual effects.\ud
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The ZomPoc Project was an innovative experiment in writing and directing a large scale, live, public performance, bringing together participants from across the creative industries. In order to design such an event a number of innovative resources were developed exploiting techniques of game design, theatre, film, television and tangible media production. A series of workshops invited local artists, scientists, technicians and engineers to find new ways of collaborating to create networked artifacts, experimental digital works, robotic props, modular set designs, sound effects and unique costuming guided by an innovative multi-platform script developed by Deb Polson. The result of this collaboration was the creation of innovative game and set props, both atmospheric and interactive. Such works animated the space, presented story clues and facilitated interactions between strangers who found themselves sharing a unique experience in unexpected places.\ud
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Design and Development funding of over $20,000 and supported by inkind contributions by staff at the Edge Digital Centre and State Library of Queensland along with multiple community volunteers.\ud
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This project inspired a number of media articles, radio interviews and a live webcast:\ud
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Led by Deb Polson, QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty hosted a Zombie ‘live feed’ on Friday July 19 2013 with author John Birmingham, horror expert Dr Sorcha Ní Fhlainn and Film critic Dr Tim Milfull. Zombiephiles across the globe watched it over the internet and posted real-time questions and comments.\ud
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MX Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, page 5, July 16, 201
SCAPE sustainable urban design simulation
No full textSCAPE is an interactive simulation that allows teachers and students to experiment with sustainable urban design. The project is based on the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, Brisbane. Groups of students role play as political, retail, elderly, student, council and builder characters to negotiate on game decisions around land use, density, housing types and transport in order to design a sustainable urban community. As they do so, the 3D simulation reacts in real time to illustrate what the village would look like as well as provide statistical information about the community they are creating. SCAPE brings together education, urban professional and technology expertise, helping it achieve educational outcomes, reflect real-world scenarios and include sophisticated logic and decision making processes and effects.----------\ud
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The research methodology was primarily practice led underpinned by action research methods resulting in innovative approaches and techniques in adapting digital games and simulation technologies to create dynamic and engaging experiences in pedagogical contexts. It also illustrates the possibilities for urban designers to engage a variety of communities in the processes, complexities and possibilities of urban development and sustainability
The SCOOT experience : games in place : collaborative interventions in socio-spatial practices
No full textThe principal focus of this thesis is the representation of a significant creative practice in relation to the design and installation of the Location-Based Game, SCOOT. This project demonstrates new understandings relating to the contingencies and potentials for transferring positive aspects of digital gameplay to everyday physical environments in an effort to reveal hidden histories and revitalise peoples’ interactions with their local urban spaces
SCOOT game event : families as partners in learning
No full textHow games can be designed to engage families in learning spaces outside of the classroom. SCOOT Game has been played by families in various science museums and art galleries in Australian capital cities since 2004. Families form groups to collaborate in the game that takes them on an SMS quest through these places engaging them with artworks, historic facts, landmarks, puzzles, street performances etc
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