New interactive platform developing?

A while ago, I designed an Interactivity Trapezium model for graphically illustrating the levels of interactivity of different media platforms. The shape of the model for console games is picked out in light blue and is distinctive for most of the platform games I’ve played on PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii. Last weekend a new media platform came out for the PS3 and that is in the current form of Heavy Rain on the PS3.

Credited since the it’s launch with an emotion-based AI, the PS3 has a potential game-changer in Heavy Rain in that it is cinematic to the levels of most Hollywoood blockbusters (probably more so in the case of Avatar) and yet key interactive features also feature highly. The trapezium for Heavy rain is nowhere near the norm for consoles!

How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? This is the central question of Heavy Rain and one that the protagonist, Ethan Mars, is compelled to answer. After Ethan’s son goes missing and is presumed to be the latest victim of the mysterious Origami Killer, he vows to do whatever it takes to rescue his boy. Besides Ethan, you also take control of three other seemingly unrelated individuals that have been drawn into the case: private investigator Scott Shelby, FBI criminal profiler Norman Jayden, and insomniac Madison Paige. Unlike other games that make extensive use of quick-time events, Heavy Rain does not track your progress in terms of success and failure. There is no right or wrong way to play; thus, no matter what your outcome is, the game will move forward and adapt to the consequences of your actions or lack thereof. Though the overall narrative framework is unyielding, your performance throughout the game can have a variety of effects, ranging from subtle changes in how a scene plays out to much bigger adjustments. Entire events may not occur because your actions and choices caused the plot to branch in a different direction. It’s even possible for key characters to die, thus eliminating any subsequent contributions to the story that they might have made. No matter what happens in your play-through, the adaptive plot of Heavy Rain becomes a deeply personal sum of your experiences. (Gamespot review)

I’m hoping this is the start of a new media that mixes the best elements of an involving movie with the interactivity of the best games; maybe Heavy Rain is the first of many in this genre?

Interactivity Trapezium* Modelling

*In the USA,  a “trapezium” is a quadrilateral with NO parallel sides unlike a UK trapezoid.

What activities are interactive? After a recent discussion over the relative interactivity of books, websites and reality TV, I wanted to model the components that enable interactivity in more detail. What I wanted to draw was a model in which these four components could interconnect in the form of four micrographs – in the manner of a malt whiskey taste star but less complicated! There are other components of interactivity I could also have included (such as productivity, creativity etc) but I wanted a simple model to test the idea on. So I settled on:

• Communication (level that information is produced)
• Adaptability (level that information can be adapted for other uses)
• Control (level that the information can be controlled)
• Feedback (level that the information can reward communication with more content).

Each quadrant represents a component of interactivity level from low to high (horizontal axis) and passivity (vertical axis). Interactive products are placed within each quadrant and a trapezium connects all four together. For example: a book (red X and trapezium) has a high level of passivity and low level of interactivity in terms of the participator’s control of information. A (successful) meeting (grey X/trapezium) scores highly in terms of interactivity and low in terms of passivity in terms of the control level. Comparing the completed red and grey trapezium shows a different conceptual model for each product and therefore a relative scale of interactivity. With more detail this could be adapted for describing interactivity in AI based computer/video games or the multimedia enhanced web interfaces of the future. Try doing a trapezium for a football match – where would it appear in the quadrants?

More reflections on Outdoor ICT

Schools are preoccupied with Virtual Learning Environments that are actually just Learning Platforms with very little virtual about them.  A classroom is the narrowest definition of a non-virtual environment. However, any physical (or even social) environment is a learning environment; at home, school, clubs, groups of friends with their implicit learning. The teacher role is fluid in these situations and can even exchange during a learning session. There is no restriction formed of age, gender or race  - only of experience and knowledge.

Vocational applied learning has re-established authenticity in learning environments and we have seen hairdressing salons, professional kitchens, travel agents and simulated offices built in UK schools. The application of knowledge and understanding to real-life tasks makes this learning space more valuable than ‘empty space’ classrooms. More recently, we have seen technology enhanced learning spaces especially with the advent of BSF schools. The use of collaborative knowledge building wikis, online cloud based software like Google docs and Virtual worlds like Second Life, mean the actual ICT room can be anywhere with wifi.

Let’s consider the advantages of Outdoor learning; this is ‘real life’ in the extreme, whole-body learning, challenging to comfort, group building and when guided meta-cognitive in the reflective process. The outdoors can be a highly beneficial place to learn and long established as such by groups like scouts, Kingswood, Brathay and others. Coupled with wifi Internet access and portable, mobile computing there are even more possibilities.

My recent experience at Kingswood near Penistone introduced the use of Samsung NC10s, Flip Ultra usb cameras and USB ’3′ modems. Learners were able to use Blogger to record ideas and review their experiences, Flickr to upload still photos and You Tube for video. From the concrete experience of climbing a Climbing Wall with ropes, they could reflect on the experience, discuss abstract ideas – Emotional Intelligence summaries like how nervous they were before, what might happen, risks, personal challenges, what support their teams gave them and how it felt to complete the task. Given the next task of abseiling, learners could test out their theories in new situations – who was the chief motivator of the team, who was most supportive?

For the practicalities of the British summer, the netbooks were restricted to indoor use only (netbooks not wetbooks) but the Flipcams were taken everywhere and used at all times. Some thoughts for future Outdoor ICT:

• PDAs? Data logging on the spot
• Geocaching – iPod Touch and Google maps if not real GPS handhelds
• Game-based M-learning (see eMapps.com)

Playstation games for school homework

Playing video games has become homework for some students, but it’s not all fun. Games are designed to sharpen maths and language skills. San Diego-based Lightspan is the company that creates the educational games for Sony Playstation. Writers, animators, and educators seek out the right mix of fun and learning. And just like game developers who create the explosions and adventures of entertainment video games, one goal at Lightspan is to encourage kids to play each game many times. There are many pre-school games and with the advent of the Playstation 3, a market for k12 (KS3 & 4 in the UK) is sought. The latest and best are Rock Band and Little Big Planet; the latter being a collaboratively social game encompassing puzzle-solving and brain activities. Let’s hope that we can build upon the recent success of Nintendo DS’ Brain Training and set computer puzzles as homework!