Category: Links

What a wonderful resource for physical games designers: quote after quote from diverse sources that illustrate uses of touch across cultures and times. Via Mr. Webb.

“Social means showing off and sharing, and politeness and play, yes. But social also means healthier, wealthier and happier, and that’s a big, big deal. I believe that’s why social matters.”

The guys at BUROPONY have started blogging. This first post outlining some of the thinking behind their own identity is a nice example of their approach to things: based on crafting physical materials and playfulness.

Chris quotes Bridget Riley on sketching who in turn quotes Stravinsky on constraints.

Starting small, making sure participating is worthwhile to the first few, all things that seem so logical but are so easy to forget once you’re deep into something.

Although I see a lot to agree with here (providing access to city data is a good thing). I can’t help but wince at the techno-optimism oozing from this piece. The author seems to think the average citizen is fluent in datamanipulation. Geeks are also flocking to this city as a platform stuff because it’s shiny new tech. But they’re forgetting about all the mundane infrastructures regular people are already dealing with, and need help with, which the techno-elite have forgotten about, since, well, it’s gotten bored with it.

I think Timo and Jack have made a lovely film, and they’re obviously on to something. But it’s design for designers, and I’d love to see them do design for, well, the rest of the world.

An interesting site (thanks Iskander), very much related to my ideas on using urban games to create positive effects in public space. The tagline though, is misleading: “something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better”. Beyond gimmicks, fun is neither a simple concept to understand, nor a simple experience to bring about.

A new Fourth Wall Studios project. Ashley Wood’s involvement is promising.

“The generous attitude towards failure that big cities afford is invaluable-it’s how things get created. In a small town everyone knows about your failures, so you are more careful about what you might attempt.” Finally gotten around to reading Jones piece that connects scifi, comics, urbanism and interaction design. Being fascinated by cities myself, this was a treat.

‘”I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original,” said the great 20th Century architectural critic Reyner Banham, and the systems we’re talking about are orders of magnitude more complex than mere cars and freeways.’

This certainly looks like fun. Should give it a spin some time.

The Spime Pope heaps praise on BERG.