Play in the smart city context: exploring interactional, bodily, social and spatial aspects of situated media interfaces

Andre G. Afonso and Ava Fatah gen Schieck

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2020, vol. 39, issue 6, 656-680

Abstract: Urban media interfaces can assume many forms, offering rich possibilities for interactions and social encounters. We focus on a particular type of urban interfaces, namely urban media installations, which are situated, fixed (i.e. non-mobile) and outdoor interactive interfaces enhanced by digital technologies. Drawing on research on play in the context of the smart city, we aim to clarify how the digital and the physical worlds of urban media installations can coalesce into enjoyable and socially thriving playscapes. Two case studies of urban media installations are presented: the Appearing Rooms, a seasonal art installation in London, and the Mirror Pool, a permanent, large-scale urban installation in Bradford, UK. Each of these interfaces incorporates a design paradigm that differs from the other in terms of context, duration of implementation, and scale. Following a longitudinal approach based on non-participant observations and time-lapse photography, we analyse emergent interactions and focus in particular on playful encounters at different levels and scales: from the micro scale of the bodily engagement to the macro scale of the spatial and social configurations. Our case studies highlight that the urban spatial layout is a key element in defining the emerging interactions and encounters around the urban situated interfaces.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0144929X.2019.1693630 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tbitxx:v:39:y:2020:i:6:p:656-680

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tbit20

DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2019.1693630

Access Statistics for this article

Behaviour and Information Technology is currently edited by Dr Panos P Markopoulos

More articles in Behaviour and Information Technology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().