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Theoretical and methodological implications of designing and implementing multiuser location-based games

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An Erratum to this article was published on 28 December 2010

Abstract

Multiuser location-aware applications present a new form of mediated communication that takes place within a digital as well as a physical spatial context. The inherently hybrid character of locative media use necessitates that the designers of such applications take into account the way communication and social interaction is influenced by contextual elements. In this paper, an investigation into the communicational and social practices of users who participate in a location-based game is presented, with an emphasis on group formation and dynamics, interpersonal communication, and experienced sense of immersion. This investigation employs a methodological approach that is reliant on both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. A series of this user experience study’s results are presented and discussed.

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Notes

  1. This refers to the “micro-level” of interpersonal and group communication suggested in [6]. Setting the scope of the research at a wider level would be less viable, since measuring the effect of such systems on the wide complex of social interactions would require a greater number of users being investigated for longer periods of LM use.

  2. Situational awareness denotes the cognitive activity of constructing a mental model of the current situation and action that needs to be taken. It means arriving at a “definition of the situation” [10], which is a subjective achievement but also a collective one when those partial definitions converge on a “common definition of the situation”. Within this perspective, it is recognized that humans play a significant role in adapting and responding to unknown situations, as well as recognizing situations.

  3. I.e. it can be characterised as belonging to the ludus category of games. Games belonging to this category are characterised by well-defined rules and objectives that influence several aspects of the players’ activity.

  4. As observed in the case of LOCUNET, mobile gaming may promote awareness of often ignored objects and/or places and enrich with meaning some environmental elements which would otherwise be ignored by participants of the gaming experience.

  5. More details on where LOCUNET stands in terms of play theories may be found in [7].

  6. E.g. fellow team members are expected to work together whereas members of opposing teams are expected to compete with one another.

  7. “We are here right now and we play to win”.

  8. However, the system itself was rated as usable.

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Correspondence to Katerina Diamantaki.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-010-0334-4

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Diamantaki, K., Rizopoulos, C., Charitos, D. et al. Theoretical and methodological implications of designing and implementing multiuser location-based games. Pers Ubiquit Comput 15, 37–49 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-010-0304-x

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