Augmented Reality Gaming

MadCity Design Notes

2011-07-22T03:36:00.000-05:00

Found this file while clearing my hard drive

11/4/04

MadCity Design Notes

Back to the days of designing the MadCity game, I felt that the most difficult part of designing a game is to have a holistic view about (1) the affordances and constraints of game engine, (2) the interpretation of curriculum standards, (3) local ecological issues, (4) how to motivate students and finally (5) conceiving a theme that incorporates these requirements as a coherent entity. Designing the game is not a waterfall process which goes top-down smoothly step by step. Instead, it is an iterative process that each revisiting of the above issues falsifies some assumptions and misunderstandings and reinforces certain beliefs. Each revisiting makes the goal more focused, the subject more perceivable and the obstacles more transparent.

Understanding the game and the game engine

Understanding the engine was not an easy process at all since the engine is designed based on some ideas and these ideas are not explicit in the annotation of the xml file. Another obstacle that impedes my way is that there is already a game over there. It is good in that it provides an example for a novice designer to understand what it can do. It is bad in that it constrain my imagination. I copied the content in the xml to excel files to study how Judy designed the game. More specifically how roles were designed, how scenario was developed and how players might perceive the game. It takes a long time to understand different “levels” about the game and, later, the game engine. Somehow I felt that the game was not quite appealing to me for some reasons. The three roles in the game were not evenly developed. She who played the MD might feel more engaged since she experienced more changes in the game in different time chunks. He who played the Government Official could feel bored since he got the same information all the time. The awareness of this potential design issues inform my understanding about the game and the game engine at the same time. If I were the player, would I be motivated by this design? How would I experience the game? What kind of understanding would I have after playing the game? As I tried to understand the game and the game engine, many questions puzzled me. Some of these questions are recurrent issues. I know that recurrent issues were more important since my mind put them in focus all the time. What makes these questions hard to answer was that I was not the player. The difference between experiencing the game by playing in the physical environment and playing the game with a button indoors makes a big difference in my understanding of the game and the game engine. The Boston Museum Game somehow inform my understanding about the game engine (is it a case of “transfer”? I think it is.) But experiencing the game as an observer is one thing and experiencing the game as a player is another. I struggled a lot in the process, worrying that the game I design would not work at all. Somehow my worry was a good thing because it forced me to find out possible problems in the game. It provided some hypotheses that I needed to justify. Designing the game should be like playing the game. The designer experience uncertainties and those uncertainties helped me frame key design issues. I did not realize these issues when I designed the game, of course. I would feel much more comfortable if I had known these before.

The interpretation of curriculum standards

Well, as a novice designer, I don’t even know the direction leading to the project. What made me struggle most was really the feeling of uncertainty. I did not know what I should do, where I should go and how I should respond. I really appreciate the routine discussion we had. They help me frame the whole project, making the goal more tangible and perceivable in many ways. Each talk we had pointed to some directions—practical and impracticable. They were all good since I knew that making mistakes informed how the system would not work. These talks helped me frame the major design issues. I realize now the importance of providing frameworks for the learners. The frameworks guide the direction, provide the lens and confine the boundary.

Not knowing that was a curriculum standard to follow could easily be a disaster since it provides the framework for curriculum design. Many professors would assume that we know, but the fact was that there were things that we certainly did not know. For example, I grew up in an educational environment in which we use standardized textbooks from the first year of my primary school till the end of my senior high school. Curriculum standard was one level above that and I did not know that (though I should have known that as a C&I doctoral student). In one of our talks I realized that I must understand the curriculum standards before designing something out of the blue. This understanding provided a key component in framing the game design. But I sensed there was still a tremendous gap not knowing what teachers were doing in a specific subject. How did they teach? What did students learn? What were the textbooks they used and how did their teachers make decisions in using those textbooks? These questions remain major questions in my mind and I think a designer should try something to bridge the gap.

Local ecological issues

Since the game engine was designed for environmental studies, I went for environmental issues. However, a Boston issue might not be a good Madison issue. Since I sensed that

GeoTagging in NYTimes

2006-11-02T11:02:00.000-06:00

Pictures, With Map and Pushpin Included
By IAN AUSTEN
Published: November 2, 2006

KATHLEEN BENNETT recently bought a device that keeps track of her location with help from the satellites of the Global Positioning System. But unlike many other people in Seattle, Ms. Bennett is not, by her own description, “an outdoor person” and will not be using it to find her way through the wilderness.

Kathleen Bennett uses a Global Positioning System unit when she takes her pictures. That data, and her pictures, are displayed on maps on her page on Flickr.

Instead, the new gadget is an accessory for Ms. Bennett’s personal passion, photography. She is one of many people who have taken up geotagging, which, broadly speaking, is the practice of posting photos online that are linked to Web-based maps, showing just where in the world the shutter was pressed. The rest of the article here.

Panoramio Experience (update)

2006-10-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

In my last post I lamented that Panoramio and GeoTagger did not *seem* to play together. I was very wrong. GeoTagger does indeed add GPS coordinates to the EXIF jpegs, and Panoramio does indeed read that EXIF info and map the jpegs appropriately. It all works like butter.

Here's where "user error" (my bad) came into play: when I uploaded the GeoTagged images via Panoramio's browser-based uploader, I was impatient. And because I saw the "Map this Photo" button, I incorrectly assumed that it hadn't read the GPS coordinates. Had I clicked "Finish" it would have been automatically read and mapped.

My apologies to both Panoramio and GeoTagger, both of whom have contacted me to help me figure it out (which is very cool, thanks guys!).

What I'm doing, as part of a Local Games Lab project, is assembling a place-based GeoCultural tour of a Madison, Wisconsin neighborhood that had been decimated by "Urban Renewal" project in the 1960s. This will eventually (this upcoming week) be ported to GPS-enabled Pocket PCs as a walking tour, and ultimately evolve into a game playable by three roles: Urban Planner, Ethnographer, and Historian. For now, I've overlayed a historical map in Google Earth that shows streets and features that have been bulldozed, and I use it to locate images based on other information we have. On Google Earth, it looks like this right now:I figure that it would be a good thing to have an option to do a web version of the tour even if you didn't have access to the handheld computers, or weren't in Madison, so combination of Panoramio and GeoTagger seem to be the best and easiest ways to do that. And I'm even more excited that they're cool, dedicated people.

Tripper vs. Panoramio

2006-10-12T12:54:00.000-05:00

Trippermap might be cool. Let's see...

vs. Panoramio

Okay, Tripper Map has potential, but the free version is not detailed enough for us; we'd need the "$10/year" version that incorporates the Google Map API. So, the question is, do we go with this for $10, or go with Panoramio.com for free?

Panoramio Pros

free
used it before
they seem nice
website badge uses Google Maps and looks great
incorporates photo thumbnails into Google Earth (looks great!)
email/post kml files (Google Earth) for others

Panoramio Cons

slow, but improving
single uploads only (no batch uploads)[UPDATE: Upon further use, I've found that their browser uploader is actually very fast as it allows multiple concurrent uploads, just not "batch" uploads. It also lets you edit the image titles as you wait.]
slow, manual geotagging process. Can't just type in an address, have to type in a city, then choose what state or country that city was in, etc. [UPDATE: Two things I've found. First, you only need to go through this process once, then do multiple uploads for that general location. It won't make you go through the process again until you hit "Finished". Second, if the jpeg has GPS coordinates in the EXIF info, you don't need to mess with the manual mapping at all; it's automatically read and mapped.]
Get errors: "Unable to select database: Too many connections"
~~doesn't (seem to) read EXIF info that I put on the images with GeoTagger although that may be GeoTagger's fault because it doesn't seem to work with Tripper either)~~[UPDATE: this was a user error. See next post.]

Tripper Map Pros

uses Flickr (easy batch uploads, easy Geotagging bookmarklets, popular and widespread, familiar)
Google Map API is great (check it out here under the "Mark's Google Map" tab)
can be easily incorporated into any website or blog

Tripper Map Cons

free map interface is too basic
free map interface renders poorly not close enough
"Premium" Google Map interface is $9.95/year

Hmm. I'm torn. [UPDATE: Not so torn anymore. Panoramio and GeoTagger have the edge (imho).]

Geotagging in iPhoto

2006-10-11T17:37:00.000-05:00

From OgleEarth, of course, comes a post of a brilliant person with ideas.

This one is much easier than the Flickr Geotagging process I mentioned on 8/22/06, and more fun because you get to mess around in Google Earth (which recently got updated to v4, by the way).

Here's how it works: Geotagger prepares images by adding GPS info (from GoogleEarth). Then you import the pics to iPhoto, and export them with the iPhotoToGoogleEarth plugin. I'll post more when I've done something with it.

There's also a newish thing called Trippermap that maps your Flickr photos. I'll have to check that out too.

Paper-based Local Games

2006-09-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

Through a MacArthur grant by Squire, Steinkuehler, Hayes, and Shaffer, I've been hired to help out with the Greenbush AR Game, the Star Schools Games Project, and the design and creation of a GLS (Games Learning and Society) Area in the Teacher Education Building.

One of the requirements of the Star Schools grant, I understand, is to create a paper-based game as a "control" game. As I was considering how to make such a game, I was led to the following thoughts on games, in general.

Re-playability: None of our tech-based games are really re-playable. They aren't designed to be. The philosophy that I think is behind this -- subconsciously, or unconsciously -- is from a curriculum mindset. We design a curriculum for kids to "go through" once. Then, next year, a new set of kids go through it. To contrast, the best games are infinitely re-playable. Imagine playing tic-tac-toe only once. You barely get the rules of the game and it's over. There is no "discovery and mastery" of the rules in a game that is played only once, unless it is heavily based on a well-known genre of games -- in which case it is more of a single variation of that game than its own game. And this is fine, if we want to go for that, but then the content of this particulat game is backgrounded.

Element of chance: If the game is too specifically directed, it's less of a game and more of a tour or a puzzle (maybe not a puzzle). The connect-the-dots option of specifying a path to take cannot be the best option, but I'm not sure of other options that would assure that the content was covered as well -- especially given the time constraints of a place-based game. This is a tough issue.

The affordances of the card game that we're working on supports both re-playability, and chance. Card games are typically quick, portable, and place-indifferent. In these ways, they contrast greatly with the type of tech game we're trying to make, which is markedly slow (need to move through the world), and place-specific (which I guess is the opposite of portable -- can't move South Shore Beach easily).

With this in mind, I think we should consider forgetting to try to make the paper-based game content-specific, and instead make it concept-specific. After all, learning about E. coli on a particular beach is not the ultimate idea behind any of these games. Instead, what we're trying to teach is math and reading, and maybe a bit of scientific thinking, right?

We can do that with a variation of flash cards -- and teachers have been doing that. I think this might be a better paper-based option that gets closer to the heart of what we're actually proposing -- that place-based games are richer.

So, tell me where my thinking here is off-base. Am I missing something? Or are we trying to do something much more through the paper game than we need to / want to?

Geotagging Flickr pics

2006-08-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

There's a not-too-complicated web app to manually generate geotags for your Flickr! photos at beeloop.com. Just

drag and zoom the map center to the location that the pic was taken,
copy and paste info generated in the first field into your Flickr! tags for the pic,
copy and paste info generated in the second field into your Flickr! description of the pic

You end up with something like this:

canvassing our newly made cedar canoe at Flying Moose Lodge, on the weekend, when the boys are back from their trips. Click here to see where this photo was taken. By courtesy of BeeLoop SL (the Mapware & Mobility Solutions Company).

On the cool scale, I'd say this isn't quite as nice as panoramio.com, but it *does* have the Flickr! connection that may be useful.

Ogle Earth

2006-08-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in place-based stuff, and haven't already been accessing the Ogle Earth site, you should start now. Their list of links has a lot of cool things like Panoramio, and Mappr!, etc. And the blog itself highlights some of the sorts of things potentially of interest to place-based game developers -- for example, the Gombe Chimp Blog post points to a place-based blog done up by the Jane Goodall folks. Pretty cool. Imagine place-based game content on Google Earth, further blending the line between virtual and physical. Especially integrating photos (hey! that's my camera!)

PocketPC annoyance

2006-08-22T14:17:00.000-05:00

It may be that I'm overlooking something obvious, but if my experience is typical, I'm at a loss to understand why anyone keeps using this platform. Here's my question: "If the battery is completely discharged, do I lose everything on it?"

It seems as though, on my 3 day drive back to Wisconsin, where my HP iPaq 4350 PPC was left in its case with an admittedly low battery, the battery died. This shouldn't matter, but when I restarted it, it ran through the initial set up (and stupid tutorial) sequence, and when it announced that it was ready to use, all my files and settings were gone.

Why does this matter? After all, my game files are safe because I have to load them from the Dell, and the things that I had sync should be safe, right? But the programs like chikyu, that lets me take waypoints and save them as Google Earth-friendly files, is gone. And all the Google Earth-friendly waypoint files I made in the Wildlands (in Maine) are gone. And the Task Manager program I loaded is gone. And EarthComber. And a bunch of other programs. Gone. Very annoying.

I suppose the thing to consider is that this sort of thing usually only happens once, and after that the user (me) learns to either never let the battery die, or to back up everything all the time. Maybe there's a program that will automatically back everything up to the storage card (I have a 1GB card I could use for that). But the bigger issue is that the waypoints are lost. They're still on the 'backup' GPS unit I bought when I was having troubles with the PPC and BT GPS combo -- as far as I know the Explorist 400 uses a memory that does not lose data when the battery is dead (at least it didn't when the battery last died).

Grrrrrr....

GeoTagging and AR games

2006-06-15T11:47:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this before I took off for Maine. Alas, plans...

It may be a helpful design step (as far as envisioning and sharing visions) to use Panoramio.com to geolocate pics and descriptions. I've started doing this with the Greenbush game stories here:

http://www.panoramio.com/map/?user=3582#lt=43.064310&ln=-89.400446&z=2&k=2&a=1

Note that it only supports JPEGs, so it may not be useful towards the end of the design phase. But it does support both JPEGs and "comments"--and allows multiple comments per pic, so design conversations can be held.

Anyway, I thought it was worth looking at.

Right-sized photos

2006-06-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

In the interest of parsimony, I have uploaded all of the pda quality photos to an otherwise empty directory here. I gave them names close to those of the titles of the different locations/challenges on the map so that they would be easy to match up.

Two things:
1) We need to change Lorraine Hotel to Hotel Loraine. Minor detail... but still worth noting. Also, I put in two photos, one outside, one inside, pick your favorite or use both.
2) For the Orpheum, the text and challenge are about the stunts done to get attention. I put in several photos of such stunts, just in case we can use them.

My name is Madison Intro

2006-06-10T17:26:00.000-05:00

My Name is Madison

My guess is that you arrived in Madison sometime on Wednesday evening? Your flight got in late and you made it to your hotel with just enough time to grab some dinner, maybe a drink, and then is was off to bed.

This morning you awoke hoping you hadn’t missed your alarm only to find that is was still a bit early. The first big decision was then either to go back to bed or grab a cup of coffee from the hotel lobby. You chose to get some coffee and found some time to read the newspaper.

Eventually you made your way to the Monona Terrace, registered for the conference, talked to a few friends, and sat in on a talk or two. A typical beginning for a day such as this.

Now you are standing here with ME, unsure of how to proceed. Maybe you should just go back inside, meet a few more people, and continue to talk about topics that really aren’t so interesting. Or should you escape? If only for a few moments, to explore what else is out there. If you are an adventurous type, I’ve got some things to show you.

Along the way we will be able to talk and get to know each other. There are a few stories that I’d like you to know and some friends you should meet. I’m excited about having you here.

I should tell you a little secret, first. I have a favor to ask. After you meet a friend or I tell you about a place, I’d like you to take a photo, a document of our travels. You have a camera, so feel free to indulge. Be creative and show me something about yourself, I’m interested in learning about you. This is your chance to make a memory of your trip.

I guess we should go then! Welcome to Madison.

Madison's Skyscrapers

2006-06-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

Text:
John Nolen is considered by many to be the father of urban planning - the idea that a city should plan its growth in order to create an attractive and healthy environment, rather than allowing the city to grow haphazardly according to the assorted plans of a multitude of landowners and real estate developers. In 1908, John Nolen came to Madison to aid the young city's growth. He made many recommendations to the city, one of which suggested that all buildings built near the capitol be shorter than the capitol itself. This would ensure that the capitol would always have a commanding view of the city, and that the majesty of the capitol would always be visible to residents. It took 12 years for a height ordinance limiting buildings around the capitol to 90 feet to pass through the legislature and become a law. There was much resistance, but the law was ultimately upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, becoming the first ruling in the nation that gave cities the power to pass laws to achieve aesthetic objectives. During the 12 years of conflict over the ordinance, three buildings were completed that exceeded the maximum height. The Churchill Building before you was the first.

Challenge:
Take a photo from the highest point you can reach.

Location:
The Churchill Building, right next to Grace Episcopal Church.

Media:
Photo of the [building formerly known as the] Gay Building

The Lorraine Hotel - Past and Present

2006-06-07T21:35:00.002-05:00

The ever changing architecture of downtown Madison has allowed for the new and the old to coexist. Contemporary high rise condominiums now stand next to Art Deco buildings from the 1920's. An example of the old becoming new is the Lorraine. Originally Madison's finest hotel, the building has now been renovated into condominiums. Built in 1923, the Lorraine Hotel cost 1.1 million dollars to construct, second only to the State Capitol building. It's eclectic design made it stand out to clients like Charles Lindbergh and John F. Kennedy as they spent time in Madison. MORE

Site - W. Wash

Challenge - ?

Media - Photos of bell hops and facade.

Place of Protest

2006-06-07T21:35:00.001-05:00

The turbulence of the 1960's swept through Madison like a violent storm.
It was early in this struggle that the University of Wisconsin became a battleground for ever growing negativity toward the Vietnam War.
While the main issue surfacing Madison dealt with research being done by Dow Chemical Company, a supplier of naplam, currents of social and class struggle soon came to the surface with skirmishes between police and students.
Students gathered and police dispursed with ghastly results, beatings and tear gas.
The protest culminated in the 1970 bombing of a Army Mathematics Research Center at the University, killing a research assistant and shocking the anti-war movements.

David Maraniss wrote, "It was simplistic to say that events were turning because of them; the culture was accepting, rejecting, co-opting, adapting, disapproving, and absorbing them at the same time. But if citizens outside the cauldron of the university were offended by the excesses of young radicals, more of them were also growing anxious about Vietnam and what it was doing to America. And in that sense the chaotic Wisconsin protestors were in the vanguard of a movement that before long would be embraced by millions."

Site - ?

Challenge - Have a peaceful protest

Media - Dow day video or photos of protests

Gaylord Nelson and Earth Day

2006-06-07T21:35:00.000-05:00

". . . on April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy. . . "
-American Heritage Magazine, October 1993

Gaylord Nelson began his public service in 1948 as a state senator in Wisconsin. He was reelected three times, holding his Dane County seat for ten years. In 1958 Nelson was elected as the Governor of Wisconsin. After serving two terms, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served for 18 years.

The following is a article written by Senator Nelson about Earth Day -

"The idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political "limelight" once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. President Kennedey began the tour in September of 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.
Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?
At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance."

Site - ?

Challenge - Perform a act that is environmentally sensitive

Photo - Image of Gaylord Nelson

Progressive Politics and Fighting Bob

2006-06-05T19:43:00.004-05:00

Robert La Follette developed his fierce opposition to corporate power and political corruption as a young man. Affiliated with the Republican Party for almost his entire career, La Follette embarked on a political path that would take him to Congress, the governorship of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Senate. His support for progressive reforms, rousing oratory, and frequent clashes with party leaders earned him the nickname “Fighting Bob.”
For nearly ten years, La Follette traveled around the state speaking out against the influence of crooked politicians and the powerful lumber barons and railroad interests that dominated his own party. Elected governor in 1900, La Follette pledged to institute his own form of political reform. onage politics. La Follette worked closely with professors from the University of Wisconsin to help the state become “a laboratory of democracy.” By the time he joined the U.S. Senate in 1906, La Follette had become a national figure.

"The fundamental principle of a republic is individual responsibility. The responsibility is personal at the point in our political system where the citizen come in direct contact with the system itself. This is the intial point of all legislation, all administration. In all the activities preliminary to the primary, and in the primary itself, the citizen is an elementary force in government. Here the voter can lay his hand directly upon the shoulder of the public servant and point the way he should go."

Site - ?

Challenge -

Media - photo

Lady of Lake Mendota

2006-06-05T19:43:00.002-05:00

Lady of the Lake

On a cold February morning in 1979, residents of Madison awoke to find a new fixture peering above the ice of Lake Mendota. The Statue of Liberty had arrived in Madison courtesy of the Pail and Shovel Party, a student government association at the University of Wisconsin. In an effort to fulfill campaign promises, party organizers Jim Mallon and Leon Varjian had the statue flown in, but a cable snapped causing the copper symbol of freedom to submerge itself in the icy waters. At least that is how the story is told.

Site – View out toward lake Mendota

Challenge -

Media - photo

Gold Star Mothers - Ann Waidelich interview

2006-06-05T19:43:00.001-05:00

A discussion of the gold star flower bead on the capitol grounds and Manchester's Department Store

Site - corner of Mifflin and Wisconsin Ave.

Challenge - Remember the Mothers who have lost children to a war

Media - Video and Audio

Eddie Ben Elson - an interview with Doug Moe

2006-06-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

Eddie Ben Elson character around Madison - A guy who would mow his lawn nude and sell tickets to a comet that was to land in Lake Monona but never did.

Site - anywhere

Challenge - Do something that is excentric

Media - audio

Planning of Madison: John Nolen and the City Beautiful

2006-06-03T20:57:00.005-05:00

In 1908, John Nolen, a well known city planner, was contracted by several govermental officials for advice in laying out Madison city parks. For the city of Madison , Nolen recommended establishing boundaries for industry, business, government, and residential life, widening streets and planting trees, increasing land given to parks and plazas, and regulating the height and style of buildings near the capitol to highlight its place at the center of a thriving state.

Nolen pioneered the development of professional city planning. His approach blended social, economic, and physical aspects of urban life with the preservation of natural beauty. He felt strongly that “simple recreation in the open air amid beautiful surroundings contributes to physical and moral health, to a saner and happier life,” and his plan for the city of Madison is considered a preeminent example of the urban landscape movement.

The planners of Madison also adhered to the ideas of the City Beautiful Movement. The movement sought to use beauty as a social control device for creating moral and civic virtue among urban populations. Advocates of the movement believed that such beautification could thus provide a harmonious social order that would improve the lives of the inner-city poor.

State Street and the Capitol building grounds are prime examples of these ideas. Mixing lush park areas with broad avenues allows for a connection between rural urban life. Its architecture and form provides way of associating between important ideas. State Street is a prime example with government at one end and the university at the other.

Site - State and Dayton

Challenge -

Media - photo of Nolen

Madison the Idea

2006-06-03T20:57:00.004-05:00

Think back one hundred fifty years. The United States was a growing country with vast areas yet unknown. People were moving from industrial centers in the East to places West, seeking a new life and a space to call their own.

Standing where you are now at that moment in the past, only a small cabin would have stood here. This was a resting place on the long trip from the water ways of the Great Lakes to ore laden earth in the Southwest of Wisconsin. Native tribes and white settlers hunted and farmed the area called the Four Lakes Region.

It wasn't until November 28, 1836, that Madison went from being an idea in the mind of James Duane Doty, to being what was to become the capital of Wisconsin. Doty, a politician and pioneer promoter, played a high stakes game of political lobbying to speculate the land and convinced others that the area should become the state capital.

Existing only on paper the city began with the capitol building at its center at a point between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, on an isthmus. Roads radiated from this point, named after the signers of the Constitution.
From this starting point Madison has grown to what it is today.

Site - King St

Challenge - sell an idea

Media - photo of Doty or early map of Madison

Farmers Market

2006-06-03T20:57:00.003-05:00

During the summer months, people congregrate around the Wisconsin State Capitol early on Saturday mornings. They come from places like Blue Mounds, Stoughton, and Mineral Point, bringing products exclusively made in Wisconsin. Tents are erected and signs are hung as the Dane County Farmers' Market begins.

Founded on European ancestors, farmers' markets have sprouted up across the country as a way for communities to support their agriculture and buy fresh, local produce. The Dane County Farmers Market was begun in 1972 by Mayor Bill Dyke to unite the urban and rural cultures, providing a way for city dwellers to reap some of the county's agricultural benefits.

The market is extremely important to the culture of Madison, not only as a way to connect, but as way to socialize. Vendors carry the stories of life in Wisconsin and only need to be asked to share a story. A welcoming face always greets you as meander through the crowds of people.

Site- Capitol Square

Challenge - Find a Wisconsin Made Product

Media - Photo of Market

Entertainment in Madison

2006-06-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

In the early 20's downtown Madison had a multitude of spaces for entertainment. There was the Capitol, the Strand, the Majestic, and the Orpheum, not to mention many others. You could take in a movie or go see who the lastest act was coming through town.

The Orpheum, inparticular, had several manifestations in Madison. Originally, on the opposite side of the square, where you are standing now is the site of the new Orpheum. Beginning as a place for vaudevillle acts to show off their talents, the space later exclusively began showing films. The owner of the Orpheum at the time of its construction, William Beecroft, was know for going to great extremes to bring in customers. There was a variety of stunts and competitions that were used to get people in the door.

Presently, the Orpheum is used as a restaurant, theatre, and special event venue. If you go inside, take in the lavish architecture and head downstairs to the old smoking lounge.

Across the street from the Orpheum now reside the Overture Center. Madison premiere entertainment facility, the Center is home to the Madison Symphony, Madison Repretory Theater, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Designed by Caesar Pelli the structure was built through a donation from the Jerome Frauschi Family. Having just been completed this past spring, the Overture is a the jewel of urban development in downtown Madison.

Site - State St.

Challenge - Create your own stunt to bring in customers

Media - Photos

Dane County Courthouse

2006-06-03T20:57:00.001-05:00

Erected in 1885, the Dane County Courthouse was the work of Henry C. Koch, who also built Science Hall at the University of Wisconsin. In the 1950's the City of Madison and Dane County joined forces to build a new municipal building. This photo was taken as a document of the demise of the building. In its place is left a parking garage to supply space for those working and shopping in downtown Madison.

Jairus H. Carpenter - Judge 1885 - 1902

Site - Corner of Fairchild and Main across from parking structure

Challenge - What is lost here?

Media - Photo

Who Built the Wisconsin Mounds

2006-06-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

Madison Democrat
March 25, 1906
"From the advent of the whites the problem of the mound builders has been a more intricate one than it was when the scientific world was wrestling with the curious earth structures in Ohio and other older sections of the country. There is a strange individuality in the earthworks of Wisconsin, different from those of other parts, and the most perplexing thing about the problem is whether the builders here were the orginators of the work, or did they attempt to copy the structures of other aboriginal peoples?
There are many mounds about lakes Mendota and Monona, but no systematic effort has been made to survey, plat and preserve them. Two or three are on the unversity grounds and on the hills beyond are many more. "

If you look up into the metal structure of the sculpture nextwhere you are standing, you will see the shapes of these mounds. Amorphous shapes of humans and animals, that L.B. Hatcher has used in this work.

With the settlement of the area, local people were puzzled about the origin of the effigy mounds throughout southern Wisconsin. Theories sprouted like weeds in the popular literature of the day: the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, forgotten European visitors, inhabitants of Atlantis, and a mythical Lost Race of Americans were all given credit for the mounds between 1820 and 1890. Who had built these earthen sttructures

Further research has defined these areas as burial sites dating between 600 and 900 AD. The dead were place in shallow pits, first covered by prepared surfaces and then the mounds were built as grave markers. Some theories say that the mounds symbolize the spirits of nature with each group being a picture of the native universe. Others say that the mounds associate to clans with connections to specific animals.

Site - Top of State St. in the fabric of the public sculpture

Challenge - to create a effigy mound of their own.

Media - Photo

Frank Lloyd Wright/Organic Architecture

2006-05-30T20:08:00.001-05:00

"Form and function are one, joined in spiritual union"

The belief that architecture was a product of both its place and time was the cornerstone of Frank Lloyd Wright's method of design. He believed firmly in the idea that architecture was a union between the structure and its context. Organic Architecture grows out of these ideas and takes center stage in the building you are now standing.

While the Monona Terrace is not the only building of Wright's in Madison, it is definitely his most prominent and problematic. Designed orginally to serve a multitude of functions, the building was completed almost forty years after the architect's death . Suffering though several setbacks, it was only through Wright's dedication and the desire of others that Madison would have a masterpiece of one of its most prominent citizens.

"Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders' spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground."

Site - Monona Terrace

Challenge - Show us a model of Organic Architecture

Media - photos

"Wisconsin" statue

2006-05-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

Since 1914, I have been standing here, intimately viewing the actions of Madison from high above its streets. From this perspective, I am able to watch the daily movements of Madison's residents as they go about their activities. I have seen parades and protests, days of warmth and days of cold. There is little that has not happened under my watchful eye.

You see me as a statue, wearing the symbols of the state, gesturing you to continue forward toward the future. My outstreched hand pointing you on. These are the requirements of my position. Unable to move, yet beckoning you on.

As I glisten in the sun, my desire is to be more that just a distance figure. A glimpse in the eye of a tourist. My hope is to represent an idea. An idea that leads to progress and abundance.

Site - The end of MLK Blvd. at the capitol

Challenge - To photograph an idea about progress

Medai - Photo with possible audio

Hans Christian Heg

2006-05-29T21:37:00.000-05:00

"They are amongst the best and the bravest of our soldiers. Descendants of the sturdy vikings of medieval times, they have in the long lapse of years lost none of that daring valor, power of endurance, and remarkable coolness in times of excitement, which characterized their ancestors. Next to bravery, their most marked quality is calmness. Always cool and collected, they act with the same deliberation and forethought in the trying hours of danger as in the transactions of every-day life. Temperate and virtuous, obedient and well disciplined, they are in every respect model soldiers, and challenge the admiration and respect of all whose good fortune it is to mingle with them."

An immigrant of Norway, Hans Christian Heg lead the fabled Wisconsin 15th regiment in the Civil War. Know for their bravery and cunning, this group was made mainly of Scandinavian immigrants from Wisconsin and neighboring states.

Early on the morning of August 28, 1863, Colonel Heg lead the 15th into daring raid at the Battle of Chickimauga, being the first Union regiment to cross the Tennessee River. The group sustained heavy casualties including Colonel Heg.

The group sang a song as they went into battle - "I Shan't Forget The Day"

I shan't forget that day
When first I went away.
Me lassie dear she would not stay,
Of course she would not stay.
You cannot go along,
Through warfare, strife and throng.
But if they don't kill me, dear,
I shall return with song.
I would, was there no danger, Sis,
as lief remain with thee,
But all the girls of North, you see,
rely just now on me.

And therefore I will fight
The rebels left and right,
Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

Site - Infront of the Heg statue at the top of King St.

Challenge - Perform a daring raid

Media - Photo of Col. Heg

Otis Redding

2006-05-29T21:01:00.000-05:00

The day leading up to December 10th, 1967 had been unseasonably warm, causing a think haze to hover over the four lakes that surround Madison. Just before 3:30pm a twin engine Beechcraft airplane was making it's approach into Madison carring singer Otis Redding and his band for a gig that they were to play later that evening at the Factory. Three miles away from the runway the plane lurched before going into a spin and then crashing into the icy waters of Lake Monona. On the shores of the lake a Bernard Reese heard the sounds of the sputtering plane before it's fateful decent into the water. He immediately notified the authorities. After hours of searching the area police pulled 7 bodies from the water with only one man still alive. The death of Otis Redding just weeks from the release of his hit record "(Sitting) On the Dock of the Bay" continues to mysteriously haunt the lake. Yet another talent coming to a tragic end at only the age of 26.

Site - On top of Monona Terrace - There are several benches dedicated to the singer.

Challenge - Re-enact the crash of the plane

Media - Photo of Otis Redding and the song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay"

Scaffolding in AR Games

2006-05-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

For reading, the reader can control her/his pace and thus always keep herself/himself in meaningful reading.

For a good video game, the gamer will not be able to proceed to another level unless she/he has good understanding of the game mechanism.

For both reading and video game, there are user-controlled mechanism to make the reading/gaming activity stay meaningful.

How about AR games? How do we keep it meaningful for AR gamers? This question is about the difference between reading/video-gaming and ar-gaming. It is also a question about the affordances of AR games.

For self-paced activities like video-games and reading, the gamer and reader have more control of the activities they are involved in. For AR games, the pace control falls on both the designers and the gamers (you would ask me why, wouldn't you). Hence the designer should be more conscious of the issues generated by pace contol.

One of the major issues is the comprehensibility.

Some players don't get the game in the beginning and therefore could not get it later.
Why? Some gamers don't read as well as other readers, whether video or text. There might be some design flaws which make capable readers less capable. If the game is incomprehensible, there must be something wrong with the gamers or the designers. Of course, we don't blame the gamers for not understanding the game or not having fun. Thus, the faults fall on the shoulders of the designers.

What can the designers do in terms of making the game more meaningful for less capable readers/gamers? How do we scaffold gamers in game?

Here are my solutions based on previous design experience.
1. Team work: gamers collaborate to understand the game.
2. Pace control: Allow gamers to have more control of their walking/reading pace in game. On the other hand, some gamers like to run and rush the game. The designer has to be aware of that because it hurts the game.
3. Provide a framework for thinking in the beginning of the game, either by the introduction or by the first few virtual interveiws. If the designer really wants to make a hard game, make it hard at the latter part to engage gamers.
4. Divide the game into a few portions/levels and have a reality check (such as a short debriefing) between portions/levels.

Other thoughts?

Keeping it rolling

2006-05-23T21:30:00.000-05:00

Title: Black Hawk War

Location: Anywhere on the isthmus - the episode detailed here happened “somewhere along the Monona shore of today’s Marquette neighborhood” – but we could probably put it anywhere.

Text: In the spring of 1832, the native Sauk Indians, led by a chief named Black Hawk, launched a series of attacks against the frontier outposts of settlers that were encroaching on their homelands in Wisconsin and Illinois. The settlers quickly formed militias and called in support from the regular army. The Sauk, unable to gain the hoped for support of other local Indian tribes, were soon outnumbered and on the run. On July 20th, a thousand Sauk warriors streamed across the isthmus you are standing on, closely pursued by three thousand mounted militiamen. One of the militiamen found an elderly Sauk man hiding in the thicket that covered the isthmus at that time, grabbed the man’s knife and scalped him with it. Unfortunately, the knife was rather dull and the man screamed terribly. The soldier retorted, “If you don’t like being scalped with a dull knife, why don’t you keep a better one?” The remark quickly became the slogan of the militia, who caught up to and slaughtered the fleeing Indians twelve days later. [Is this one too long? Maybe we can do it next to the plaque and take some of the history out of our text, assuming that they will get it from the plaque.]

Challenge: Scalp somebody.

Media: Picture of Black Hawk

Title: Eyesores

Location: Everywhere – maybe this one can be given just as they leave the convention center

Text: Madison was not always the beautiful city you see around you. In the early years, it was essentially a dirty frontier town. As the city grew in population and significance, cleaning things up became an important civic goal. Newspapers in the 1850’s ran articles condemning homes that were not well kept and urging their owners to clean them up for the betterment of the entire community: “Nothing can be more disgusting than a shabby house with two or three fence posts in front, a few remnants of boards or rails giving the outline of a lot, some of the aquatic races sporting in a frog pond under the window, and a long-shanked porker snoozing on the doorstep. Such a specimen of domestic felicity passes all our comprehension…”

Challenge: Deteriorating fences and snoozing hogs are no longer much of a concern to Madisonians, but that is only because they have been replaced by more modern eyesores. Take a picture of the ugliest building you can find.

Media: Photo of a run down cabin.

Title: Breaking the Rules

Location: The terrace at Memorial Union, or anywhere along the lakefront.

Text: The University of Wisconsin’s students, like all young people, are occasionally prone to bending and even breaking the rules. This photo from 1935 depicts just such an occasion. In Madison at that time, men’s bathing trunks were perfectly legal, but both straps had to be on the shoulder if a man wore a tank suit. The fellow in the middle of this photo is clearly a rebel!

Challenge: Photograph someone doing something illegal, forbidden, or just plain morally reprehensible.

Media: Swimmers on the pier.

Getting the ball rolling

2006-05-18T14:35:00.000-05:00

I have typed up details for three sites using the general spirit of John's form to format the info. Of course, everything here is subject to change, so give me your comments.

Title: The Forty Theives

Location: Corner of Doty and Martin Luther King

Text: Early in 1853, a group of lobbyists seeking a charter for a new railroad called the “Rock River Valley Union Railroad Company” invaded Madison. Their aggressive and unethical tactics manipulated the young legislature and created a scandal that became a sensation throughout the state. The men operated out of a club house located on this corner, where they threw many extravagant dinner parties that ended in late night orgies. They dubbed their club house Monk’s Hall and called themselves the Monks of Monk’s Hall, but to the scandalized citizens of Madison, they became known as The Forty Thieves. Over time, their legacy became entrenched in the lexicon of the Wisconsin legislature as the moniker of “Forty Thieves” became a generalized term for participants in subsequent political scandals.

Challenge:
Reenact a scene involving a legislator being manipulated/coerced by one of The Forty Thieves (extra points for manipulating an actual legislator).

Media:
Couldn’t find a picture of these guys, or even of their building, so I went with some random railroad image. Maybe if anyone stumbles across a photo of some sleazy looking guys in suits from the mid-1800s, we could use that instead.

Title: Pigs in the Capitol

Location: The Capitol building

Text: In November of 1838, the legislature of the territory met in Madison for the first time, despite the fact that the first capitol building was still under construction. The condition of the legislators’ accommodations that first winter was primitive to the point of being absurd. The contractor that was building the Capitol even kept his pigs in the cellar, which was just below the room in which the legislature met. One legislator made a place for himself in history by interrupting the long winded speeches of his rivals by going into the cellar with a pole and poking the pigs so that their raucous squealing would drown out the speaker above.

Challenge:
Go into the Capitol and recreate this scene of poking pigs to make them squeal.

Media:
I went with a picture of the first Capitol building for this one.

Title: Roving Animals

Location: Capitol Lawn

Text: By the mid 1800’s, Madison had become an important political and commercial center, but still had very much the appearance of a rough frontier town. Upstanding citizens wanted to clean up Madison – both its image and its environment. One of the problems involved a multitude of dogs, pigs, sheep, and other livestock roaming freely around the Capitol grounds. In 1855, proclamations and ordinances attempted to deal with the problem. Any roaming pigs were subject to be rounded up and sold to the highest bidder, and the village marshal was given the power to kill any loose dogs on sight.

Challenge:
Round up some pigs and take their picture OR find a dog and shoot it (figuratively of course...).

Media:
Need a picture of some hogs or pack of dogs or something like that.

GLS AR game: design strategies

2006-05-17T13:31:00.000-05:00

In the Greenbush AR game that Mingfong and I are doing, one of the ways we are getting the content into "game form" is by giving the students these sheets to fill out. They've done so much research on the neighborhood that they have too much info to put into the game. So we came up with this sheet as a way for them to filter what they have down into game-digestible chunks. They have the image of the neighborhood map (on present and one historical) as it will appear on the handheld, and a space for an image (photograph, video clip description, etc.) that will appear as a media item at the location, and some limited space for text. The text space is limited because we figured about 100 words per screen, and found that any more than 3 screens of text is too much to keep the players' attention.

Since we are a bit more technologically advanced (with the blog and all), I thought we might try the same sort of exercise. Grab a location (building, statue, etc.) describe or upload the media (picture, video, scanned document, etc.), and write up the challenge or "quest" for that location.

If we get 30, I think we've got enough for a good game. We can show our ideas to the rest of the committee tomorrow and hopefully they'll come up with a few more ideas -- and/or refine them.

We Make Money Not Art

2006-05-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

A good resource to look to for information on AR Gaming is we make money not art. It's a Webby Award winning blog that covers a wide range of topics related to art, culture, and technology, including quite a bit of AR coverage.

I could scour the archives and post a bunch of stuff here, but you're probably better of just looking at the games archive yourself.

I'm not sure if this is old news to most of you, so my apologies if it is.

GLS AR game Map

2006-05-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

I think this is the largest map area we can effectively use in the game. If you click on it, it will come up at the 600x600 pixel resolution I pulled it off of Google Earth at, but this displayed 200x200 pixel size is what the players will have to follow on screen, so I don't think we can make it much larger

Geotagged sound samples

2006-05-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

Sound + Place = Freesound's Geotags. check out this article on Creative Digital Music

Rather than dig through samples by abstract categories, you can use Freesound’s geotags to pull the exact ambience of certain parts of the world. It gives you the power to soak up the vibe of the beach at Playa del Medio without having to actually suffer through . . . erm . . . being at the beach. Okay, bad example. But while there’s the expected bias toward the U.S. and Europe, field recordings are slowly finding their way from other corners of the globe, too.

Granted, this may not be the kind of thing you'd need to hear if you were actually on the beach, but what if you were touring in Greece and wanted to hear the sweet sweet sounds of Yanni in the Acropolis? Just plug your headset in and hear it fade out as you run away. And will they soon be uploadable from your GPS-enabled mobile phone? Why not? Let's get on it Big Phone Companies! (Hey small phone companies! Here's your chance!)

Another Handheld AR game

2006-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00

Two projects currently underway at the Handheld Augmented Reality Project.

Mr. Virtuoso Teaches Art History with Augmented Reality (2005)
Virtuoso is a collaborative educational game designed to showcase the possibilities of the Handheld Augmented Reality (AR) framework. The game’s objective is to sort a collection of artworks according to their date of creation along a timeline drawn on a wall-mounted billboard (left = earlier, right = later). Every mark (fiducial) on the timeline carries one of the artworks, which are only visible through the player’s AR PDA. Initially the artworks are in random order. The player can pick up any artwork with his PDA, by clicking on the artwork on the display and drop it on a free position by clicking on the free fiducial on the display. Since all positions are initially occupied, the game requires two or more players to cooperate in swapping or rearranging the sequence of artworks.

and

The Invisible Train
The Invisible Train is the first real multi-user Augmented Reality application for handheld devices (PDAs). Unlike other projects, in which wearable devices were merely used as thin-clients, while powerful (PC-based) servers performed a majority of the computations (such as graphics rendering), our software runs independently on off-the-shelf PDAs - eliminating the need for an expensive infractructure.

The Invisible Train is a mobile, collaborative multi-user Augmented Reality (AR) game, in which players control virtual trains on a real wooden miniature railroad track. These virtual trains are only visible to players through their PDA's video see-through display as they don't exist in the physical world. This type of user interface is commonly called the "magic lens metaphor".

While these are Augmented Reality games, they are not Place Based games inthe same way that the ones we are looking at are.

Greenbush game

2006-05-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

Mingfong and I did a presentation on the Greenbush AR game at the"The Greenbush: Past, Present, Future" conference at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2, at the Italian Workmen's Club, 914 Regent St.

I've got the slideshow posted on my website here.

Mark says it looks like we might be able to get Mayor Dave to do an introduction to the game.

GLS AR game

2006-05-10T21:13:00.000-05:00

Here are our notes from Tuesday’s GLS AR game meeting.

We’ve recruited David Deal (from Constance’s Thursday night class), and Andy Dayton (not sure where Matt got him, but we’re glad to have him), and Matt and myself (John Martin). We went over a brief history of the game, what it can and can’t do (sort of), and what we were trying to do for the GLS conference. We tried to come up with something:

simple
engaging
as short or long as the players wanted to make it
that included some sort of mandatory feedback on the gameplay and design
(but didn’t feel like “mandatory feedback”)
that allowed the participants to have as much (or little) agency in gameplay as they wanted
that allowed competition in different forms (and encouraged others conference participants to want to try it)
that made the game “visible” (to others at the conference, and Madison spectators) but not unwieldy
gave a taste of the potential of such a game, in a way that was fun, and not overly “schooly”

Scenario: [Pseudo-] Historical Re-Creation

Welcome to Madison! There’s a lot of rich history hidden in the back alleys—even around the capitol area. Here’s the deal—you photo-document your group’s adventures in Madison.

How to Play
You walk around downtown with a GPS-enabled PDA and a digital camera that you check out from the game steward. As you walk around, your location will be tracked on the map on PDA in your hand. On that map, you will see ~30 locations that you can go to with titles (and maybe photographs?) of the location. When you reach the location, you can click to get information about them. When you get to certain spots, if you choose (like drawing a card), you will be prompted to do something relating to the historical tidbits of the location and/or specific things at hand, and to document it with a digital photograph. This is where it gets creative—use your imagination, the people at hand (bonus if you get innocent bystanders), and the location itself to create and document a scene based on the prompt that comes up at that location.

Example
You walk to the corner of King and Doty, and this narrative appears: “A ghost is said to live in the Great Dane Brewery building. Get a picture of that ghost.” Obviously you can’t see a ghost; or if you can, the camera probably can’t, and yet you must meet the challenge. What to do? You can talk to the cute bartender (or wait staff) and ask them about the ghost—maybe they know and can point to exactly where the ghost lives; maybe they don’t know anything about it and think you’re kinda crazy. Maybe they think your cute/crazy and who cares about the ghost at that point?

Possible Approaches

photo of the ghostly reflection of a guy drinking beer
photo of a guy with a ghostly T-Shirt over his head drinking beer
photo of 3 guys looking very scared and pointing at something ghostly that might not be easily captured on pixel.
other, more creative, ideas…

Who can play?
Ideally, we’d set it up (sell it) with a game box cover of a few extraordinarily-fun examples that don’t actually appear in the game, or with impossibly happy people playing the game. And we’ll have the game steward in the GLS lounge to check out the PDA/GPS and camera (from CIMC?) gear to anyone who deposits a valid ID. They can take the game out with a group of their friends (1-20) and bring it back in a few hours.

Judging

the more creative, the better
involve as many people as possible in your group
bonus points for getting strangers involved

Winning
When you turn in the camera, the photos will be downloaded with your cryptically-enhanced I.D. Pictures will be printed off and posted in the GLS lounge, where they will be ogled, envied, and judged. Winners each day get some stupid little thing that they surely wouldn’t want to live without.

Give Feedback!
PLEASE, tell us what you think! This is not even close to being set in stone, but is just an idea we’re tossing around, that we think we can do by the conference. Feedback is key! Is this a sort ofd game you’d like to play?

thanks,
-john

GLS Game Update and Pscyhogeography

2006-03-20T12:12:00.000-06:00

Continuing the work on this game for GLS - I had a talk with Kurt Squire and Constance Steinkuhler last Friday. There were several things that came out of it. I've got a better idea of the involvement of NPCs and a good idea for how we are going to develop connections to places. The game will two modes - one that will take place in a short amount of time and the other over the two+ days. So, people can involve themselves on what ever scale they want to. Just some other words that came up - Geocaching, Fantasy, Forward, Social Activity

On a more academic focus, I've come across the term pscyhogeography in a few the searchs I have done on the web. Looking into content on the web, the concern are centered on action with in an environment. For me this is another idea or form of research that could add to our understanding of AR, going along with Activity Theory and Distributed Cognition.

GeoBlogging

2006-03-16T13:20:00.000-06:00

It's here. It's cool. Soon it will be on your GPS phone -- mark my words.

I suppose we need to wait for a better text-entry system. I can't see thumb-typing as a long term solution.

GPS+PC+Phone+Camera

2006-03-11T11:43:00.000-06:00

Now they need to get smaller. But the idea is here. Sprint has been offering Location-Based-Services (LBS) since 2001 -- before it was federally mandated -- and has even teamed up to use Microsoft's APIs.Besides finding carjacked toddlers, the technology could be used for something important, um ... like games (the kid is fine).

As this May 2005 article points out, place-based games aren't the only option (and to be honest, the article even failed to mention games...), but does mention other PBI activities that I've mentioned on this here before -- although their focus os on the commercial aspects rather than the educational aspects:

Bones in Motion monitors and measures physical activity in fitness programs. It records time, distance, speed, location, and calories burned while engaging in outdoor activities. Users can view activity summary, maps (street/topographical/satellite), and speed/elevation charts on their GPS-enabled phones, upload results to a personal online journal, and download maps of routes where other users have run, cycled, or walked — for example, when visiting a new city.

Bones in Motion received $60,000 in cash and $175,000 worth of NAVTEQ map licenses. Other category winners, who garnered $10,000 cash and $75,000 worth of map licenses each:

* in personal security, Clarity Communication Systems Inc. for Whereabouts, a child/teen tracking service for parents;
* in peer-to-peer/find me, LOC-AID Technologies for helping users locate friends, children, family members, or nearby points of interest, and to share their own location with designated peers;
* in navigation/POI look-up/traffic, InfoGation Corporation for Adeona, giving real-time traffic, weather and gas-price information, and nearby points of interest;
* in commerce/advertising/buying/billing, Smarter Agent, acquiring user location from the phone and delivering data such as sale prices, comps, taxes, and houses for sale and recently sold in the vicinity;
* in gaming/location-based imaging, Networks In Motion, Inc. for PhotoFinder, enabling users to manage photos containing location tags, view them on a map, and send to another phone or website with navigation to the spot where the picture was taken.

But where is learning? And who's addressing that? Well, I hope that the work MIT is doing with their new ARG editor will evolve and make the leap into cell phones. It is currently very difficult to program for mobile phones due to silly stuff like trade secrets -- the companies are not openly sharing that information, leaving the heavy lifting to individuals to discover it on their own (and post it to their blog).

Will this change? Yes. Soon? I think so. How do we prepare? Good question. I'm trusting the MIT programmers on this one to make that jump when they deem it most optimal. I'll just try to keep up on the sideline with my stuff.

GLS game update

2006-03-06T15:32:00.000-06:00

Spent a few days last week scouting locations for the game. With the conference being specific to the Monona Terrace, I began there. I gathered info that might be interesting and which is context specific. From there, I walked outside and decided that visual interest would define how I moved. Of prominence coming out of the Terrace was the State Capitol. I proceeded. Though once you are in the Capitol I found that my visual guide no longer worked. I was standing in the middle of the rotunda and all directional choices were similar. Delineated by street names and cardinal directions, I wasn't sure exactly which way to proceed. I began to check out each exit, noting differences and where I was being lead to.

Then I began just to map places of interest - I have a long list of possible restaurants, cafes, bars, etc. We might pick up on these as possible sponsors or just point to move from.

Meet with John also and we spoke about how this information might be used. Started with a map and began to draw possible avenues for movement. We made some interesting head way if only for a short period of time.

John - if you read this, I'd like you to comment on your experience of the meeting. What did you find interesting.

Will be meeting with Kurt tomorrow and will like to hear his ideas. Will then hope to have much of the game organized by the end of next week.

What are Augmented Reality Games (ARGs)?

2006-03-02T10:32:00.000-06:00

5.2. Augmented Reality Games (ARGs)
The general idea of an ARG, as our research group is using it, is built on the constraints and affordances of the MIT game available. The game engine was developed at MIT with a Games-to-Teach grant, and merges handheld computers (Pocket PC), with GPS (Global Positioning System) units. For the players, game space is real space, tracked by GPS and plotted onto the handheld computer. The space that they move through is somewhat familiar -- they know it as a place with recognizable and culturally-familiar features -- but the game reveals added or augmented content that is meaningful within the frame of the game. So, just as a tree might have the augmented meaning of a goal or safe area in a children's game, a tree may be endowed with properties and meanings in these games, triggered by the GPS unit as they approach the tree in the game.

What is Augmented Reality?

2006-03-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

5.1. Defining Virtual and Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is a troublesome term for me because it seems too specifically defined. Whereas virtual reality suggests an immersive and interactive, entirely artificial environment, augmented reality seems to be increasingly defined by a digitally processed alteration of our visual and aural field of the settings we inhabit. When we think of virtual reality (Figure 1) we tend to think of people standing in safe space within a room wearing wired helmets and gloves feeling like they are flying or swimming or otherwise interacting in an environment that may have no sensory parallels to the space they are actually located (except for temperature and smells -- although this may soon change).

When we consider an augmented reality situation (Figure 2), we tend to imagine them walking around, still wearing helmets, visually and audibly aware of their physical space, but also noticing objects and events that are not physically occurring in those spaces. These understandings are more specific and specialized than the augmented reality gaming that I am interested in, which is gaming in augmented spaces -- regardless of the level of technology. At this broader definition, a single sheet of paper could be all the technology needed for a good augmented reality game. Perhaps we need to consider another name, and leave the term "augmented reality" to the tech-heavy researchers, but that is an argument for a future discussion.

MIT/UW Madison AT

2006-02-24T09:53:00.000-06:00

Just finished meeting with Erick Klopfer and others at MIT. Major thing of note from the meeting is communication. Should you have anything that needs to be said or fixed for the AR engine, send it straight to Eric or Judy Perry. There is an order of priority and issues will be addressed in due time.

The new editor is on it's way. Should be a few weeks away from getting the new one, which we will look forward to. We spoke about issues with it. Some are basic semantic choices that need to be revised. Others are an understanding of what the game can do.
Overall the conversation went very well and we got to talk about some new ideas for implementation.
On MIT's end they are interested in seeing ways of developing the game (flowcharts, diagrams, etc) and issues that arise from the process. This will be used to help them better understand issues involving development. They want to start a website or faq to assist people using the game. We can help them build this. Using this blog site as a way document these processes.

Distributed Cognition

2006-02-23T12:00:00.000-06:00

A major player in Distributed Cognistion is Edwin Hutchins. Will have to look into him for theory background.

New Links to right

2006-02-17T12:00:00.000-06:00

I added links to your right to the follwoing sites: Mobile Games and Mobile Gaming.

If you have ideas for other sites that should be included, suggest them!

Narrative vs. Game

2006-02-15T18:33:00.000-06:00

Building off the last post, and partly building off tonight's discussion of narrative in games in Kurt's class, I got to thinking about the narrative variables in our ARGs:

Identity: who are you?
Social scene: who are the other players, and how do they relate to you?
NPCs: who are the NPCs, and why are they in the sotry?
Story: why are you here and what are you doing?
Place: Where are you, and where do you need to go?

In the games so far, all of these things are pre-defined. The only question the players answer is "How?"

What would happen if we scaled back the pre-assignment of the variables. If we only assigned NPCs and places to visit, but let the players figure out and construct their own roles, their story, etc.

GLS ARG

2006-02-14T17:31:00.000-06:00

Matt and I met today to talk about creating an AR game for the GLS conference. One of the thoughts that came up was: how to structure the game in such a way that part of the goal is to come up with and document (digital camera cosplay?) your own narrative (inspired by Tayler the Wanderer). It seems like this could be a lot of fun, and really infuses the game with in-game agency (versus just moving from place to place, collecting information to solve one large problem) and loads of creativity. However, we couldn't immediately come up with a game structure to guide the movement through the gamespace (without becoming too didactic and squashing the opportunity to come up with their own narrative.

In a way, it's a lot like Phonetic Theme Scrabble in that the players are coming up with their own ideas within a larger game structure. The degree of complexity is up to the players, but the initial structure of the game is very simple. Can it be compelling? I think it can be, especially if modeled, or once you see other players get into it (a sort of competitive peer pressure).

Talking it over with Dan White this evening, he came up with the idea of having a rule that if players run into other players, they have to incorporate the other players (and/or the other players' narratives) into their narrative.

Still, we need to come up with a generic-enough idea to structure the game and start it off -- some guide to get things going, that explains why one needs to get to the different points (where they may run into other player groups).

Any ideas?

Learning Principles in Games

2006-02-07T19:50:00.000-06:00

Some questions about the learning principles (and other ideas/issues) in video games, translated into Augmented Reality Games:

Lower the consequence of failure: How do ARGs deal with the consequences of failure? Are there ways to incrementally fail throughout the game without losing the entire game? What do (or could) ARG bosses look like? does it give the player a chance to learn from incremental failures, and to pick up and try again?
Performance before Consequence: How do ARGs let/make you play the game before you know how to play?
Semiotic systems: What are the in-game rules, and how do the in-game clues let you know what the rules are?
What are the differences between game and content?
Identity: What is the role of identity? How do people become connected to their avatars?
Fair and Deep: How does the game react to you? How does it suck you in?
Accomodation: How does the game accomodate different learning styles and levels?
Creativity: How do games foster creativity? One of the things American schools are criticized for is the lack of creativity coming out of schools. Kids are less creative, and less able to deal with situations. Having kids make and create games is a hot idea.
Metaphors (transfer): How do games succeed and fail in getting kids to transfer things they've learned in one domain to another domain.

Move to cell phones II

2006-02-06T14:31:00.000-06:00

Another article on how the cell phone is becoming the ubiquitious computer [and another log on the fire to make AR games fit them].

Excerpt:

And with cheap processors, full-color screens, high-speed cellular networks and versatile software standards like Sun's (Research) Java programming language, the mobile phone is becoming increasingly indistinguishable from a PC. For proof, just look at Palm's (Research) Treo or Nokia's (Research) latest smartphones.

Yet, as Gates discovered long ago, it is compelling software that drives adoption of new hardware. The personal computer didn't become truly popular until the advent of easy-to-use web browsers, good search technology and email.

Augmented Reality & Computer Augmented Environments

2006-01-25T12:53:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to many resources regarding AR, but not specifically about AR gaming. The notions of AR behind these links are varied, too.
Augmented Reality & Computer Augmented Environments

Move to Mobile Phones

2006-01-12T16:27:00.000-06:00

There have been a number of really interesting announcements in the news this past week at CES and MacWorld, as well as a number of developments that have occurred over the past year that could offer great opportunities for us.

I put the ones that are most applicable to our research in place-based gaming together into a Quicktime presentation of a potential Future Directions of Place-Based Inquiry. It's only my initial thoughts, as I am sure there is much I missed and don't know, but it is a start that I think we should consider looking into further.

Google and Blackberry

2006-01-12T14:25:00.000-06:00

Associated Press
Update 1: BlackBerry to Support Google Messaging
01.12.2006, 12:06 PM
BlackBerry e-mail devices will soon support the Google Talk instant-messaging and Google Local mapping programs, the handheld maker said Thursday, extending the Internet titan's push to put its services on mobile devices.

GPS alternative launched

2006-01-01T10:31:00.000-06:00

From CBS:

The first satellite in the EU's Galileo satellite navigation program was launched from Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a major step forward for Europe's answer to the United States' Global Positioning System.

Why is this potentially important to us?

Last year, U.S. President George Bush ordered plans for temporarily disabling GPS satellites during national crises to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology.

Galileo is under civilian control. The European Space Agency says it will guarantee operation at all times, except in case of "the direst emergency." It also says users would be notified of any potential satellite problems within seconds.

I used to think that a national crisis was rare thing, where life would sort of change, and there'd not be a lot of location-based ARGames played. But lately it seems that the U.S. is moving to a constant state of national crisis, so it's nice that the ESA is getting an alternative in place. Let's hope the U.S. isn't successful in blocking it.

Google Earth

2005-12-14T20:00:00.000-06:00

It's out now, both for Windows, and (unofficially, I guess) for Mac

Gee in NY Times

2005-12-04T11:51:00.000-06:00

Gee, Jenkins, Zimmerman -- all in the Times today, saying the same things we've been hearing and discussing in classes, with the GAPPS folks, etc. So what's new?

Well, it's in the New York Times. The Sunday edition. It's just another indication of a shift that's happening. I thought I'd point it out.

Space, Place, and the Cell Phone?

2005-11-09T16:51:00.000-06:00

The State Journal Weighs In (A little late?)

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=60881&ntpid=3

Another Perusek-based article from 2003

http://burr.kent.edu/archives/2003/spring/stories/t_isolatedcell.html

Matthew Buckingham - Spring Course at UW

2005-11-09T16:41:00.000-06:00

Here is a course that may be of interest to folks at the UW. It is being taught in the Spring by guest lecturer Matthew Buckingham. See Matt S. for more info because he went to the 11/8 presentation. Looks very interesting...

http://commarts.wisc.edu/Under/Pages/pdfs/buckingham_sem_syll.pdf

The PDF came from the Comm Arts site (under the heading "news")

http://commarts.wisc.edu/

Dewey on Activity

2005-11-06T14:25:00.000-06:00

Inspired by John's blog, I tried to read Dewey again and found that many sociocultural learning theories prosperous today may be rooted in Dewey. The following quotes are from Dewey's "The School and Social Progress."

“Personalities which became effective in action were bred and tested in the medium of action. Again, we cannot overlook the importance for educational purposes of the close and intimate acquaintance got with nature at first hand, with real things and materials, with the actual processes of their manipulation, and the knowledge of their social necessities and uses. In all this there was continual training of observation, of ingenuity, constructive imagination, of logical thought, and of the sense of reality acquired through first-hand contact with actualities.” (p.8)
--Does it suggest that expertise is developed ONLY in practice where action takes central stage?

“Verbal memory can be trained in committing tasks, a certain discipline of the reasoning powers can be acquired through lessons in science and mathematics; but, after all, this is somewhat remote and shadowy compared with the training of attention and of judgment that is acquired in having to do things with a real motive behind and a real outcome ahead.” (p.8)
--this is pretty much what Bruner suggested in his “Knowing as Doing” (1996)

“Yet there is a real problem: how shall we retain these advantages, and yet introduce into the school something representing the other side of life—occupations which exact personal responsibilities and which train the child in relation to the physical realities of life?”
--Does it also suggest that technologies such as AR games represent for the opportunity to bridge the gap between school and actual social practice since kids will not have a chance to be involved in real social practice in most cases? If professional practice is the way we wish to teach, how may we utilize AR to achieve that goal?

Dewey on Space

2005-11-04T16:45:00.000-06:00

Chapter 2 of Dewey's (1900) School and Society that Mingfong referred to is available online here.

I found the Dewey article "The School and the Life of the Child" extremely worthy of reading and thinking if we want to claim that we need to extend learning from classroom to a broader, richer context outside of the classroom.
-- mingfong jan

I agree that there's some pretty cool ideas on place and space (simple affordances) here that seems to not be very heavily written about or discussed much in educational research since.

Speaking of exceptions... I just got a copy of Liz Ellsworth's latest (2004) Places Of Learning: Media, Architecture, Pedagogy from Amazon yesterday. Hope to read it this weekend and possibly use for my prelims, which, in light of the new arrival, I've delayed until Monday.

cell phone tracking

2005-11-03T11:03:00.000-06:00

The ingredients are swirling around out there. Take the rise of services like this:

Mologogo is a free service that will track a "friends" GPS enabled cell phone from another phone or on the web. Mologogo also serves as a dirt-cheap tracking system, so go ahead and fauxjack something.

Add to that the increase of web-enabled Smart Phones. Then consider the wireless initiatives of Google in San Francisco, and municipalities in Philadelphia, Madison, etc.

I think it might make sense to look at creating a web-based version of the RiverCity game editor (in addition to the GPS-version, given the improbability of deep-woods Wi-Fi coverage, which is what my project would need).

Another GeoAnnotation program (minus GPS)

2005-11-02T11:35:00.000-06:00

Semapedia.org is working on their version of a "Physical Wikiedia" -- much like the location-based one we were discussing. However, instead of using GPS to bring up entries, they rely on Semapedia Taggers to annotate locations, and 2D bar-codes physically

Our goal is to connect the virtual world with the physical world by bringing the best information from the internet to the relevant place in physical space.

We do this as a community by combining the physical annotation technology of Semacode with the availability of high quality information using the free encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Location-sensitive technology--How may we exploit it in learning

2005-10-31T18:34:00.000-06:00

Hey guys,
Here is a piece regarding the location-sensitive technology and its commercial use today. Isn't it interesting that what we have been doing will be commericalized in the near future?

http://retailtrafficmag.com/mag/retail_expert_analysis_wireless/

Indoor tracking system available for commercial use

2005-10-31T17:00:00.000-06:00

So, it seems that indoor location tracking technology has grew mature enough for education. I am not sure how it will work comparing with MIT's indoor AR engine, but I will be glad to use it for indoor games in Museums, Greenhouses, or Libraries. The following article is from the link here. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20051031005612&newsLang=en

Ubisense Reports 60 New Customers as Demand for High Accuracy Indoor Location Technology Intensifies; Ubisense Enhances Process Efficiencies, Space Utilization and Security for Healthcare, Industrial, Military and More DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2005--Ubisense, the leading provider of high accuracy indoor location technology, has secured 60 new customers in just nine months since earning approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its advanced ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. This technology offers the most cost-effective, precise indoor location tracking commercially available. Ubisense is being used across many different industries to analyze and improve processes, space utilization and security.
Ubisense provides innovative, sensor-driven technology that utilizes UWB to report person and asset location within one foot of accuracy. Small sensors are placed within the indoor environment and active tags worn by people or attached to assets provide location information that can be viewed in 3D. This location data can be used to determine the efficiency and security of any indoor space or training scenario.
For instance, U.S.-based DSCI provides live, virtual training scenarios for the Department of Defense (DoD) training centers. DSCI needed high resolution indoor tracking capabilities for Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training. Finding that WiFi and Radio Frequency ID (RFID) systems do not offer the near-precise accuracy and reliability required by the DoD, DSCI turned to Ubisense.
"Indoor tracking has always been our greatest challenge for training soldiers, and Ubisense's ultra-wideband technology solves this challenge," said Eric Wagner, director, DSCI. "Ubisense is now integrated into Ft. Benning's MOUT McKenna site, one of the premier U.S. Army infantry training centers, and operates flawlessly with our integrated soldier tracking system. With this technology, we can monitor every soldier participating in indoor training exercises to determine accuracy of execution as well as identify maneuvers that require changes or more training. Having the ability to view combat training in this manner is critical because in the real world this training makes all the difference."
In Europe, the Technical University of Graz (TU Graz) recently installed Ubisense and is investigating the range of rich and meaningful augmented reality experiences enabled through a combination of Ubisense's UWB-based technology with those more traditionally associated with virtual reality applications.
"Ubisense has the potential to become a key enabling technology in bringing augmented reality out of the research lab and into a part of our everyday building infrastructure," said Dr. Dieter Schmalstieg, professor, TU Graz.
As its customer base increases so too do the applications for which Ubisense is used. In addition to education and military organizations, workplace engineers, healthcare facilities and industrial businesses are using Ubisense for a wide range of applications. Some uses include automatically determining space utilization in office environments to improve productivity and identify cost savings, locating people and assets in healthcare facilities, and monitoring and improving manufacturing processes.
"Demand for Ubisense is growing even faster than we anticipated, and the market need continues to expand," said Richard Green, CEO, Ubisense. "Our focus now is to extend our software platform to deliver greater value to our customers and to build a thriving partner network to further address the many different industries and uses for which our technology is suitable."
About Ubisense
Ubisense provides location-aware, sensor-driven technology that increases the usability and security of space. Ubisense utilizes advanced ultra-wideband (UWB) to deliver real-time location data within one foot of accuracy to more than 60 customers spanning workplace, healthcare, industrial and military organizations worldwide. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, England, with offices in Denver, Colorado, and Dortmund, Germany. For more information, visit http://www.ubisense.net/.

Nature vs. Simulation

2005-10-25T18:26:00.000-05:00

"To many who care about the natural world, no modern phenomenon seems more troubling than the emergence of "virtual reality" as a new form of human experience...and yet it is also true that our awareness of potential environmental problems has an increasingly virtual quality as we turn to computer models and simulated ecosystems to try to understand the complex changes going on around us in the natural world. Drawing the boundary between "real" and "virtual" nature turns out to be rather more difficult rather more revealing and instructive concerning our ideas of nature than we might have first thought"

Page 439 - Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature (Cronon, 1995)

Katherine Hayles chapter in this book titled, Simulated Nature and Natural Simulations: Rethinking the Relation between the Beholder and the World (pp. 409-425) may be of interest. It breaks down the traditional dichotomy between "nature" and "simulation".

pocketPC emulator?

2005-10-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

Does anyone know of an emulator or similar software that will allow you to run pocketPC software on a windows XP desktop?

This would be useful as we begin to work with teachers (and poor grad students) who may want to construct and experiment with designs, but don't have constant access to a PDA.

GeoAnnotation

2005-10-22T17:25:00.000-05:00

I've been obsessing on this idea since Jim, Mingfong, and I talked about it at Indie Coffee a few weeks ago. I've finally "put pen to paper" (as the saying goes, although "pen" and "paper" are soooo archaic!) and finally fleshed out the idea using Keynote, which I'm beginning to realize may be my preferred method of working out and communicating ideas. (This might be problematic for me as I begin the rather-archaic, text-based Prelim Exam process next week.)

At any rate, building off my last post, and (let me emphasize this) VERY CLOSELY RELATED to my research interest in Augmented Reality Games -- making it a tool for user-production of content (letting the players make their own games). GeoAnnotation is sort of like location-based blogging, and Collaborative Cartography might be seen as a Wiki-Map. But instead of entries existing nowhere tangible in cyberspace, they are grounded to a specific location, thereby also further situating their writers and readers into that place.

Wikipedia + GPS

2005-10-21T12:29:00.000-05:00

Here's what I'd love to see in the near future: A wearable (or handheld) location-enabled (GPS or WiFi, or other) computer that you can access at any location to find out "official" and unofficial information and opinions about, and have the ability to add your own. In other words, take a project like LifeClipper (non-Flash Wikipedia entry), mix it with GPSter and geograffiti and a web-based version of Murmur and throw in Google Earth for good measure.

The result is a powerhouse of a personal assistant. Take notes (or pics, audio, video) of a location with your own annotations, and when you return to the location your "memory" of the event is jogged like it's never been jogged before. And access others' public notes of the place. Upload pics of the place before development, articles and stories of its history, etc.

Or, play a number of games developed for the area. When touring Europe, access historical info about the sites while you "play" the DaVinci Code game. Choose the info about the place that interests you. If you're tracing family lineage, battleground history, or just looking for a nice latte nearby.

AR Quake

2005-10-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

I was Wikipedia-izing away for better definitions of Augmented Reality (some say that it's not AR unless computer graphics are digitally merged with surroundings. Obviously, for them "reality" is a visual phenomena), when I ran across ARQuake, which fits the more restrictive definition.

While unwilling to give up the AR term to a visually-dominant culture, I wonder if there is a higher-order term that would include the augmenting of any or all of the physical and social "senses" from which our "realities" are formed.

The what questions and the how questions

2005-10-19T12:37:00.000-05:00

So I went to Randall School and discussed the MadCity Murder with the kids who played this game in the last 30 days. Yes, since September 26, we had played the game with more than 20 kids. Each day and each group was a different scenario as well as a different case given that the group dynamics among them were all different.

And here comes a quesiton that I have been asking myself: what should we study?

The quesiton comes before the quesiton "how should we study" since a question of "what" is often an ontological quesiton which will pretty much predetermin the methodology, the how questions, that we employ to study the AR game.

Should we ask how before we ask what?
It seems that my position is clear--we ask the what question before the how question.

In some way, we have been asking questions of what and we have predetermined the what questions we need to answer--narrative, space and place--because we all agree they are the key features in the AR learning environment.

Does the what questions that we asked block our sights for other significance? Have we been making the familiar strange? What have been filtered out when we have adapted to certain theories?

I believe these are important questions that we need to ask more when we study AR games.

Narrative as Situator

2005-10-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm reading Henry Jenkins' Tales of Manhattan and noticed, again, his emphasis on the importance of narrative in cultures to explain and situate themselves in space. I thought this might speak to our discussions on the immersive aspects of our respective GPS games.

"Spatial Stories. Cultures, Michel De Certeau tells us, construct stories to explain and justify their occupation of geographic spaces, to describe and record their collective journeys and migrations, and to map the boundaries between known and unknown territories. Telling a story is an act of clarification which bestows coherence on ambiguous or ambivalent relationships between people and places. "Every story is a travel story," De Certeau writes, and often, the stories themselves circulate beyond their original cultures, justifying one community to another" (p. 3).

Further on, he speaks of cinema's ability to shift scale -- starting with overviews of cities, for example, and zooms to the particular story being told. I'm wondering to what extent the editor would allow us to do this. I'm thinking of last Wednesday's Environmental Detective Game, where the girls playing kept losing site of the lake, and needed constant redirection (literally) from their parents.

What counts as authentific scientific inquiry? A Summary of Chinn and Malhotra's seminal paper

2005-10-11T14:29:00.000-05:00

What is authentic scientific inquiry?

The following summary is based on Chinn and Malhotra's "Epistemologically Authentic Inquiry in Schools: A Theoretical Framework for Evaluating Inquiry Tasks." Based on a couple of expert/novice studies, Chinn provides a framework for evaluating what counts as authentic reasoing in science inquiry. His main arguments are based on the following assumptions:

1. Authentic reasoning in science is the way scientists think and do in their scientific inquiry.
2. Authentic reasoning needs to be developed in schools because non-authentic, simple task-based inquiry leads to oversimplification and pseudoscience; therefore it also hampers students' ability to reason and generates false epistemology about science.
3. We can teach authentic reasoning by studying how scientists reason.

Based on these assumptions, he proposes
There is a need to develop school tasks that come closer to the cognitive processes and epistemology of real scientific inquiry.

===================================================================
The following passages will briefly introduce
1. What counts as authentic scientific inquiry
2. How do we analyze scientific inquiry
3. How to develop more authentic reasoning in schools
===================================================================

Part I: What counts as authentic scientific inquiry

Authentic scientific inquiry
Chinn argues that science standards (e.g., AAAS, 1993; National Research Council, 1996) pointed to important features of "authentic inquiry," but they DO NOT develop an analysis in detail(Chinn and Malhotra, 2001). Hence he tries to develop a framework that explains the nature of authentic scientific inquiry (Chinn and Malhotra, 2001)

National Science Education Standards http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/

Simple Inquiry Tasks
According to Chinn, authentic scientific inquiry "refers to the research that scientists actually carry out." Since authentic scientific inquiry is too complicated to be implemented in classrooms, the goal of science instruction in shool is to develop relatively simple inquiry tasks which capture core component of scientific reasoning. However, Chinn argues that most simple inquiry tasks (i.e. textbooks, educational software and websites of science activities) available in educational settings are not authentic and they don't resemble authentic science.

Authentic scientific inquiry(ASI) v.s. Simple Inquiry Tasks (SIT)
Authentic scientific inquiry is different from simple inquiry task (which is prevelent in classroom science pedagogy) in at least two aspects: the cognitive processes and epistemology.

Difference in Cognitive Process: Six Fundamental Cognitive Scientific Processes (Authentic Reasoning)

generating a research question ( In SIT, students are told what the RQ is)
designing a study to address the research question (The difference can be found in (a) selecting variables, (b) planning prodedures, (c) controlling variables and in (d) planning measures. In SIT, for example, students are told the variables to investigate while in ASI, scientists select their own variables to study)
making observations (guarding perceptual bias is seldom addressed in SIT while scientists employ specific method to avoid perceptual bias)
explaining results (scientists usually need to (a) transform observations (i.e. raw data), (b) find flaws in design, experiment or in hypothesis, (c) reason indirectly, (d) generalize and (e) use borad reasoning strategies)
developing theories (In ASI, scientists focus on developing theories while in SIT students usually focus on observation and experiment. Students usually get no experience in generating theoretical explanations on the basis of evidence. Also, scientists will synthesize results from multiple studies to generate their theories)
studying others' research (A scientist's knowledge is grounded in the work of other scientists)

Chinn's definition of epistemology:
"Epistemology refers to people's basic beliefs about what knowledge is and when it should be changed." (Well, I think my definition will be sort of different than his)Difference in Epistemology:
Chinn proposes that "simple inquiry tasks (SIT) assume an epistemology that is opposed to the epistemology of authentic sicencce. As a result, students who learn about scientific reasoning through SIT may actually learn a nonscientific epistemology."

1. Purpose of Research:
Scientists: to develop and refine theoretical models in response to evidence.
Students: to uncover easily observable regularities or salient structure of objects--Baconian gathering of facts about the world.

2.View of Science
Scientists: complicated view of science, seeking global consistency of data and theories
Students: overly simple view of science, seeking local consistency

3. Method
Scientists: interdependence between theory and method
Students: no critical reflection on method

4. Response to Anomalous Data
Scientists: many different legitimate responses to anomalous data, including changing theory, discounting the data, reinterpreting the data, etc.
Students: very limited...usually will respond by changing hypothesis

5. Nature of Reasoning
Scientists: involve uncertain judgements and heuristics...use a wide range of fallible heuristics
Students: use simple and often algorithmic strategies of reasoning

6.Social Construction of Knowledge
Scientists: build on each other's work...acquire knowledge by studying other scientists' work
Students: Do they even study other students' work?"Simple inquiry tasks may not only fail to help students learn to reason scientifically; they may also foster a nonscientific epistemology (simple, certain, algorithmic and surface meaning about scientific reasoning)"

Part II Analytic Tools
Models-Of-Data theory: An analytic tool for evaluating scientific inquiry

Definition
" According to models-of-data theory, an experiment of other forms of research can be represented as a model that integrates theoretical explanations with the observations and with the details of the data gathering procedures.(p.191)"

An analytic tool
The models-of-data theory proposes that "experiments and other forms of research can be represented as cognitive models." Analyzing the models would afford the reseachers to know the differences of cognitive process involved in authentic scientific inquiry and simple inquiry task.

Authentic scientific inquiry v.s. simple inquiry task
1. complexity vs simplicity
2. multiple measures vs single measure
3. inductive and analogical references vs single causal link
4. rich, complex models of data vs simple models of data

Part III How to develop more authentic reasoning for schools

Scaffolding + Scientific Reasoning in PDA/AR Games

2005-10-09T08:50:00.000-05:00

After looking over Ming-Fong's list of observations related to the recent tests of Env Det and reflecting on our related discussion on Wednesday I think that it would be beneficial to start a reading category related to scaffolding (artifact, curricular, and human-based scaffolding) and another related to scientific reasoning. These topics may not take priority at the moment, but we have identified them through our discussions as critical components of the PDA/AR design.

Here are a few articles that can provide a starting point. Please post additional suggestions. The first two relate to scaffolding and the third one deals with developing and defending scientific arguments.

Puntambekar, S., & Hübscher, R. (2005). Tools for Scaffolding Students in a Complex Learning Environment: What Have We Gained and What Have We Missed? Educational Psychologist, 40(1), 1-12.

Presents a set of characteristics that define scaffolding and provides background on the use of tools to scaffold student learning. Could be used as a framework for exploring how PDA/AR games and associated curricula could better incorporate scaffolding. http://idcc.bentley.edu/~roland/articles/EP_puntambekar_hubscher_2005.pdf

Sherin, B., Reiser, B., & Edelson, D. (2004). Scaffolding analysis: Extending the scaffolding metaphor to learning artifacts. Journal of the Learning Sciences: 13(3), 387-421.

Provides a brief genealogy of scaffolding (pgs. 387-398) and presents a framework for analyzing artifact-based scaffolding (pgs. 398-421). Scan part one and skip part two if you have limited interest in this topic.http://lore.sesp.northwestern.edu/publications/6414423109cc5e326.pdf

Kuhn, L & Reiser, B. (2004). Supporting Evidence-Based Scientific Explanation. Prepared for NARST 2004, Dallas, TX.

Provides a framework that can be used to teach students how to construct and defend scientific evidence. Offers a starting point for someone looking to address the the problem related to kids supporting “their arguments with imagination.”http://www.sciencematerialscenter.org/papers/Students_Evidence_Based_Scientific_Explanations.pdf

Pierre Levy

2005-10-06T23:18:00.000-05:00

Was wondering if this book might be of interest or if anyone else might have some thoughts.

Levy, Pierre. BECOMING VIRTUAL: REALITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE Plenum Press, 1998

WebBoard

2005-10-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

To your right, you'll notice that I added a link to the WebBoard login page.

Although it's a bit of an inconvenience, I'd propose that we use both. The WB, with its login requirements, is great for posting files, "private" papers, etc. but it's not accessible to others in the field who may be interested in what we're doing, won't show up in Google searches, etc. and I'd like to continue to engage in an "open" dialogue (or monologue) with the world -- in case there's anyone beyond us who cares.

For both systems, there's an option post via email, and to have postings emailed to you. So it's not terribly inconvenient to stay abreast of the postings on both without having to log in. And, since we've already invested a half semester on the blog, I'd sort of hate to abandon it now.

Cognition, Space, and Bears

2005-10-06T10:45:00.000-05:00

I think I'm ready to move on beyond Cognition and Space after this...

Situated Action, Distributed Cognition, Activity Theory, and John go camping and meet a bear.

AT (subject) makes a plan (object) to go camping (activity). It gathers its camping gear, gets in the car (both mediating artifacts), and drives to the wilderness. When the bear shows up, AT makes a plan to plan to run. When the tree with the low branch appears on the path, AT plans to climb it.

DC gathers people and gear (artifacts) in order to be a camping system whose goal is to "go camping". There's a sleeping bag and pad and tent and camp stove and tarp and flashlight, bear spray, and a bunch of other artifacts designed for the goal of "camping". When the bear shows up, DC grabs the bear spray, and maybe a frying pan.

SA finds itself in a camping situation. That's okay -- SA is good at improvising. It'll use the sleeping bag and plastic wrap it found. When it finds itself being chased by a bear, it runs, sees a tree and climbs it.

John decides to go camping, he makes a plan like AT, gathers some stuff like DC, and given that he's a semi-forgetful sort, does without a few things, or improvises like SA. When the bear shows up, he panics for a moment but calms down and starts to plan out a better reaction. When the bear suddenly moves toward him, he forgets the plan and runs like hell. As he runs, he considers his options, and weighs them according to a number of factors including, but not limited to: logic and practicability, an assessment of his past performance and experience in similar situations, his state of panic, the affordances for flight or flight of the landscape that he's passing on his sprint, "things to do when meeting a bear" that he's read or heard of, rational and irrational fears fed by everything from Goldilocks to the bear expert that was mauled in Alaska not so long ago, the depletion of the endorphins and adrenaline, the shortening of the distance between the bear and him, and "Holy Wow! There's a tree I can climb!!" -- his plan is set.

Immersive Gaming and Embodiment

2005-10-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

Just want to make a plug for this website (Avant Game). Although, I've only had time to run through the information, there seems to be a lot of information on immersive environment and embodiment.

Topics of interest -

how the players define boundaries in AR games between the real and the virtual.

The manifestos on game and performance might have some interesting thoughts.

Lastly, the effect that specific technologies have on the game player.

Matt

DC & space -- More of John's Thoughts

2005-10-04T08:47:00.000-05:00

The Emergence of Distributed Cognition: a conceptual framework [PDF] by Francis HEYLIGHEN, Margeret HEATH and Frank VAN OVERWALLE from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium; {fheyligh, mheath, fjvoverw}@vub.ac.be

ABSTRACT: We propose a first step in the development of an integrated theory of the emergence of distributed cognition/extended mind. Distributed cognition is seen as the confluence of collective intelligence and “situatedness”, or the extension of cognitive processes into the physical environment. The framework is based on five fundamental assumptions:
groups of agents self-organize to form a differentiated, coordinated system, adapted to its environment,
the system co-opts external media for internal propagation of information,
the resulting distributed cognitive system can be modelled as a learning, connectionist network,
information in the network is transmitted selectively,
novel knowledge emerges through non-linear, recurrent interactions. The implication for collective intentionality is that such a self-organizing agent collective can develop “mental content” that is not reducible to individual cognitions.

Reading through this, even in the abstract, my eye caught what I think may be a key piece in my quest to find out how DC deals with space and place. The piece is tacked on, almost as an afterthought, to the first assumption: "adapted to its environment."

DC picks up on cognition and learning after it's already been shaped by space, after the "adaptation" has already occurred. Perhaps it assumes that factors of space are already accounted for. They're not; the system continues to adapt to its environment. It slices, dices, and organizes its space through labeling (turning space to place). And from time to time individuals or groups within the system experience significant events in certain spaces, at which time (or afterwards when conveying to others) the places take on symbolic meaning, and that symbolic meaning starts being factored into the cognition system.

DC might be bent open to accompany what Simone Schweber (2005) calls "consequential places" but it doesn't seem to be able to address what she calls "symbolic places". For my research on location-based games, as they're located in culturally-meaningful places, it needs to.

DC & space -- John's Thoughts

2005-10-02T19:19:00.000-05:00

What is the role of space and place in distributed cognition (DC)? Here are my thoughts:

DC places a lot of emphasis on the role of artifacts as they mediate our behavior and contribute to our cognition. I think I could easily argue that one such tool that mediates our behavior, and lessens the mental energy we spend cognating (is that even a word?) is a road. We build a road to help us get from place A to place B, but the road also marks the way; it directs us; it channels us. The road is a man-made artifact.

I could make the argument then, that the trail and the pathway are also artifacts. They do the same as the road on a smaller scale. But what about a deer trail? Is it not an artifact because it was made by deer? Or does it become an artifact once it is "repurposed" for human use? I think it does, just as the "old oak tree on the hill" becomes an artifact when it is repurposed as a landmark. The space of the hill becomes a place "Old Oak Hill" when it is given the consequential meaning of guidance (Schweber 2005).

I would further argue that the importance of the place in DC is amplified when the meaning of the place is enriched. Turning right at Old Oak Hill to get to grandmother's house gives Old Oak Hill one level of meaning, but having direct (or indirect) experience there gives it symbolic meaning (Schweber 2005) which can play a much richer role in DC. For example: having your first kiss in a tree fort on Old Oak Hill, or being proposed to there, or getting married there, or being buried there, (or being lynched there) has a profound effect on the importance of the artifact in DC.

Rogers and Scaife on DC

2005-10-02T15:56:00.000-05:00

There's a good (1997) article on Distributed Cognition by Yvonne Rogers and Mike Scaife that touches on some general assumptions. I've quoted liberally here because I think it's that good. (These two also have an article on Activity Theory (1997) that I think I should read, and one called "A conceptual framework for mixed reality environments: designing novel learning activities for young children" that sounds promising for our Augmented Reality work.

General properties of cognitive systems

A general assumption of the distributed cognition approach is that cognitive systems consisting of more than one individual have cognitive properties that differ from those individuals that participate in those systems.

Another property is that the knowledge possessed by members of the cognitive system is both highly variable and redundant. Individuals working together on a collaborative task are likely to possess different kinds of knowledge and so will engage in interactions that will allow them to pool the various resources to accomplish their tasks. In addition much knowledge is shared by the individuals, which enables them to adopt various communicative practices (e.g. not having to spell out every time they meet someone what they know about a practice, procedure or state of affairs).

Another important property is the distribution of access to information in the cognitive system. Sharing access and knowledge enables the coordination of expectations to emerge which in turn form the basis of coordinated action.

and summaries of a few of DC's classic articles

Case Studies

i) Hutchins (1995) Cognition in the Wild

An example provided by Hutchins (1995) of a distributed cognition analysis of a cognitive system is the navigation of a ship. Here, his focus is on the cultural-cognitive processes that take place when steering a ship into harbour. At a micro-level of analysis, Hutchins describes the detailed coordination of representational states across media that take place for the relatively simple, but critical coordinating activity of plotting a fix. This involves several members of the navigation team taking and plotting bearings of the ship as it comes into the harbour at regular intervals of every 3 minutes or so. It is a highly routinized activity, requiring the complex coordination of people and artefacts - all of which is crucial for ensuring the ship is on course. At a macro level of analysis, Hutchins also describes how these coordinated activities of plotting a fix provide a structured experience for the team members enabling more generally, individual learning of procedures and the cultural practices of the navy. As noted by Hutchins (1995, p374):

"...since most learning in this setting happens in the doing, the changes to internal media that permit them to be coordinated with external media happen in the same processes that bring the media into coordination with one another. The changes to the quartermasters’ skills and the knowledge produced by this process are the mental residua of the process".

Hutchins goes into great detail analysing how the various representational state are propagated across media for this collective navigation activity and in so doing show how ‘the properties of this computational system are as much determined by the nature of the representational media and the pattern of interconnection among representations as they are by the cognitive properties of the individual actors". (Hutchins, 1992, p.2).

This distinction is critical for the distributed cognition approach, emphasising again the importance of focusing on the distribution of cognition through analysing the interactions between the different ‘components’ (i.e. the changes in representational state) of the system over time and place.

2) Hutchins and Klausen (1995) study of cognition in the cockpit

The study analyses the interactions of internal and external representational structure and the distribution of cognitive activity among members of a cockpit flight crew. The analysis shows a pattern of cooperation and coordination of actions among the crew which is viewed at one level as a structure for propagating and processing information and at another level a system of activity in which shared cognition emerges.

3) Rogers (1992, 1993) study of engineering practice

Rogers carried out a study of how networking technology has changed the working practices of an engineering company. Through doing a Distributed Cognition analysis she was able to reveal various breakdowns that occurred in the work activities and the mechanisms by which the group had adapted their working practice to overcome them.

4) Halverson’s (1995) study of Air Traffic Control

Halverson carried out a study of how air traffic controllers interact with a radar system when controlling air traffic. From her observations and analysis she was able to make recommendations of what was important to retain of the existing design with a view towards developing future automated decision-making tools for the controllers.

and a bit on Methodology that suggests what sorts of studies can use DC

Methodology

The distributed cognition approach uses a number of methods: from detailed analysis of video and audio recordings of real life events, to neural network simulations and laboratory experiments. The type of methodology adopted depends on the unit of analysis that is being adopted and the level at which the cognitive system is being explained.

For cognitive systems that are being described at the ‘work setting’ level it is imperative to carry out extensive field work and become familiar with the work practice. This entails observing the work, making copious field notes, recording events and then transcribing and encoding these. An important part of this kind of ethnographic analysis is re-representing the raw data collected at different levels of abstraction and detail, focusing on the changes in representational state in the cognitive system. Theoretical analyses are also carried out in relation to the assumed properties of distributed cognitive systems.

and some discussion that makes me question (again) whether it's the right framework to look at the role of space in learning. If "place" can be considered an artifact, then I think DC can work. If it can't, I may need to find somehting else.

Discussion

One of the key questions often asked about the distributed cognition approach is how does it differ from a traditional cognitive science explanation of human activity. Furthermore, what leverage is gained from giving an account of collaborative activities in terms of ‘propagation of representational state across media’? In support of the distributed cognition approach it can be said that it provides a framework and analytic methodology for examining the interactions between people and artefacts which is not possible with traditional approaches to cognitive task analyses. In doing so, it can highlight the complex interdependencies between people and between people and artefacts in their collaborative activities, which in turn, can lead to a better understanding of why, for example, seemingly trivial breakdowns in the communications and interactions between them can have significant and sometimes drastic consequences.

A challenge for the distributed cognition approach is how to integrate concepts from the social and organisational sciences with the cognitive analysis of ‘representational states’. In particular, it is difficult to combine macro-level theories, such as organisational learning, with micro-level detailed descriptions of the intersubjectivity that goes on between two people during a two second encounter. The goal is to find the appropriate level of analysis and explanatory description for the problem that is being addressed.

Nardi (1995) thoughts and summary

2005-10-02T15:51:00.000-05:00

A Review of Bonnie A. Nardi's (1995)"Studying Context: A Comparison of Activity Theory, Situated Action Models, and Distributed Cognition" [PDF] (Besides being available as a PDF, it's a chapter in Nardi's (1996) Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction).

This article plugs Activity Theory (AT) and to a lesser extent Distributed Cognition (DC), while throwing a few bones of appreciation to Situated Action (SA) as a small thanks for reminding everyone that things change in the heat of the moment. It's all well-and-well to remember this, says Nardi, but one can hardly build a useful all-encompassing theory based on it. Instead, Nardi backs AT for now, speculating that the three may someday merge into a powerhouse theory.

To sum up the differences:

SA focuses on the "situation" -- what's occurring that spurs on goals and activity. SA says that we're thrown into a situation (defined by the researcher) and goals and activity arise simultaneously, through improvisation, in the immediacy of the situation. Goals are not a condition for action. Suchman, Lave, and Triggs are SA scholars. The unit of analysis in SA is typically very short. 1-1/2 hours at most.

AT focuses on "activity" -- the subject (person), object (objective), (goal-directed) actions, and operations (routinized actions). AT allows for transformation of its objects over time, but not on a moment-by-moment basis. Actions, like driving a car, can become operations as less mental energy is devoted to them, but operations can also return to actions, for example, immediately following an accident or close call one tends to drive more consciously. AT says that the Activity is the context, and it is created by the person, based on his/her historical and developmental changes. AT also allows for Artifacts, created by people to mediate activity (control their own behavior). Artifacts include: instruments, signs, language, and machines. I would suggest that space and place could also be considered artifacts, if they are used consequentially (Schweber 2005, vs. symbolically) as landmarks, shelter, paths, etc. Because AT is predicated on the conscious goal-based action of the subject, it can be analyzed in longer sections. Vygotsky, Leont'ev, Bodker, Kuuti, Wertsch, Davydov, Zinchenko, Talyzina, Christiansen, Engestrom, Escalante, Kozulin, and Norman are cited here.

DC focuses on the "system" -- cooperating individuals and the artifacts they use to complete the cognitive system's (or "functional system's" goals). Flor and Hutchin's 1994 study of shipboard navigation system is the classic article. Others include Miller, Nardi, and Zhang. DC analyses tend to be finely detailed examinations of artifacts, focusing on finding stable design principles.

When Nardi mentions "persistent structures" that extend beyond the duration of the activity, it's interesting that she mentions artifacts, institutions, and cultural values, but doesn't mention spaces which play a huge role in structuring not only activity, but other persistent structures -- artifacts, institutions and cultural values are all deeply influenced by the environment in which they are created, or of which they were created to mediate. To illustrate, consider how the culture of hunting societies or agricultural societies developed, and how they'd develop differently different geographical spaces. "Of the three frameworks, distributed cognition has taken most seriously the study of persistent structures, especially artifacts" (p.42). People and artifacts as "agents" in a system, but Nardi notes that the problem with this is that artifacts can't know anything, they can only be mediums of knowledge (p.43).

What this all means to me is that none of the three really handle space and place well, but DC at least has some room in its structure to deal with it. I'd like to pry that structure open further. If we break "spaces" in three, I could see what Simone Schweber (2005) calls "consequential space" (landmarks, paths, etc. that we've imbued with meaning that directs us) defined as an "artifact". And, I could see what Schweber (2005) calls "symbolic space" (Simone said I could cite her on this ;-)

My concern now turns to how DC will work with my research -- am I really interested in cognition? Or is my concern more about the role of space (consequential and symbolic) in the design and structure of learning environments? And if the latter, am I wasting time looking at DC, or is there an element of it that I can use?

The Caerus Game Engine: a first look

2005-09-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

The Caerus Game Engine: a first look
(Copied from my old Blog--since this article was written, the Caerus engine has been modified and my introduction here is certainly not the moste updated!!!)

I installed the Caerus (Context Aware Educational Resource System) program on my laptop and Dell Axim and spent some time going over the user manual. Here is what I found. (Well, to have a more holistic view of the engine, I would need to play the game myself) http://portal.cetadl.bham.ac.uk/caerus/default.aspx

1. Desktop Editor: Unlike the previous MIT augmented reality game (with which we design the MadCity Murder Game), CAERUS has incorporated the game (or Application) editor and the PDA game together as a kit, which is more convenient for the designers. The designers now can edit the desired content (texts, audio or video) with the desktop editor. This is a great feature because the desktop editor is more accessible to laymen.

2. Role Play: I did not find information about role playing from my first look. It seems that Caerus does not specify role play in its design. However, role-playing is not impossible for the Caerus engine. The designer can design three games tailored for three different roles on the same location or different location. I think it affords more flexibility for the designer to develop different scenario. A tour of a British garden can be modified as a game about biology or botany in the garden.

3. GPS coordinates: The Caerus engine works the same way as the MIT engine. Both need to specify three reference points to make the game work.

4. Game play: The Caerus engine allows the designers to design different games and specify one of them to play. For example, A history teacher can design two games regarding the history of Madison in the 1850s—one from the perspective of minority and the other from the perspective of the government—and then have students play the minority game, followed by the government game.

5. Time: From my first look, the Caerus engine can not designate time; hence the development features) of events can not been detected in the game.

6. Trigger: The Caerus engine does not afford the triggering of events, which is a great shortcoming for designers who wish to make visible the causality or interconnectedness between events or people. The MIT engine overpasses the Caerus engine in terms of allocating time and trigger. It is clear that the Caerus engine has some affordances the MIT engine fails to provide and the MIT engine surpasses the Caerus engine in some key aspects. The strength of the Caerus engines lies in its ability to provide multimedia support for the gamers (text, audio, video), its user-friendly design interface, and the content flexibility that affords different design scenario. The MIT engine is great for making explicit the causality and interconnectedness between people and time, which is essential for science related subjects. I would argue it is possible to integrate the strengths of both engines and make a more general-purposed game engine for multiple subject matters. (That would be an engine that middle school students can use for their learning/design in class--an engine that afford learning by design) However, it would require a team with designers, practitioners and software engineers for a period of time. (Might it be a potential project for grant?)

A Quick Look of MIT's New AR Engine

2005-09-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

To sum up, the new MIT AR game engine is a dream that I dreamed of since I designed my first AR game. Now it is possible to create a history game (or many other narrative-based games, inquiry-based games, science games or even second language acquisition games) with the affordances built into this new game engine.A brief introduction of the new game engine would tell you why I tell you this is my dream (I shall have another dream after this, no doubt!) I am not going to tell everything about the game. What I want to mention here is what matters most to me as a designer.

1. Editor: The editor is not a notepad or XML editor any longer. Now the designer actually has a more user friendly interface to work on (it is not yet a spontaneous design, but surely a big step toward that). If the designer already has a scenario for the game, she can literally input (copy/paste) necessary information in the editor and creates an AR game within one day (including some debugging, trouble-shooting...etc.) The new designer interface makes the work a lot easier. Moreover, the new engine is way more flexible than the previous one. The flexibility begins with the possibility to create any roles I want.

2. Roles: With the new AR engine, you can create as many roles as you desire. This is, simply, fantastic, period. Imagine a story which is told with the perspectives of five different people (which makes it five stories, if not ten). Five different kids, by playing five different roles, will take adventures of the game with five different perspectives. These stories may be relevant in some way or superficially irreverent, but the five stories together make a "grand narrative." Don't know what I am talking about? Ok, let me tell you in another way. A history game. History is a good example of perspectives and narratives. History is not just facts told by historians in a narration/fiction. History are stories shared by different people with different point of views. What make good history is that we don't have a "history." We have herstory, monstory, dadstory, kidstory at the same time. These stories are all valid and should be shared to inform our understanding of a family. Like familystory, we need to understand different perspectives in order to understand history or herstory. The new engine affords the designer to create as many ROLES, NPCs, GAME ITEMS in different time chunks in a flexible way, and thus enable the possibility to create far more scenarios than the previous AR game engine could (In the MadCity Murder, my imagination is confined by the hard-coded roles the player may play). The previous game engine is a good "pilot engine" and a great example of rapid prototyping. The current game engine, on the other hand, is a big step to a full-fledged AR design tool.

3. Gateway to the indoor world. Somehow I don't feel I fully comprehend this function, but I know the current engine will be able to make the indoor world relevant to the outdoor world in the game. For example, the designer can designate a spot in the Wisconsin Historical Society and have the players go to that spot to get the information needed to proceed the game. S ay, as a player in the game, I need to find the diary of A. Lincoln, stored on a book shelf in the 2nd floor in the Historical Society, in order to continue the game. I will have to enter the Historical Society when playing the game, retrieve the information the designer wants me to find, and then input the relevant information in order to continue the outdoor game. The gateway is not only a gateway of the indoor and outdoor world, it is also a gateway between the virtual/real, present/past world. Now everything indoor could be revelent to the outdoor and any historical artifacts in a museum can provide information for an inquiry-based game.

4. Time, Triggers and NPCs. Imagine that three kids are playing a history game. The three kids, a historian, a MPD police and an archaeologist, have to find five missing artifacts lost 100 years ago and then they have to reinterpret history based on what is found in order to discover a lost national treasure in Memorial Union. They need to interview people and get the key information, but not all of them could talk to anyone or get anything important. They will have to get at a place at a critical time period because time is critical. In the meanwhile, talking to someone will make them find something which is not available or irrevelent before. This engine can afford the scenario. Imagine what I can do with a history game with the affordances mentioned here.

More functions: There are some functions I did not mention here, not because they are not important, but because I don't fully understand their affordances. I can create chemical spills, designate the radius of that spill in time. I can click on the map to designate the location of NPCs or game items. I can...there are so many things I can do and I will not be able to mention all of them here until a game is designed with the engine.

Space and Time

2005-09-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

After our meeting today, I had a chance to ask Jim Gee why space and place is never really mentioned in socially-situated learning theories -- even though it seems to be pretty foundational to the language used in the theories (e.g. "learning environment" etc.)

He said, in his matter-of-fact "Well, John..." way, that "time trumps space" for social theorists in the West. They tend to think of space as being organized or situated in time by the activities that take place in the space. As an example, he mentioned how a room becomes "classroom" when a teacher stands at the "front" of it (and the "front" moves, depending on where the teacher stands), but the same room may be "meeting room" later if peers sit in it, in a less hierarchically-structured circle.

He added that scholars on the edges have tried to move to the center of the conversations of learning by promoting the centrality of space, but they usually don't get far (again, using very space-based metaphors). But, he acknowledged that with the research we're doing (with GPS-based games), it's probably appropriate to look into the role of space.

I almost walked away feeling like I was spending too much energy on a topic that was not worth it, but then I started to think of all sorts of counter-examples. The door of the classroom, where the clock and chalkboard is mounted, whether the seats are movable or bolted down -- these are all factors that greatly affect the activities. If a teacher stands at the back of a lecture hall, it doesn't become the front.

Sure, the space is named and turned into a place according to the activities that happen there, but the nature of the place has a huge impact on what activities can happen there. The Dow Day riots could not have happened in Lake Mendota, and it's not likely that Ivan Illych would have drowned in Ingraham Hall. While activities structure the way we construct Places, the activities are themselves structured by the nature of the Spaces they occur within.

So, while I'll accept that Western theorists have privileged time over space/place, I don't think I'll accept that it's A Good Thing to remain stuck in that position. I also have to admit to getting so caught up in space/place that I've been overlooking the importance of temporality -- of course, I have plenty of time with which to address that shortcoming.

Nardi (1995)

2005-09-28T16:42:00.000-05:00

For next week, let's read Bonnie A. Nardi's (1995)"Studying Context: A Comparison of Activity Theory, Situated Action Models, and Distributed Cognition" [PDF]

Hopefully, it will offer further insight into how these theories vary, and -- a personal interest -- how space and place is addressed in them.

Besides being available as a PDF, it's a chapter in Nardi's (1996) Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction

Place in socially-situated learning

2005-09-26T11:17:00.000-05:00

In the Abstract (and conclusion) of Video Games and the Future of Learning (2005), David Shaffer, Kurt Squire, Richard Halverson, and James Gee contend that:

video games matter because they present players with simulated worlds: worlds that, if well constructed, are not just about facts or isolated skills, but embody particular social practices. Video games thus make it possible for players to participate in valued communities of practice and as a result develop the ways of thinking that organize those practices.

In this short excerpt, five elements are introduced that I feel need to be explored:

communities of practice -- Lave & Wenger (1991). A classic framing among socially-situated theories, in some ways, this sets up the metaframework on learning and identity as a social process.
participation -- between John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Jim Gee's ideas on Discourse (1990), the whole realm of Activity theory, this is covered.
ways of thinking -- David Shaffer's epistemic frames (2004) seem to address this nicely
embodiment -- While much is written on this, I think this still needs exploring as to its more explicit links to socially-situated theories
worlds -- whether physical or virtual, there needs to be more work in tying this area to socially-situated theories of learning.

Research on worlds is of great interest to our ARGaming group, given our work with GPS-enabled, location-based games. Our need to research Space and Place leads us outside or at least to the edges of mainstream educational research to thinkers like Yi-Fu Tuan, Michael Streibel, David Gruenewald, and perhaps even (another suggestion) Keith Basso (1996) -- Wisdom sits in places: landscape and language among the Western Apache. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

I'm suggesting that research on the role of place in socially-situated learning may be a larger (system-wide) need than just for our interest in AR Gaming. Even in Distributed Cognition, the focus is on actors and tools, and does not seem to delve much into the role of Place (however, I am just beginning to look into DC, so there may be much that I just haven’t yet seen).

Place Continued

2005-09-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

Here are links to two readings that draw from the theories surrounding sense of place and combine them with critical pedagogy, placed-based education, and environmental education. They appeal to me because I feel that they support some of the design features that have shaped the PDA designs that we have been discussing to date, Env Det, Dow Day, etc.

Gruenewald, David “The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place”

Streibel, Michael "The Importance of Physical Place and Lived Topographies"

On a personal note, I hope to mine the site-based and place-based potential of AR games in order to help students connect with and better understand their local cultures, economies, histories, ecologies, etc. I also want to research how they might be used to get students more actively engaged in shaping the future of their communities through political and social awareness and action.

Re: Tuan

After reading the Tuan chapters that Matt suggested I was excited about the potential of designing a game that explicitly explores the theories and concepts related to sense of place. I see great potential for this avenue when we talk about having students design their own AR/PDA games. For example, students could design a PDA game or presentation that communicates their own experiences related to sense of place.

Re: Tuan - Sense of Place in Environmental Detectives

The Tuan reading helps frame some questions related to role that place plays in the Env Det. Ming-Fong and I have talked a lot about this, but it is obvious that these same issues will arise in future designs, so I decided to post some questions.

Note: It is important to remember that the game alone is not designed to carry the weight of these questions. My assumption is that Env Det will be played as part of a larger unit on watershed ecology, scientific investigation, etc. that will provide a context for the gaming experience.

Questions related to space and place:

What role does the physical environment play in the Env Det experience? Is the site specificity and physical environment important to the narrative / game play? If so, to what extent? Tuan uses the example of a driver zoning out and losing sense of time and place while they drive along a highway. It seems that this happens at various points to people when they play Env Det. That is, they become focused on the PDA environment and lose connection with the physical environment. Is this an accurate observation? If so, is this a good thing or a bad thing? What might it tell us about their connection to the site / place? What else might it tell us?

How can the design be adjusted to “more deeply connect” students to the physical space? For example, in chapter two Tuan discusses the role that taste, touch, smell play in “spatializing” our world. Can the narrative include more features that clue the player in and encourage them to engage with the physical space? Can the physical environment become part of the problem space?

Do student leave the experience with a more developed sense of place? Why or why not?

How might the sense of place/space (or awareness of place/space) synthesize with issues such as identity, immersion, pacing, etc.?

Re: Streibel / Gruenewald

Here are a number of thoughts on AR/PDA design related to place-based environmental education. I am not suggesting that Env Det should do these things, but since it is the design that is up and running I am using it help me work through how AR games could promote a “critical pedagogy of place.”

Do the students leave with a better understanding of the political, social, economic factors that shape the local watershed?
Does the design (including pre- and post-discussions) encourage them to explore ways that their personal choices impact the watershed?
How does sense of place interact with and influence the questions above?

Space and Place resources

2005-09-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

I did a quick Google for Yi-fu Tuan's Space and Place but stumbled upon ° R e s e a r c h ° o n ° P l a c e ° & ° S p a c e ° instead. As with anything, there's plenty of information out there -- it's just a matter of sloughing through it for the stuff that most-directly applies to one's own particular interest without getting sidetracked by the "Oh, that's interesting too..." bug.

This (re-)realization is causing me to once again reconsider, and further narrow, my focus. I'm not sure how to do that, but I think I need to stick with the deeper philosophical/theoretical areas until I get it figured out. Basically, that means learning more about how place is addressed in Distributed Cognition and other socially-situated learning theories (and components -- is it fair to say that Shaffer's epistemic frames and pedagogical praxis, and Gee's theories on Discourse, as well as, possibly all of Activity Theory can now be filed under, or seen as a part of Distributed Cognition? Mingfong, what do you think?).

I guess I'm looking for a "unifying theory" a way to unify an existing theory with enough of an emphasis on place to satisfy my value of the importance of place.

Tuan 1.0

2005-09-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

Tuan
Scanning through the pages of this book, I’ve realized that there is a lot of information.
I went through the chapters that I thought would best fit our research directives.

Chapter 2 – Experiential Perspective
Experience – term for various modes through which a person knows and constructs a reality.

This chapter primarily focuses on a discussion of experience. “Experience is a process by which external stimuli and internal processes work to define our environment.” Internally, he speaks about emotion, feeling and thought. All of which are “ways of knowing. Externally, he focuses on perception and sensation, looking at how the complexity of our senses creates an intellectual awareness.

“What we know is a reality that is construct of experience, a creation of feeling and thought.”

“Human beings not only discern geometric patterns in nature and create abstract spaces in the mind, they also try to embody their feelings, images, and thoughts in tangible material.”

Ch4 – Body, Personal Relations and Spatial Values

Body and bodily interaction define fundamental principles of spatial organization. Here he discusses how space is seen as a relationship between the body and that which is around it (egocentric). We define space according to how our body acts with in space and how bodies then relate to each other in space.
There is a significant discussion of how specific attributes of space (high & low, front & back) have come to take on certain meaning due to this bodily relationship.
“The human being imposes a schema on space.”

Ch6 Spatial Ability, Knowledge and Place

Here he focuses on “how spatial ability informs spatial knowledge,” Knowledge being a transferable resource.
The gist of the chapter is an understanding of how human beings go about learning space through their ability to move and then producing patterns of knowledge to replicate those movements.
“Spatial awareness comes through training.”
“Space becomes place through familiarity.”

He proceeds into the cultural implications of spatial ability and knowledge.

Ch 10 – Intimate Experiences of Place

“Each intimate exchange has a locale, which partakes in the quality of the human encounter.’
This chapter continues to refine the meaning of place and how one goes about defining place. “Place is a permanent stopping point.” Tuan talks about the impact of memory in building specifics to make a place, and the distinction between public and private places.

“Thought creates distance and destroys the immediacy of direct experience, yet it is by thoughtful reflection that the elusive moments of the past draw near to us in present reality and gain a measure of permanence.”

Distributed Cognitions (Salomon, 1993)

2005-09-23T10:56:00.000-05:00

Mingfong recommends this as an "all you need to know about Distributed Cognition" book -- or at least a good place to start.

It's got Michael Cole, Roy D. Pea, Moll, Gardner, Ann Brown, etc. in it, so it's got to be chock full of DC goodness.

Yi-fu Tuan 1998

2005-09-22T10:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Matt for introducing Yi-fu Tuan into the dialogue, as we look at the role of Space/Place in Augmented Reality Gaming. It promises to be very interesting stuff from a reflective academic. From past experiences, I guess I sort of expect a quiet sensibility from the Human Geographers I've met (and, speaking of, thanks to Nich Bauch, an advisee of Yi-fu Tuan, for further updating me). Those well-rooted in place seem to have that quiet sensibility (Aldo Leopold? Henry Thoreau? etc.)

Here are some quotes by Yi-fu Tuan from his Charles Homer Haskins Lecture for 1998

“Life, with no sense of direction, is drained of purpose.”

“I took up geography because I have always wondered, perhaps to a neurotic degree, about the meaning of existence: I want to know what we are doing here, what we want out of life. Big questions of this kind, which occur to most children as they approach puberty, have never left me. But rather than seek an answer in the great abstractions of philosophy and religion, I began my quest at the down-to-earth level of how people make a living in different places and environments.”

“Geography has allowed me to roam from the physical to the human—from climate and landforms to morals and ethics—and still remain within its capacious borders. The downside is isolation—isolation from fellow geographers who may roam the same grounds but come up with quite different questions and answers; and isolation from scholars in philosophical disciplines who, though they may share my questions, find no reason to heed the cogitations of an outsider.”

Epistemic Frames -- take one

2005-09-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

To get my mind around the idea of epistemic frames, I'm reading the following articles: Shaffer, David (2004?) "Epistemic Frames and Islands of Expertise"

In it, Shaffer describes the benefits of participating in an infusion experience, as displayed in the schooling, behavior, and confidence of Natalie. He merits the organization of her expertise around a particular coherent epistemic frame as the reason. He uses Crowley and Jacob's (2002) concept of islands of expertise, which create 'abstract and general themes' that students are able to use in other contexts" but extends it to affect a student's identity and participatory role in a community of practice (p. 7).

Drawing on Lave and Wenger (1991) Shaffer says, "pedagogical praxis (Shaffer, in press) extends communities of practice" (p. 4). He agrees with Browdy's (1977) assertion that knowing that and knowing how are incomplete without knowing with -- but Shaffer adds that to really be complete it also needs "knowing where to begin looking and asking questions, knowing what constitutes appropriate evidence to consider or information to assess, and knowing when to draw a conclusion and/or move on to a different issue" (p. 4). This strikes me as being a parsed out version of Jim Gee's big-d Discourse right now. But then that still seems to me to be a re-write of L&W's CoPs. I'll have to figure out the differences as I read more.

So, when he suggests, "Epistemic Frames are the organizing principles for practice" (p. 4), perhaps he is merely defining an aspect of CoPs or Discourse. Maybe he's suggesting that CoPs refers only to the community, and EF is an element within a CoP that structures it. In which case, Gee's Discourse would refer to the behavior of and within the community that is guided (organized) by the principles of its EF. This makes smart academic sense -- it takes a good theory and breaks it down into elements, pulls in a colleague's work as one element, and defines and names another element.

Put most simply: Shaffer's Epistemic Frames guide Gee's Discourse of Lave & Wenger's Communities of Practice.

I wonder if I can get on this train. The action/behavior of the individuals and group is taken by Gee. The mental processes of the individuals and groups are taken by Shaffer. The group itself is L&W. The elements that are not discussed include: the body itself, and the effect of place. Perhaps if I focus on the embodied situatitivity of the being in social/geographical space/place -- that's more along the lines of my FML interest and research anyway.

Well, I should read more on EF to be sure I got it right.

Killer Maps

2005-09-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

This excerpt of a longer article about Google Maps strikes me as heralding an important point in augmenting physical reality, as well as being quite apropos to our focus. The full article is Killer Maps

Annotating the Planet (page 6 of 6)
As the big three vie for Web users' loyalty, they're likely to introduce more ways for people to import their own data and see it displayed on professional-looking maps. Google Earth Plus, an enhanced subscription version of the program, allows users to upload and view data collected by their GPS units, such as "tracklogs," series of virtual bread crumbs showing where the user has been.

And other companies are getting into the mix. A program for Nextel GPS camera phones, Trimble Adventure Planner, helps users create online travelogues by uploading photographs and pinning them to the appropriate spots on a Web map.

Siemens, meanwhile, is developing software that will let a GPS-enabled mobile device associate notes with specific coordinates; when someone else with a similarly programmed gadget approaches the coordinates, the note appears on his or her screen. A tourist bureau might "label" a particular spot along San Francisco's Embarcadero as the site of a fatal duel in August 1879. John Udell, a columnist for InfoWorld, has coined a phrase for this phenomenon: "annotating the planet."

It's a trend that the main providers of mapping platforms have every incentive to encourage. After all, as the history of the Web itself has shown, interesting content draws more traffic, which drives more click-throughs. "The world is really dense with information," says Schuyler Erle. "Access to ubiquitous networking and location-finding services means that we can take that information and make it accessible in the places we are actually in, when we need it, and that allows us to make much more intelligent decisions on the spot, at that time."

Every page on the Web has a location, in the form of a URL. Now every location can have a Web page--indeed, an infinite stack of them. That may sound like a recipe for information overload. But in fact, it means that navigating both the Web and the real geography around us is about to become a much richer experience, rife with occasions for on-the-spot education and commerce. It means that we will be able to browse the Web--and the virtual earth encompassed within it--simply by walking around.

Wade Roush is a TR senior editor based in San Francisco.

Research Purposes

2005-09-19T11:34:00.000-05:00

>"I would surely be interested in knowing more about your research purposes"

Oh boy, that's actually a challenging question for me in that it's forcing me to both narrow in on a few specific purposes, and then to actually state them. Let me begin broad.

In the larger picture, I'm interested in getting people to think for themselves. I feel that public formal education, as well as much of the learning that occurs from interaction with mainstream media, and much religious-based intruction, promotes hive thinking. One of the campers at FML last year brought Gillian Cross's The Demon Headmaster Takes Over that looks at a (not too distant) world filled with inane game shows and entertainment, where "Curiosity is the curse of the human brain!" is the official slogan. "Suddenly, asking questions is dangerous - and finding out the answers seems impossible. What's going on?" It is another (somewhat sillier) version of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or Lois Lowry's The Giver. More recently, I've read the same concern in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer where Lord Finkle-McGraw wants his daughter to learn to think for herself, rather than take on the mindless (behavior of the Victorian phyle she's being raised in. Actually, "mindless" isn't an accurate word -- the mind is engaged, but sort of primed to follow the mainstream, without giving it critical thought. I see this in current sentiments like "If you're not for the administration; you're against it" and "Now is not the time to question...". I respectfully disagree.

Narrowing in, I'd like to explore how technologies can encourage people to ask challenging questions that will cause society to become better (along Deweyian ideals) without destroying it. I had a supervisor who summed it up nicely in a letter of recommendation: "John likes to rock the boat, but doesn't have mutiny in mind" -- at least not violent mutiny.

This is still a pretty big slice of pie, so I narrow it further by adding environmental stewardship and wilderness education/appreciation to it. This addition also challenges me to marry these two outwardly contradictory things (wilderness and technology) together, to focus on some positives of their engagement in a world where we see and hear mostly of clashes. It also allows me to conduct research at what I feel is one of the coolest places on earth -- Flying Moose Lodge on Craig Pond, in East Orland, Maine -- a gem of mountains, lake, and woods off the telephone and electric grid.

I think that's as far as I can narrow it for now. Beyond these parameters, I'm open to ideas. Currently we're using iPaqs, Bluetooth GPS, and MIT's RiverCity Game editor. There is no cell phone or Wi-Fi coverage there, so while these technologies are interesting to me, it's less directly applicable (at this point), as I need technologies that extend further into the wilderness, and don't really want to see cell phone towers on every mountain.

Nicolas Nova

2005-09-19T11:08:00.000-05:00

Again, thanks go out to Nicolas Nova (his blog: Pasta and Vinegar) for a comment of fabulous references -- he's doing much of my legwork for me (thanks!!), and clearly, he's much further in his knowledge of this stuff than I am. So thanks Nicolas, for helping me play catch-up. My take on AR Gaming is slightly different than yours, but you sure have collected a huge base of resources including those in your comment:

IN-duce: DE-duce's Location-based mobile phone games
ElasticSpace's Mobile social software applications
we-make-money-not-art'sComputergames and Urban perception
and of course, his own site's search engine (results for Mixed Reality, Hybrid Reality, and Augmented Reality

Part of my problem is that I still don't know exactly what I'm searching for. I suppose part of my goal this semester is to come up with a narrower goal. I'm currently in a "I'll know it when I see it" mode, but there's really too much out there that interests me, and more being created everyday. In a way, it reassures me that I can focus on my particular woods-based game, without needing to know *everything* else that's going on -- there's just too much. That said, again, it's nice to keep at somewhat familiar with such a growing field, and nice to be in touch with someone who's considerably more familiar.

John's Goals

2005-09-18T12:47:00.000-05:00

My goals for this semester:

To gain a broad survey-level understanding of the field of location-aware handheld games, and to create a brief review of this literature
To differentiate the subtleties between, and to define, Augmented Reality, Hybrid Reality, Mixed Reality, and other related nomenclature
To learn and be comfortable with the RiverCity Game editor, so I can quickly create and modify "customized" games.
To figure out how to tie in, without drowning in, Social Computing, Pervasive/Continuous Computing, and other aspects inherent in the type of Augmented Reality gaming we are researching.
To structure my research (find and understand a theoretical framework) in such a way as to understand and address the importance of place (social and geographic) in learning.

I suspect I have other goals that I just can't think of right now, and suspect also that some of these will be modified as I learn more.

Review: Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age

2005-09-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

This past April, when I explained what my vision of Augmented Reality Gaming to David Hatfield in Learning Sciences, he asked if I'd read The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and gave me his copy. I finished the coursework reading and started reading it for pleasure, but then went to Maine and forgot it in Wisconsin. Well, I found it again, and finished it.

To me, The Diamond Age is about video games in education. The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is essentially a personalized video game and nanny. Three such books were employed for three girls -- one was 'racted' largely by a daughter's often-distracted father, one by a single actress who took on the role with the dedication of a mother-figure, and one was racted by assorted anonymous ractors, who saw their role as temp workers -- no real commitment. Having just come off reading Nicolas Nova's (2003) literature review of space and proximity, including forays into mixed reality, I couldn't help but draw some parallel ties to the proximity of characters here. Milgram's famous experiments shadowed in my mind too.

So, what is (or can/should be) the role of space and proximity in our Augmented Reality Games? How close are the social ties in various incarnations of Social Computing? What connections do MMORPG gamers feel toward each other (Constance Steinkuehler addresses this in her research).

My favorite quote from the book: "Nell," the Constable continued, indicating through his tone of voice that the lesson was concluding, "the difference between ignorant and educated people is that the latter know more facts. But that has nothing to do with whether they are stupid or intelligent. The difference between stupid and intelligent people — and this is true whether or not they are well-educated—is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations—in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward" (p. 237).

Although there are several others that I like a lot.