Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Place and ITV: Playful Design Strategies Towards Place-Oriented ITV

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Digital Games and Entertainment Technologies

  • 378 Accesses

Abstract

Providing users with a sense of place – related to a specific geographic location in which one is situated, or linked to a faraway place, or even giving place-like qualities to virtual spaces such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games – has been deemed central for several forms of digital interactions. In the past decade, studies from human-computer interaction and computer-supported cooperative work have specifically addressed this theme, but the scarcity of works of place specificity focusing expressly on interactive TV suggests a gap in the current research, whereas the latest developments in mobile TV would seem highly coherent with such topic. To contribute to closing this gap, some initial directions are suggested here by pointing at compatible treatments of the notion of place in related fields, for example, the design of pervasive urban games. Game designers and game scholars might provide operational concepts that help understanding the role and the potentialities of places for interactive TV. Two general types of artifacts are selected here: works that are anchored to the experience of faraway places and works that leverage the physical location in which the user is. Their analysis yields three design strategies (experience anchoring, place permeability, and distributed storytelling), offered here as “objects to think with” and to spur further research and design. By pointing at them and at other similar strategies, similarities between digital games, ITV products, and other similar artifacts emerge and allow us to speculatively trace possible future convergences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Recommended Reading

  • Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, Mercedes Benz: Escape the Map (web video game) (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Almeida, J. Ferraz, A. Pinho, D. Costa, Engaging viewers through social TV games, in Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Interactive TV and Video (ACM, New York, 2012), pp. 175–184

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Barlow. Her Story (video game) (2015). Retrieved from http://www.herstorygame.com/

  • J.-P. Bichard, A. Waern, Pervasive play, immersion and story: designing interference, in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts (ACM, New York, 2008), pp. 10–17

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Bogost, Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Bogost, Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Brindfors, Magnum Pleasure Hunt 2 (web video game) (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Champion, Otherness of place: game-based interaction and learning in virtual heritage projects. Int. J. Heritage Stud. 14, 210–228 (2008). doi:10.1080/13527250801953686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • F. Charles, J. Porteous, M. Cavazza, J. Teutenberg. Timeline-based Navigation for Interactive Narratives. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (pp. 37:1–37:8) (2011). New York, NY, USA: ACM. http://doi.org/10.1145/2071423.2071469

  • D. Compagno, P. Coppock, Computer Games Between Text and Practice (AISS, Milano, 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Copier, Connecting worlds. Fantasy role-playing games, ritual acts and the magic circle, in Proceedings of the 2005 DiGRA International Conference: Changing Views: Worlds in Play (2005), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • DDB B-Reel, Chaos in Your Town (web video game) (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • J.E. Deaton, C. Barba, T. Santarelli, L. Rosenzweig, V. Souders, C. McCollum, J. Seip, B.W. Knerr, M.J. Singer, Virtual environment cultural training for operational readiness (VECTOR). Virt. Real. 8, 156–167 (2005). doi:10.1007/s10055-004-0145-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. De Souza e Silva, Hybrid reality and location-based gaming: redefining mobility and game spaces in urban environments. Simulat. Gam. 40, 404–424 (2009). doi:10.1177/1046878108314643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. De Souza e Silva, D.M. Sutko (eds.), Digital Cityscapes: Merging Digital and Urban Playspaces, First printing edition (Peter Lang Publishing, New York, 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • U. Eco, A Theory of Semiotics (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1976)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Ferri, Interpretive cooperation and procedurality. A dialogue between semiotics and procedural criticism. E|C, 5, 15–20 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Ferri, Mettiti In Gioco (urban performance) (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Ferri, To play against: describing competition in gamification, in Rethinking Gamification, ed. by M. Fuchs, S. Fizek, P. Ruffino, N. Schrape (Meson Press by Hybrid Publishing Lab, Lüneburg, 2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Ferri, Narrative structures in IDN authoring and analysis, in Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory and Practice, ed. by H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, T.I. Sezen (Routledge, New York, 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Ferri, P. Coppock, Serious urban games. From play in the city to play for the city, in Media and the City: Urbanism, Technology and Communication, ed. by S. Tosoni, M. Tarantino, C. Giaccardi (Cambridge Scholars Publisher, Cambridge, 2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Genette, Figures III. Ed. du Seuil, Paris (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Goffman, Encounters. Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction (Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1961)

    Google Scholar 

  • Google. (2013). Find More with Movie & TV Info Cards. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/3015292

  • C. Hales, Interactive cinema in the Digital Age, in Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory and Practice, ed. by H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, T.I. Sezen (Routledge, New York, 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Harrison, P. Dourish, Re-place-ing space: the roles of place and space in collaborative systems, in Proceedings of the 1996 ACM conference on computer supported Cooperative Work (ACM, New York, 1996), pp. 67–76

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Hess, B. Ley, C. Ogonowski, L. Wan, V. Wulf, Jumping between devices and services: towards an integrated concept for social TV, in Proceedings of the 9th International Interactive Conference on Interactive Television (ACM, New York, 2011), pp. 11–20

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture (Beacon, Boston, 1938)

    Google Scholar 

  • IperG (2005) Prosopopeia (urban performance)

    Google Scholar 

  • F. Jannidis, Narratology and the narrative, in What is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory, ed. by T. Kindt, H.-H. Müller (Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York, 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (NYU Press, New York, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Jonsson, M. Montola, A. Waern, M. Ericsson, Prosopopeia: experiences from a pervasive Larp, in Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACM, New York, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Koenitz, Towards a theoretical framework for interactive digital narrative, in Interactive Storytelling, ed. by R. Aylett, M.Y. Lim, S. Louchart, P. Petta, M. Riedl (Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, 2010), pp. 176–185

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • H. Koenitz, Towards a specific theory of interactive digital narrative, in Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory and Practice, ed. by H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, T.I. Sezen (Routledge, New York, 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, T.I. Sezen, The evolution of interactive digital narrative theory, in Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory and Practice, ed. by H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, T.I. Sezen (Routledge, New York, 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Kohler, Finally! You Can Now Play Pac-Man on Google Maps. Wired. http://www.wired.com/2015/03/pac-man-google-maps/ (2015)

  • B. Laurel, Computers as Theatre (Addison-Wesley, Boston, 1991)

    Google Scholar 

  • F. Lantz, K. Salen, Big Urban Game (urban performance) (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Li, M.F. Goodchild, Constructing places from spatial footprints, in Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Crowdsourced and Volunteered Geographic Information (ACM, New York, 2012), pp. 15–21

    Google Scholar 

  • J.E. Mcgonigal, This Might Be a Game: Ubiquitous Play and Performance at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century (University of California, Berkeley, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Montola, J. Stenros, A. Waern, Pervasive Games: Theory and Design (CRC Press, Amsterdam, 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Munthe-Kaas, Transmitting a political vision through Larp. http://munthe-kaas.dk/blog/?p=130. Accessed 4 Jan 2015 (2010)

  • J.H. Murray, S. Goldenberg, K. Agarwal, T. Chakravorty, J. Cutrell, A. Doris-Down, H. Kothandaraman, story-map: IPad companion for long form TV narratives, in Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Interactive TV and Video (ACM, New York, 2012), pp. 223–226

    Google Scholar 

  • J.H. Murray, Transcending transmedia: emerging story telling structures for the emerging convergence platforms, in Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Interactive TV and Video (ACM, New York, 2012), pp. 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • J.H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace (Free Press, New York, 1997)

    Google Scholar 

  • Namco corp. Pac Man (arcade video game) (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Nandakumar, J. Murray, Companion apps for long arc TV series: supporting new viewers in complex storyworlds with tightly synchronized context-sensitive annotations, in Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video (ACM, New York, 2014), pp. 3–10

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Nieuwdorp, The pervasive discourse: an analysis. J. Comput. Entertain. (2007). doi: 10.1145/1279540.1279553

    Google Scholar 

  • Opus. System Danmarc (urban performance) (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Piacenza, F. Guerrini, N. Adami, R. Leonardi, J. Porteous, J. Teutenberg, M. Cavazza, Generating story variants with constrained video recombination, in Proceedings of the 19th ACM International Conference on Multimedia (ACM, New York, 2011), pp. 223–232

    Google Scholar 

  • J.-H. Réty, N. Szilas, J. Clément, S. Bouchardon, Authoring interactive narratives with hypersections, in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts (ACM, New York, 2008), pp. 393–400

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Rieser, Artistic explorations: mobile, locative and hybrid narratives, in Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory and Practice, ed. by H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, T.I. Sezen (Routledge, New York, 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • M.-L. Ryan, Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • M.-L. Ryan, Narrative Across Media: The Languages of Storytelling (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • M.-L. Ryan, Avatars of Story (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Salvador, G. Ferri, 3Cities (urban performance) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Salvador, G. Ferri, 3Cities – pic your story. A playful urban experience. Screen City J. 5, (2015a)

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Salvador, G. Ferri, 3Cities – Pic your story. Il design partecipativo di una ludicizzazione urbana, in Oltre il gioco. Critica Della Ludicizzazione Urbana, ed. by M. Bittanti, Z. Emanuela (Unicopli, Milano, 2015b)

    Google Scholar 

  • J.H. Smith, S.N. Just, Playful persuasion: the rhetorical potential of advergames. Nord. Rev. 30, 53–68 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Sørensen, H.W. Nicolajsen, Generating ideas for new mobile TV services: accepting and socializing mobile television, in Proceedings of the 8th International Interactive Conference on Interactive TV and Video (ACM, New York, 2010), pp. 179–182

    Google Scholar 

  • O. Sotamaa, All the world’s a Botfighter stage: notes on location-based multi-user gaming, in Proceedings of the Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference (Tampere University Press, 2002) p. 35

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Stakenas, M. Zurkov, Public art. http://www.o-matic.com/public_art/index.html. Accessed 1 Oct 2012 (2006)

  • J. Stenros, In defence of a magic circle: the social and mental boundaries of play, in Proceedings of 2012 International DiGRA Nordic Conference (2012), Tampere, Finland.

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Stenros, A. Waern, M. Montola, Studying the elusive experience in pervasive games. Simulat. Gam. 43, 339–355 (2012b). doi:10.1177/1046878111422532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B.H. Suits, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1978)

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Sylaiou, A. Karoulis, K. Mania, M. White, Exploring the relationship between presence and enjoyment in a virtual museum. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud. 68, 243–253 (2010). doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2009.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiltfactor labs. Massively Multiplayer Soba (urban performance) (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Turkle, Evocative Objects: Things We Think With (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • V.H. Tuulos, J. Scheible, H. Nyholm, Combining web, mobile phones and public displays in large-scale: Manhattan story mashup, in Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Pervasive Computing (Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, 2007), pp. 37–54

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Turner, S. Turner. Place, Sense of Place, and Presence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15(2), 204–217 (2006). http://doi.org/10.1162/pres.2006.15.2.204

  • Twitter Inc. Periscope (app) (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Tychsen, M. Hitchens, T. Brolund, M. Kavakli, Live action role-playing games control, communication, storytelling, and MMORPG similarities. Game Cult. 1, 252–275 (2006). doi:10.1177/1555412006290445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M.F. Ursu, M. Thomas, I. Kegel, D. Williams, M. Tuomola, I. Lindstedt, T. Wright, A. Leurdijk, V. Zsombori, J. Sussner, U. Myrestam, N. Hall, Interactive TV narratives: opportunities, progress, and challenges. ACM Trans. Multimedia Comput. Commun. Appl. 4, 25:1–25:39 (2008). doi:10.1145/1412196.1412198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Weiser, The computer for the 21st century. Sci. Am. 265, 94–104 (1991). doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0991-94

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, 919 E Tenth Street, 47408, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Gabriele Ferri

Authors
  1. Gabriele Ferri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriele Ferri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Interactive & Digital Media Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Ryohei Nakatsu

  2. Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Matthias Rauterberg

  3. Scienze dell'Informazione, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Paolo Ciancarini

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this entry

Cite this entry

Ferri, G. (2015). Place and ITV: Playful Design Strategies Towards Place-Oriented ITV. In: Nakatsu, R., Rauterberg, M., Ciancarini, P. (eds) Handbook of Digital Games and Entertainment Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-52-8_46-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-52-8_46-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4560-52-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation