Earlybird registration is now open! Please register here!
At TEI 2015, Stanford University, January 15th
Participation in the studio is open to everyone attending the TEI conference, provided they register before the deadline. Registration is first come, first served, and spots are limited. If you are interested in joining us, please also contact us directly with the information requested below, so that we can plan our supplies accordingly. Looking forward to seeing many of you there!Studio Activities
Taking inspiration from theatrical costuming and fashion design, this studio will enable participants to create wearable game controllers that include costuming elements. In theatrical and dance practice, costumes and masks are frequently used to elicit specific character behaviors in performers. Improvisational theater theorist and Mask practitioner Keith Johnstone describes masks as a source of outside->in transformation. Stanslavski, the father of Method acting, wrote about the power of masks and makeup to elicit powerful new experiences of the self. Schools of outside->in method acting have long held that it is possible to use external stimuli including costumes, choreography, and tangible props to elicit transformative experiences in a performer.
Fashion aficionados similarly use the clothing they select to inhabit an identity and to project that identity in social contexts and interactions with others. What takes place in a bounded ‘magic circle’ of gameplay with costuming, we believe also has relevance outside this sphere and in the realm of everyday life. We can see the beginnings of the modulation of wearables into fashion with experiments like Google’s collaboration with Diane von Furstenberg putting Glass on runway models. This studio will allow participants to reflect upon the transformation of wearables into fashion objects in their own right, toward anticipating and designing these aspects of such devices.
The “Costumes and Wearables as Game Controllers” studio aims to explore how researchers within the tangible and embodied interaction community can expand the expressive possibilities inherent in wearables and embodied interfaces by applying inspiration from costuming and fashion design
The studio organizers will assemble a simple kit for quickly hacking together wearable game controllers, so that participants can focus on the expressive possibilities of designing new wearable game interfaces. We will put together a very simple hardware platform comprised of conductive fabric, alligator clips, and the MaKey MaKey interface board, which we will provide to teams of participants to facilitate rapid prototyping of wearable controllers. For more advanced and ambitious participants, we will also provide an assortment of Arduinos, accelerometers, flex sensors, and other off the shelf sensors. Participants are encouraged to source and supply their own specialized hardware if they desire to work with any particularly esoteric sensors or devices.
In addition to providing an easy-to-use hardware prototyping platform, we will also provide a wide assortment of clothing, costume pieces, and accessories for participants to modify and transform into wearable game controllers. Participants are also invited to bring any costume or prop items that they would like to contribute to the shared group pool, so long as they understand that these items may well be modified and re-appropriated during the studio.
Prior to the start of the studio, the organizers will curate a selection of free-to-play online games that we believe will lend themselves to this type of expressive interface design. A list of these games will be provided to the participants prior to their arrival at the conference, to help them plan possible new interactions ahead of time, but participants are also encouraged to suggest and provide other games that they are interested in designing new interfaces for.
Participants Sought
There are still plenty of spots available! We invite you to join us at TEI to prototype playful costume-based and wearable game controllers. No prior knowledge of wearable technology or game design is required.
Required Skills:
- Passing familiarity with playing games and thinking about embodied interaction.
- Enthusiasm for playful exploration of wearable tech & game play.
Helpful Skills:
- Basic understanding of electronics and physical prototyping.
- Experience with game design and prototyping.
- Costume and fashion design.
Required Preparation:
- We will expect participants to bring a laptop computer capable of connecting to a MaKey MaKey via USB and the internet via WiFi. Not every participant needs one, but if everyone who can easily bring one does so, we should have enough.
- Participants are expected to take the time to familiarize themselves with the provided list of (short, simple) games and with the basic workings of the MaKey MaKey ahead of time.
- Optionally, participants are encouraged to bring any hardware, software, tools, and prototyping supplies they wish to contribute, particularly if they have a specialized design idea that they wish to realize.
- Optionally, participants are encouraged to bring costume pieces, fabric, and other accessories to aid in prototyping wearable items. Keep in mind that any pieces may be subject to modification & alteration over the course of the studio.
- Optionally, participants can suggest additional games that would work for this prototyping process.
Submission Process
If you wish to participate in this studio please send an email to ttanen[at]uci[dot]edu with the following information:
- Subject: Participating in the Costumes and Wearables as Game Controllers Studio
- Short Introduction: We’d like to know who you are, where you are coming from, and what, if any, preferences you have about the studio.
- Any dietary restrictions or allergies: We’re going to provide food and drinks, and want to make certain there is something for everyone.
- Links to 1 or 2 free to play games that you think would make good candidates for the studio. Alternatively, if you have a commercial game you would like to design for, please let us know, and be prepared to bring a working version to the studio with you.
We look forward to hacking and playing with you in January!