This assignment is a homework for the class Human-Computer Interaction at the Hague University of Applied Sciences. These reflections were done during the second week of the course following a lecture about playful interfaces (digital games where the interaction doesn't rely on a typical screen).
Research
For this topic I found an example of a Playful interaction which wasn't showed in the lecture. It is the Head tennis sensor which can be fitted inside a tennis racquet so it can monitor the player's movements and give a data report on their phone about their performance with advice on how to improve and even a 3D serve animation. According to the company which created it (Zepp) the products is attached at the bottom at the racquet and senses movement through dual accelerometers and dual 3-axis gyroscopes, then connect to the phone through bluetooth. It tracks key performance metrics for each swing including: stroke type, ball speed, ball spin and sweet spot.
The play modus is:
- Either single player or multiplayer.
- Competitive (with yourself or with others)
- Parallel (matching)
Assignment
For this assignment I was supposed to come up with a new concept for a social playful interface to encourage positive behavior within the main THUAS building.
My idea is to encourage students to interact with each other and socialize with new people. I imagine a wall on which shapes are projected and require multiple people to mimic the shapes with their shadow (from the projector). At first you only need two players and it is pretty easy to cover the whole shape, but as the game goes the shape's surface grows until you need to add more people. This would force people to ask help from strangers and it would also encourage attendance as students would want to spend time at university.
The play modus is:
- Multiplayer
- Cooperative
- Interdependent actions (Shared Space)
Reflection
I really like the idea of adding games into life through technology, I think it is a very powerful agent of change and can help people modify their behavior. I also think that using technology on other surfaces than 'regular' screens like projecting it on any surface or using sound to give feedback to the user can, just like wearables, make the implementation of technology into our daily life smoother. If you are, for example, trying to break or make a habit, adding technological interactions at the place where your habit takes place can help you make better decisions.
Like I said I really like gamifying interactions and designing beyond 'typical' screens, but I do think that those two concepts are quite different and having to combine them (or finding examples that use both) is quite limiting.