[chisigmail] FW: DIS Research Seminar: Kenton O'Hara - Collaborative Play on a Large Urban Screen Game

[Nilma Perera]

FYI ­ please note this a Departmental seminar at the Department of
Information Systems (not an IDG seminar). However, I believe this maybe of
interest to some of you.

   
**************************************************************************
 
                                           NOTICE:  DIS SEMINAR SERIES 2008
Speaker:         Kenton O¹Hara
Topic:              Collaborative Play on a Large Urban Screen Game

Date:               Friday 24 October 2008

Time:              11.15 am

Venue:            Alan Gilbert Theatre 2, Level 1 Corner Grattan & Barry
Street 

 

Abstract

In recent years there has been a growing interest in Urban Screen
applications. While there have been several deployments of these
technologies in our urban environments, surprisingly little research effort
has aimed to explore the detailed material practice of people¹s engagement
and interaction with these urban screen applications. In this paper, we
present a study of collaborative game play on large urban displays situated
in three city locations in the UK.  The study highlights ways in which
collaborative play is initiated and coordinated within the context of an
urban environment. These experiences are related to physical characteristics
of the architectural spaces, the people populating these spaces and the
interactive properties of the game itself. The study moves on to discuss
issues relating to audience and spectatorship, an inherent feature of
interaction in urban environments. The issues of audience and spectatorship
are discussed in their own right but also in terms of their relationship to
the playing experience. Finally the study considers these interactive
experiences in the contexts of being hosted by a professional compere and
also with no host present. Through the study we highlight factors to
consider in the design of collaborative urban screen applications. From
peripheral and passive engagement to more interactive engagement,
participation is an important consideration for the design of successful
urban screen content.
 
Speaker
Kenton O'Hara is the new research director (since March 2008) of the HxI
Initiative of the CSIRO/DSTO/NICTA in Sydney.  According to the website, the
"term ŒHxI¹ denotes humans interacting with each other, with information and
with technology. It focuses on augmenting their cognitive abilities and
social interaction. The Œx¹ describes the search for an Œx factor¹ ­
something that makes interacting with technology more effective."  Kenton
has a PhD in the Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction from the
University of Cardiff.  Prior to joining the HxI Initiative and CSIRO, he
was at HP labs in the United Kingdom.

Peter Seddon
Department of Information Systems
The University of Melbourne
VIC 3010
Email: p.seddon at unimelb.edu.au <mailto:jamesmm at unimelb.edu.au>
Phone: + 61 3 8344 1576


------ End of Forwarded Message

-----------------------------------------
Nilma Perera
PhD candidate 
Interaction Design Group
Department of Information Systems
The University of Melbourne
VIC 3010

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/chisigmail/attachments/20081016/4d03ab9c/attachment.htm>