‘Passages’ – Game Concept.

‘Passages’ will be a location-based, augmented reality (AR) game.

The idea is that the player travels to certain real-life locations in Dublin (the game could potentially grow to multiple locations) where beacon light sources are located. The player holds up their phone to discover a puzzle game based on the architecture of that location. Upon winning the puzzle they unlock a ‘light source’ and are guided via light to the next location. When a certain number of locations are unlocked the player gains a constellation. The aim of the game is to unveil all constellations, essentially building the night’s sky. As each constellation is unveiled, the player can hold their phone’s camera up to the sky and that constellation appears in true dark sky appearance against the offset of light pollution. The more constellations unlocked, the more dark sky you can see. If played during the day, the sky is rendered with both dark sky and polluted colouring.

Tourism

The game doubles up as an educational piece about light sources and their effects, as well as a form of tourist map for visitors to Dublin. With the app they are guided around the city to key cultural sites, where they can interact with the architecture using a fun, accessible game (I am using man-made structures as a reflection of light pollution being a man-made problem).

Problems I might face is that making a tourist game about the over-use of light in Dublin might be counter-productive. A solution to this might be to focus the attention on getting a player to want to go to the Dark Sky Reserves rather than over emphasising the particular failings (which could be clarified by support collateral?).

Multiplayer

There will also be a non-AR mode and multiplayer options. In multiply player, you can choose to play as ‘dark’ or ‘light’ and compete with other players in terms of speed and efficiency, therefore blocking the other player’s ability to turn on/off a light source.

The puzzle games that feature will be re-thinkings of classic retro games such as Tetris, Lights Out, Draughts, Space Invaders that create a sense of nostalgia for ‘days of old’. This is part of the problem of light pollution, proving that it is more factual than just remembering that we used to be able to see they sky better.

Aesthetics

My initial aesthetic plan for the game is to use ‘flat design’ 2D elements in a sort of 50s/60s style, but I need to test the feasibility of this when using AR technology – which ideally needs to be more 3 dimensional.

This nostalgia element is also reflected in the title of the game, Passages. The name was inspired both by the idea of a passage of light/time, the journey we must take in order to make changes (learning curve), but also by the physical passages that appear in historical astronomical sites like Newgrange. The game will draw on this ancient Celtic aesthetic for some of it’s visual elements – in a controlled manner so as not to make it too ‘twee’.

Another element to the game will be an add on where a player can upload pictures of their own night sky photographer, contributing to a citizen science project that collates live data from across the country. This element will be in communication with the Trinity College astrophysics department and Dark Sky Ireland. This would then be backed up by an informational website, and printed collateral. The printed collateral would also include more information on the game, a sort of ‘wiki’ guide including the map structure and more information about light sources in Dublin and the Dark Sky Reserves in Mayo and Kerry.

I am already in communication with TCD Professor Dr. Espey, but will now send on my updated brief and concept design to a contact in Dark Sky Ireland that he gave me to see what they think / if they can give me some advise and collateral.

I also plan to take a visit to Mayo Dark Sky in order to shoot some primary photography for the project.

Puzzle Games

I have made a list of locations I’d like to use as puzzle elements and began assigning them game structures. For example, one location will be the GPO on O’Connell Street. For this location the game is a memory pattern game, where the columns of the GPO light up, and the player is required to remember an repeat the pattern, which gets progressively faster and more difficult. These columns are traditionally illuminated via uplighting (changing colour for example for St. Patrick’s Day – Green) so I will make the light source of the game reflect that form of lighting.

For consistency across the game, I think only 5-6 forms of puzzle should be used in varying difficulties and skins – but I will explore this further as I develop the locations.

Below is an initial mock up of what the design might look like ( the 6 front columns will sit on an higher layer so as to interact). Again, I need to assess whether this flat design will be feasible for AR, as it may but a player off to be faced with an unrealistic dimension in a 3D environment.

Sky Glow Project

Feeling a bit inspired by this crew.

https://skyglowproject.com/main/

They’ve been travelling around America shooting gorgeous time lapses of the night sky and juxtaposing them against the city scape in an effort to create awareness about the effects of Light Pollution. Their photographs were then published as a book/DVD combo via kickstarter.

I think the photographs are gorgeous but as a campaign to get people to actually notice –  is an expensive hardback book really going to cut it?

This is a handy grading system though which I might use for some colour inspiration.

Light

So I’ve been thinking about interesting ways to communicate issues surrounding energy use. I’ve been recording my daily consumption (lights on/off, how many times I use the kettle, how many times I flush the toilet, how I travel etc.). I’m recording my habits, but in doing so I’m affecting my actions. One thing I notice that I do constantly is turn the lights on and off, like some sort of musical score of pauses and notes.

Question: I wonder is it better to leave the light one constant (if its a low power bulb) than to constantly turn it on and off in a short about of time?

Light in Art

I always come back to art when feeling ‘lost in information’. Artists have a great way of describing visually (and usually surprisingly simply) complex theories. Maybe my four year Fine Art degree was not totally wasted? My mind keeps drawing back to the time I visited the Venice Biennale in 2009. One of my favourite pieces was Chu Yun’s “Constellation No. 3″.

In the piece, you walk through a black-out curtain in to a room of almost 100% darkness apart from what tens of tiny lights, some flashing, all different colours. There is also this quiet hum of electricity. The first reaction I had was that it looked like star-scape, something seen in a clear night’s sky. As your eyes adjust to the light the objects behind them become clearer – they are actually various televisions, dvd players, fridges, radios etc. The lights you’re seeing are actually the little standby bulbs, all switched on waiting to be activated. Its like the machines are all in a state of stasis, ready to react and start in to action but being held somewhere in between.

source: https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/venice-biennale-flashing-lights/

I’m not sure if the piece was directly about energy consumption, but I think its an unavoidable association once you realise the extent of machinery in the room and how much of it you potentially have in your own house.

Question: Since the advent of ‘Smart TVs’ and the Internet of Things have we become worse at switching things off? I remember having an old analog TV years ago in my family house and it not having any sort of ‘standby’ mode, you had to physically get up and switch it on or off. Now with the IoT, objects are constantly on and gathering data – I must check some of the energy consumption information of these devices when they are in standby but processing data in the background.

Bruce Nauman

Now I can’t talk about light in art without mentioning Bruce Nauman’s neon signs and light installations. His work is usually about forcing the viewer in to new experiential spaces and mind sets. Its about de-stabilising what we consider a normal association – i.e. the normal process or relationship of A to B – and making the viewer realise its all rather arbitrary and subjective. Nothing is definite or ‘set in stone’, everything is changeable in ones interaction with it.

Now this certainly doesn’t relate directly to energy consumption but (stay with me!) it does conceptually parallel the types of reaction I want to instil in the players of my game. I want them to experience the game and have it change the way they react to the space they live in. To realise that their actions will have an effect and that its worth being more conscious about the actions they take. Its rather convenient that Bruce manages to do this using light, exactly one of the consumption elements I’d like to tackle.

Environment at Crisis Point

The Brief.

The environment is at crisis point, specially our seas, which are polluted with plastics and the ecological effect of over fishing are likely to be devastating. The Great Barrier reef, the world’s largest organism is said to be dying. You are tasked with coming up with a solution that will assist in education of the issue and look at how design thinking can change or impact on how we tackle this for the future. The outcome for this project and the target market is up to you based on research and findings.

Initial thoughts / starting points.

• waste / recycling / packaging
• durability / obsolescence
• energy / renewables / air pollution / fossil fuel
• tradition versus sustainability: just because something has been done a certain way for years does not mean its still viable – i.e. Turf cutting?
• Farming / agriculture (Paris Agreement targets)
• Global versus local / individual versus societal
• Urban versus Rural: going “off the grid”

This project needs to be about an easy, engaging way for an audience to interact positively with the environment. It can’t be preachy or presumptuous. Is it about increasing awareness or is it about designing a way to help someone make a more conscious decision in regard to their consumer and lifestyle choices?

Durability.

Upon first inspection, there does not seem to exist a ‘durability’ signifier for personal consumer goods or clothing. Immediately recognisable icons are those for Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, or the expiry date logo on items of make up for example. What I am curious about is if there is (or if there feasibly could be) an icon that signified that this item has been sourced ethically and with environmental consequences in mind?

Question: What are the common signifiers that represent sustainable, environmentally friendly or ethically sourced goods? Is there any common icon/signifier to represent that ‘lifespan’ of a non-food or non-cosmetic based product?

Left to Right: Recycling logo, Fairtrade logo, Rainforest Alliance logo, Forest Stewardship Council logo, Product expiry identifier used frequently for make up / beauty goods.

I was recently reminded of a quote from sixties musician Donovan who said that the difference between his generation and mine is that when he gets a hole in his sock he repairs it rather then throws it away. Now I think this comment is a bit reductive, but brings up a valid point nonetheless. Perhaps due to the reduction of price and surplus of choice in basic goods and services, we have developed more of a “throw away” culture. This trend features in anything from food consumption, fashion, household goods and electronics.

Obsolescence.

Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that has, in sum, more advantages compared to the disadvantages incurred by maintaining or repairing the original. Obsolete refers to something that is already disused or discarded, or antiquated. Typically, obsolescence is preceded by a gradual decline in popularity. (Wikipedia)

There is now a theory that technology companies integrate a form of planned obsolescence in to their devices, meaning that at the very beginning of their design that certain elements will intentionally deteriorate within a certain about of time, causing the consumer to purchase a new version. This deterioration might not necessary cause the device to break completely, but degrade the users experience just enough that they become frustrated with it. I wonder how a company manages the balance between this frustration and the potential lose of a customer who feels they have been cheated by an inferior product.

Question: Have we been conditioned to expect that certain products will naturally degrade through intelligent and longterm marketing strategies? Who regulates this?

Responsibility and Energy Use.

Please excuse me for being momentarily anecdotal but I’m sparked by a real-life conversation I had with the HR manager at my place of work. They use paper cups with plastic lids in the office because they believe its ‘dangerous’ or ‘unsafe’ to bring an open mug of coffee up the stairs from the canteen to the office. I expressed my dismay at this, showing the HR manager my ‘made of recycled materials’ reusable coffee cup. To this she replied that she might ask the CEO could we buy everyone in the office to which I replied that it was ridiculous and that they should take responsibility and each buy their own reusable mugs!

Question: How do we instil self-responsibility and ownership of the part we play as an individual in the maintenance and care of the environment?

Nudge Theory – I read this article on the use of human psychology to manipulate behaviour in a positive way in order reduce energy consumption and therefore indirectly carbon emissions. OPower, an American energy company, started running an experiment a few years ago where they include data on a household’s energy consumption on their physical utility bill. Not only did they include details of the household’s own consumption but also of their neighbours, clearly stating whether they were using more or less energy. The results, and consistent ones at that, were an overall reduction of consumption as each house tried to better the house next door. Nudge theory suggests that making it easier or more direct for a person to perform an action is better and more efficient than trying to punish them for making wrong decisions. Its the difference between an automatic opt-in process (for example an auto enroll organ donation scheme) and a after the fact tax (i.e. cigarette tax). Tax will generally only effect those who cannot afford it, the worse off in our society and the people who likely have the littlest influence to the issue. Whereas a nudge theory like the opt-out organ donation  scheme ( introduced in France, Spain and other E.U. countries) means there is a much higher rate of organ donations are people are much less likely to bother opting out of it then they would have been likely to opt in to.

So the question is how can we use something like the Nudge Theory to make it easier for people to make environmentally friendly decisions? How do we provide them with these decisions and what are they? Not everyone is going to go vegan, ethical, sustainable mud hut dwellers, but is there a chance we can introduce a less ‘fast’ generation who will appreciate the value of more durable, better quality products that come from ethical sources and can be reused and recycled? How can we do that with design?

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