“The Banff Centre is outstanding place for artists and scientists to collaborate and build new concepts for technologies innovation that have the potential to change the course of social, interactive communication.”

~ Amber Frid-Jimenez, Information Visualization Designer, MIT Media Lab

Games, entertainment, and learning are moving to mobile platforms that make use of social gaming, communication, and play. How can we think about experience design that engages a wide range of participants and makes the most of mobile technology and its capabilities? How does GPS, biometric data, language and physical mapping enhance game play? What are the special qualities of mobile media that we can use in gaming, play, wellness, and learning?

This summit gathered leading researchers, developers, designers and investors in the development and evaluation of computer-based experiences and tools for mobile applications. We focused on experiences that combine social and physical maps, visualization strategies, and location based experience design. These can be used for gaming, play, tourism, recreation, and learning. We looked at the relationships between asynchronous and synchronous experiences, and ways of building a community of participants. How can visualization tools be instrumental at all levels of experience design?

As well, we considered technologies and software systems that allow the design of location-based experience, from next generation telephones to location-based design language. This summit continued ongoing BNMI dialogues about collaboration, simulation, re-enactment, visualization, language, emotion, and computation.

The summit was video-streamed live to universities and colleges in Canada and abroad as a learning resource, as well as prototypes demonstrated through the ACCESS grid, desktop audio and video-conferencing software. Event coverage is archived for use by future researchers.

As part of the Bodies in Play: Shaping and Mapping Mobile Applications summit, a concurrent workshop, The Shape of Conversation: Language Simulation, Sonification and Visualization, was held.

This workshop gathered leading researchers in the development and evaluation of computer based tools for language analysis to look at language simulation, sonification and visualization and its applications into mobile, web-based, and real time technologies. We examined tools that result in the visualization, simulation, and sonification of texts, as well as overarching linguistic structures. These tools have practical value in mobile communication, gaming, blogging, and data analysis.

Simulations, sonifications and visualizations can map social dynamics such as the movement and interactions of mobile PDA and phone game players or conference participants, or social dominance in online environments. Simulations, sonification, and visualizations map these to the generation of relationships, conflict or trust, and knowledge. Visualizations can also show the emergence of concepts over time and denote contextual information about the number of participants, or the quality of their interactions. Designers can also shape the aesthetics and content of visual material to meet the culture of user groups. What if any are the relationships between physical and virtual space, semantics, cognition, and meaning? How do topics unfold according to the social organization of spaces? How does emotion look and sound in the virtual world? Can language simulation tools enable deep analysis of trends or support democracy?

We engaged in the fast prototyping of several new or amalgamated systems, coupled with intensive participatory design and usability testing. Our goal was the creation of a networked applications environment with the capacity for fast implementation that will allow us to continue to share our research.

“The summit opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about creative process. The diversity of participants resulted in an amazing interplay and range of discussion. I have met people who will certainly be great professional contacts and research collaborators in future. The way we so successfully worked together has inspired me to seek out artists and designers when I get back to Toronto.”

~ Christopher Collins, PhD Candidate, Computer Science, University of Toronto

<return to top>