A research blog for speculative game design focusing on Animals and Play.
Birdly was first conceived by media artist Max Rheiner as a Design Research project at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in Switzerland in 2013 and was developed into a product developed alongside the SOMNIACS spin out company. Birdly creates an immersive experience of being a bird flying through the city. The project consists of a bespoke controller for a virtual environment where the players body is augmented using a body controller. The player is strapped in and flaps their arms to control the wings of the bird. The immersion is enhanced with the use of a fan which blasts…
Pig Chase (2013) is a project prototype from a research collaboration between Utrecht School of the Arts, Wageningen University, and Wageningen UR Livestock Research which is designed to investigate inter-species play and how digitally mediated play could open a space for inter-species communication. The project focuses on animal welfare and using games as a means to entertain the livestock and reduce undesired behaviours (such as biting) between the animals as they suffer from boredom while in their pens. The Danish government introduced an amendment to the law governing livestock which required the introduction of a toy (usually a ball on a…