Background

The aim of this project is to deliver a working, proof of concept, pervasive game that would itself be themed around transport and sustainability and intended to be played on public transport.

This will be an augmented reality game played on smart phones. Interaction with the game will be presented onscreen with 3D graphics that overlay the real world. The players will be able to interact with a communally created world on the public transport route they take everyday. It will be a simple, ambient, social game in the same vein as Farmville or Foursquare.  Current research questions
 * How can we make use of contextual data gathered on public transport, via mobile devices?
 * What are the affordances and constraints for game design on public transport?
 * How can Layar be used as a game delivery platform?

Future project research questions
 * How can we use pervasive and ambient gameplay techniques to make a public transport journey more fun and engaging?
 * How can we use create an experience that creates or embeds an understanding of the systemic nature of sustainability or transport issues?

Business and policy rhetoric around personal ICT use in the context of public transport is geared towards making journeys more efficient. However the general practice is that people use things like mobile phones, PDAs and ipods, to make the travel experience more enjoyable through communication and entertainment. Public transport journeys are therefore great opportunities for engaging people via mobile based games because they are in a situation where they are likely to already be using their phone.

Past pervasive game design has tended to turn the world into a game board, and has (unsuccessfully) overlaid everyday, lived reality, with a Cartesian world view. This is not the way people navigate or live their lives. This game will take a more topological, networked and lived everyday approach to players use of transport and will theoretically locate the design within a ludic reimagining of de Certeau ’ s spatial practices.

The subject matter for the game will be based around the intersection between transport and sustainability. Although some of the messages may be delivered through the game content, much of the game communication is expected to be gained though exposing the players to a larger, multi-player/agent environment and the wider system of the game. Through this prototype phase we will design, with the wider team, an appropriate experience with relevant communication aims.

We will be investigating and building on the Layar browser. This provides us with many benefits for rapidly prototyping an application like this. It provides out of the box augmented reality, a reasonable level of onscreen interaction, GPS based proximity triggers that can give us locative interactivity, as well as authentication so we can deliver personalized experiences. Although there are some demos and projects in development, no game has been created with Layar. Research into delivering games via this platform will be useful both in academia and industry.