Computing and Information Systems - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSynchronizing multi-perspectival data of children's digital play at home(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2022-07-03)Studying digitally mediated play presents challenges in terms of how to view and record both the on-screen action and player’s bodies in physical space. Carrying out this research in a socially and technologically diverse range of family households poses further challenges, common to ethnographic media research in general. In this paper, we describe a method for generating richly detailed views of 6–8 year old children’s digital play with the game Minecraft, on a range of devices and in a range of household configurations. We explain the process undertaken in our own research, highlighting the need for flexibility and a collaborative approach between participants and researchers. We argue that collecting multi-perspectival recordings of digital play provides data that has the potential to greatly aid understanding of digital playworlds.
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ItemFear, loss and meaningful play: Permadeath in DayZ(INTELLECT LTD, 2017-06-01)Abstract This article interrogates player experiences with permadeath in the massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) DayZ. We analyse the differences between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ instances of permadeath and argue that meaningfulness – in accordance with Salen and Zimmerman’s concept of meaningful play – is a critical requirement for positive experiences with permadeath. In doing so, this article suggests new ontologies for meaningfulness in play, and demonstrates how meaningfulness can be a useful lens through which to understand player experiences with negatively valenced play. We conclude by relating the appeal of permadeath to the excitation transfer effect, drawing parallels between the appeal of DayZ and fear-inducing horror games such as Silent Hill 2 and gratuitously violent and gory games such as Mortal Kombat.
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ItemWord Play: A History of Voice Interaction in Digital Games(SAGE Publications, 2020)The use of voice interaction in digital games has a long and varied history of experimentation but has never achieved sustained, widespread success. In this article, we review the history of voice interaction in digital games from a media archaeology perspective. Through detailed examination of publicly available information, we have identified and classified all games that feature some form of voice interaction and have received a public release. Our analysis shows that the use of voice interaction in digital games has followed a tidal pattern: rising and falling in seven distinct phases in response to new platforms and enabling technologies. We note characteristic differences in the way Japanese and Western game developers have used voice interaction to create different types of relationships between players and in-game characters. Finally, we discuss the implications for game design and scholarship in light of the increasing ubiquity of voice interaction systems.
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ItemMotion Correlation: Selecting Objects by Matching their Movement(Association for Computing Machinary, Inc., 2017-03-01)Selection is a canonical task in user interfaces, commonly supported by presenting objects for acquisition by pointing. In this article, we consider motion correlation as an alternative for selection. The principle is to represent available objects by motion in the interface, have users identify a target by mimicking its specific motion, and use the correlation between the system’s output with the user’s input to determine the selection. The resulting interaction has compelling properties, as users are guided by motion feedback, and only need to copy a presented motion. Motion correlation has been explored in earlier work but only recently begun to feature in holistic interface designs. We provide a first comprehensive review of the principle, and present an analysis of five previously published works, in which motion correlation underpinned the design of novel gaze and gesture interfaces for diverse application contexts. We derive guidelines for motion correlation algorithms, motion feedback, choice of modalities, overall design of motion correlation interfaces, and identify opportunities and challenges identified for future research and design.
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ItemIntroduction: What 'is' Australian Game Studies?(Digital Games, 2015)This special issue of the Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association Journal represent approaches by contemporary Australian scholars in the study of digital games. They responded to the provocation ‘What is Game Studies in Australia?’ the topic of the inaugural conference of the Digital Games Research Association Australia (DiGRAA). This event, held on 17th of June 2014, was a meeting of academic researchers, critics, designers, developers, and artists focused on developing a discussion of what game studies ‘is’ in Australia. The conference focused special attentiveness both to diversity and any particular regional issues that delegates chose to address. These articles illustrate the breadth and variety of approaches which were discussed.
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ItemVoice in Virtual Worlds: The Design, Use, and Influence of Voice Chat in Online Play(Taylor & Francis, 2014-12-22)Communication is a critical aspect of any collaborative system. In online multiplayer games and virtual worlds it is specially complex. Users are present over long periods and require both synchronous and asynchronous communication, but may prefer to be pseudonymous or engage in identity-play while simultaneously managing virtual and physical use contexts. Initially the only medium offered for player-to-player communication in virtual worlds was text, a medium well-suited to identity-play and asynchronous communication; less so to fast-paced coordination and sociability among friends. During the past decade vendors have introduced facilities for gamers to communicate by voice. Yet little research has been conducted to help us understand its influence on the experience of virtual space: where, when and for whom voice is beneficial, and how it might be configured. To address this gap we conducted empirical research across a range of online gaming environments. We analyzed our observations in the light of theory from human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and computermediated communication (CMC). We conclude that voice radically transforms the experience of online gaming, making virtual spaces more intensely social but turning them into maelstroms of impression management, identity play, and ambiguity over what is being transmitted to whom.