5.1 The process
This project, as generally explained in the methodology chapter, was developed by adopting a research through design approach, that combines actions aimed at involving potential users, situating the project in a real context, and actually designing and developing an artefact.
However, differently from the second project, this was strongly influenced by the interests of the company, which was financing the research. As a consequence, the whole process was influenced by a decisive technology push.
The first phase of the project, in fact, was characterized by two parallel actions: a preliminary investigation, about the related research and the scenario, and a briefing from the company, aimed at identifying new design opportunities for taking advantage of the technological asset provided by them: broad-bend connection. The following step consisted on the definition of a design concept, which was elaborated through a process of co- design between a company innovation manager, designers (one primary investigator and an intern), an engineer, and a psychologist.
Once the concept was defined, two parallel types of actions were carried out. On the one hand, the designers and the psychologist collaborated to the design and development of exploratory actions,
that consisted of a questionnaire for adults, a focus group with parents, and an in lab testing with children. On the other hand, the actual design and development of the novel solution was carried out by the designers and the engineer.
These actions focused both on the games design and on the design of the platform, which however was carried out mostly by the individual work of the engineer member of the team. At this stage,
a preliminary setup was developed and tested in preliminary interactions with both adults and children. The following step consisted on situating and adapting the design concept and the preliminary setup according to a real context. This phase, in fact, was carried out in collaboration with the “Xké? Il Laboratorio della curiosità”, an educational center for children, based in Turin. Through this collaboration, new requirements were identified, a game was co-designed and developed, the solution was tested in wild as an experimental application, and the results were analysed with intent of generating sharable knowledge.
After the situating actions, the project was further developed from a technical point of view. Other design opportunities and contributions are still object of an ongoing collaboration with the Xké? lab.
Fig. 5.1 - The process of the Phygital Play project.
5.2 The Phygital Play
concept
The term Phygital consists of a crasis between the terms physical and digital, and stends for the growing phenomenon of contamination between these two dimensions. This hybrid scenario, and the related research, show some common characteristics that can be assumed to be crucial in the creation of a phygital gaming scenario.
Robert et al. (2011) defined mixed reality the process in which both the virtual and the real world are encompassed and merged, in order to produce new environments where physical and digital items coexist and interact in real-time. Especially in games, it is possible to identify two main categories of items: surfaces and objects. The surfaces, used as base for applications, are in most cases real- world surfaces (Wilson and Robbins, 2007), such as floors or walls, on top of which the playground is projected. Objects, on the other hand, can be either purely virtual or real. Mixed reality can be achieved by using a camera combined with a projector. The use of cameras is already widespread and well established, whereas the use of projectors is now
witnessing a large increase, as evidenced by many projects. Indeed, in some cases portable, pocket- sized projectors have been introduced (Yoshida et al., 2010). On the one hand, projections can transform any room into a playground (Jones et al., 2014). On the other hand, cameras allow to scan the environment and to understand what happens during the gameplay, especially with the introduction of low cost, depth-aware cameras. These tools allow for continuous feedback between perception and action, making the game constantly adaptive.
The adaptability in the game, in addition to the camera and projector systems, is enabled by several algorithms with different functions, such as environment mapping or object and person tracking (Jones et al., 2014). These cognitive abilities are usually entrusted to a server. As such, the camera, projector and server need connectivity for communicating.
The design concept of the Phygital Play project (figure 5.2) was defined according to these considerations and the theme of physically active play introduced in the chapter about the Scenario. It consists of a mixed-reality game platform, in which, children can play with or aganst a robot, interacting through the movement of their body.
Fig. 5.2 - Phygital Play. Game platform concept.
According to the available edutainment robot, a different game can be selected through a dedicated app, on mobile device (Figure 5.3). After a game is selected, no screens are needed for playing. In this way, the robots peculiar characteristic of being a physically embodied agent can be used as a way to attract, engage and entertain children, who are asked to move for playing.
5.3 Exploratory studies
The explorative stage was aimed at getting inspirational data about the current scenario of children’s play in Italy.
To this end, an ethnographic study was carried out: a qualitative analysis of people’s everyday life, desires, and concerns for informing and inspiring the next phases of the design process (Van Dijk, 2010). This analysis was characterized by three main actions: a questionnaire for adults, and a focus group with parents.
Adults were involved for the crucial role thay assume both as experts about children habits and needs, as well as final accepting users. In this regard, they were asked to discuss their perception, opinions, and concerns about the world of games, technology and children’s play habits.
5.3.1 General questionnaire
The questionnaire was firstly aimed at validating the relevance of the issue addressed by the project: raise of sedentary behaviours (SB) and their relation with technology. Secondly, it was aimed at investigating preferences about games and play typologies, both for adults and children, and to get a deeper understating of what are general ideas about robots and if there are concerns about their use for children’s play.
The questionnaire was composed by 31 questions, subdivided in general information, technological background, technology and relation with sedentary behaviours, games and play, and edutainment technologies, included robots. It was distributed as an online survey through the employee mailing list of Politecnico di Torino.