mc2:mc2:Mobile Content CommunitiesMobile Content Communities

Marko Turpeinen

marko.turpeinen@hiit.fi

TEKES

26.5.2003

Mobile GamingMobile Gaming

Mobile Gaming is expected to become

a multibillion dollar business. Forecast

range from $ 4,3 Billion by 2006 to

$ 12,5 Billion by 2008.

But

• Developers find the medium limiting

• No effective revenue models

• No content that explicitly takes advantages of the unique capabilities of

mobile phones

• Disappointment with mobile services hinders acceptance among developers

Open ContentOpen Content

The “open source” approach to

content is producing commercial quality

content with booming enthusiasm.

But

• No clear business models

• Legal gray areas (copyrights, fair use, etc)

• Potentially disruptive to current content industry as open source

to traditional software vendors

• No really clear way of how to successfully combine it with

“professional” content

Community PublishingCommunity Publishing

People become media content producers

themselves. New features of mobile

devices (integrated cameras and open

software platforms) enable collaborative

modes of multimedia content creation.

But

• How to increase chances of success in building and sustaining

communities?

• Can the creativity of the community members be leveraged in a

mobile gaming context?

MC2

Project-at-a-glanceProject-at-a-glance

•What?– understanding mobility, community and user experience in gaming– new business opportunities and structures that emerge around the

ecosystem of open collaborative content and communities – understanding the relationship of gamers and gaming to other forms

of media content

•Why?– high expectations for the future of mobile games– gaming communities are thriving, but poorly understood

•How?– multidisciplinary and international approach – strong and active links to industry partners – scenario-based rapid prototyping and analysis

DeliverablesDeliverables

• Evaluated scenarios of mobile community gaming

• Open source tools to empower the community activity

• Design templates to allow people to easily make their own games

• Academia/industry network that is self-sustaining

• Best practices, academic papers, theses for further use

What Type of Gaming?What Type of Gaming?•Any groups of people interested in mobile game development and

gaming

•Games do not have to be multi-player games

•Games do not have to be only mobile games

– combinations of mobile, PC and TV

•New user groups and audiences

– not limited to “hard-core gamers”

– example: The Sims characters and extensions

•New mobile game genres

– live action role-playing (LARP) game extensions

– learning, social simulation, health

•New combinations of virtual and real world

– context-dependent games and simulations

Roles in a Mobile Gaming CommunityRoles in a Mobile Gaming Community

•The core developers (“hackers”) create the actual game engine (on the basis of, say, OMA architecture or other open tools)

•The inner circle members (“creators”) contribute game characters, storylines and elements, scenarios, rules, maps, art, music, etc. to the game

•The next circle members (“aficionados”) contribute related material such as fanfic, art, chat, gossip, hero/horror stories, etc. related to the game

•The outer rim members (“fans”) just play the game and contribute to the shared on-line experience of the players

•The audience (“lurkers”) mostly observe the activity from outside, maybe waiting for the right moment to get more deeply involved

Game planning and developmentDesign of media elements

Extensions and modsPlatforms and engines

DiscussionReviews and requests

Documenting gaming sessionsMulti-channel media visibility

Playing games

Games and Media ContentGames and Media Content

Case/Scenario-Based ApproachCase/Scenario-Based Approach

• Total of 2-3 cases, with 2-3 underlying scenarios for each case

– Mobile Augmented Reality

– Hybrid Media Games

– (Simulations and Learning)

• Tentative choices to be worked out together with partners into the actual research scenarios

• Rapid prototyping in order to explore the scenarios in the real world

Case 1: Mobile Augmented RealityCase 1: Mobile Augmented Reality

•Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) links together the real world and the information coming from the network and/or applications

•MAR covers the whole scope from simple location and map applications to dataglass 3D AR applications

•Nokia Research Center is currently building a generic MAR applications development framework and toolkit (Multi-User Publishing Environment, MUPE) for mobile terminals

•MUPE is to be launched publicly for application developers by Nokia in 2003

•Project mc2 will

– create an attractive node for the MUPE community

– study the socio-economical impact of this open technology platform

Case 2: Hybrid Media GamesCase 2: Hybrid Media Games

•Experimentation of different forms of hybrids between community-created games, recorded gaming experences and using TV as a gaming platform

•Allow gaming communities to use television as a forum for larger visibility

•Using digital television and MHP as a platform for community-created games

•Mix personal and community-created content with professionally created content

•Project mc2 will

– develop prototypes and experiments together with television broadcasters (MTV3/SubTV/Intervisio)

Initial communities of studyInitial communities of study

•Multi-user online environments from Tilt.tv (or others like Habbo Hotel)

•Fantasy leagues

•Live-action roleplaying (LARP) communities

•Mobile augmented reality (MAR) games (e.g., Bot-Fighters, Can You See Me Now?)

•Short film communities (e.g. www.pixoff.net)

Action Research as a MethodAction Research as a Method

Contextual Layerethnography, interviews, surveys, psychophysiology

methods of game research

Participative Action

Enabling Technology

Development

Multidisciplinary Multidisciplinary ApproachApproach•Technology

– game development platforms and game design templates– tools for collaborative game design and implementation– enabling tools for documenting shared experiences

•Media Research– games as mobile community-oriented media– games and television

•Sociology– modeling community activity (member roles; community lifecycle; social networks; group-to-

group interaction)– understanding social context of use

•Psychology– user experience of gaming and emotions (single player vs. multiple players; individual

differences; mobility)– social psychology and group dynamics

•Business– business impact of open development platforms– open content: legal structures and new business models

HUT/SoberITKalle ToiskallioMarko NieminenInformation Ergonomics Research Group

University of TampereHyperMediaLab Frans Mäyrä

Games Research NetworksDiGRAEuropean Games Research NoE

Media Lab EuropeKen Haase Everyday Learning GroupMind Games GroupStory Networks Group

HIITMarko TurpeinenSami JokelaJan BlomDigital Content Communities GroupUser Experience GroupDigital Economy Group

UC BerkeleyMarc Davis Risto Sarvas (HIIT DE)SIMS, Garage Cinema Group

CompaniesNokia (mobile gaming) Alma Media (media)

TeliaSonera (operator)

Veikkaus (betting)

Accenture (value networks)

Codetoys (game platforms)

Sulake Labs (community)

Sumea (game developer)

Solid (embedded databases)

Starcut (mobile publishing)

NetworkNetwork

M.I.N.D. Lab FinlandHKKK/CKIRTimo Saari

MIT Media LabWalter BenderElectronic Publishing Group Interactive Cinema Group

mc2mc2

HIIT HIIT DCC GroupDCC Group

• Community building

• Enabling tools design and implementation

• Game-related storytelling

• Metadata for game-related content

• Community modeling

HIIT HIIT UE GroupUE Group

Production of scenarios by investigating existing gaming communities

1) Producing content to mobile games• How and what kind of content is produced?

• What roles emerge in the process?

• What artefacts are currently used to support this?

2) Documenting the mobile gaming experience

• What aspects of games could be (and are) documented?

• Experience during and after the game

HIIT HIIT UE GroupUE Group

Construction of a theory of gaming experience

1) Implications to scenario development

2) Implications to MIND Lab’s quantitative approach to studying game-playing emotions

M.I.N.D. LabM.I.N.D. Lab

Psychophysiological research into the relationship between game-play and emotion

What is the link between emotion and

1) low-level elements of the game

2) social interaction

3) game’s microcontext/task

4) individual differences

Design rules for facilitating or avoiding certain emotion occurring during game-play

Univ. of Tampere Univ. of Tampere HyperMediaLabHyperMediaLab

Design and research methods development

Understanding the relationship between game structures and game-play

Design solutions supporting active fan behaviour:

1) analysing existing games with an active player community creating modifications or extensions

2) investigating how the mechanisms may be transferred to mobile games

HIIT DE GroupHIIT DE Group

Analysis of different models of combining open content production with professionally created

content, and studying the business impact of these

Use of mc2 as a testbed for new forms of open content licensing of community-created

content (e.g. creative commons)

HUT/SoberITHUT/SoberITInformation Ergonomics GroupInformation Ergonomics Group

Modeling gaming communities, through understanding the ideas of

1) mobility (levels of mobility)

2) community (roles in communities and social translucency of computer networks)

3) incidental learning (socialisation is associated with learning)

4) contexts of use (virtual reality versus augmented reality; privacy versus

publicity)

UC Berkeley/SIMS UC Berkeley/SIMS Garage Cinema GroupGarage Cinema Group

creating the technology and applications that will enable daily media consumers to become daily media producers

research and teaching encompass the theory, design, and development of digital media systems for creating and using media metadata to automate media production and reuse

headed by Professor Marc Davis

MIT Media Lab MIT Media Lab Electronic Publishing GroupElectronic Publishing Group

how to produce, represent, and distribute news and information efficiently and how to engage the consumer of media as an active participant

headed by Walter Bender (director of MIT Media Lab)

Project SizeProject Size

• 2,5 years (2003-2005)

• 2 M€ Budget

– 80% TEKES - 20% industry

• 22 person-years total

• 48 months international research

TasksTasks•Task 1: Establishing common ground (27 person months of work)

– Understanding the state-of-the-art of mobile communities, open game development platforms and mobile gaming (based on literature and user studies)

– HIIT DCC (6), HIIT UE (10), HIIT DE (1), SOBERIT IERG (8), UTa HyperML (1), CKIR (1)

•Task 2: Scenario building (25)– Developing 4-6 mobile gaming content scenarios

– HIIT DCC (5), HIIT UE (8), HIIT DE (2), SOBERIT IERG (6), UTa HyperML (4)

•Task 3: Supporting game-related communities (15)– Creating and hosting a node for developers and gamers

– HIIT DCC (15)

•Task 4: Conceptualization and design of enabling tools (23)– Design tools for design, creation, and distribution of open gaming content

– HIIT DCC (4), HIIT UE (14), HIIT DE (1), UTa HyperML (4)

•Task 5: Building and maintaining enabling tools (30)– Software prototypes and tools for (and with) the communities

– HIIT DCC (30)

Tasks (contd.)Tasks (contd.)•Task 6: Modeling game-related community (44)

– Monitoring, documenting and analysing the community activity

– HIIT DCC (10), SOBERIT IERG (30), UTa HyperML (4)

•Task 7: Mobile game design research (24)– Study the design and conceptualization of mobile games

– Develop the methods of game research

– UTa HyperML (24)

•Task 8: Understanding the experience of gameplay (55)– Psychophysiological modeling and measuring of the gameplay experience

– Individual vs. social gameplay experience

– HIIT DCC (2), HIIT UE (11), SOBERIT IERG (6), UTa HyperML (6), CKIR (30)

•Task 9: Business impact of open content platforms (12)– Testing open content licensing with community-created gaming content

– HIIT DCC (6), HIIT DE (6)

•Task 10: Reporting and dissimination of the results (10)– HIIT DCC (3), HIIT UE (2), SOBERIT IERG (2), UTa HyperML (2), CKIR (1)

Partner TypesPartner Types

• Different Level of Involvement

• Fee (30 months):

– Core 80,000 €

– Case 30-60,000 €

– Support 10,000 €

Core Sponsors

Case 1

CaseBased

Partners

Case 2

CaseBased

Partners

Case 3

CaseBased

Partners

Support Partners

E=mcE=mc22

Contact

email: marko.turpeinen@hiit.fi

phone: +358-50-64084