Announcing new research project, carried out jointly by the game research teams of University of Tampere, Jyväskylä and Turku, starting 1 January, 2016: “Hybrid Social Play: Solutions for Future Social Games and Media (HYBRIDPLAY)”. Funded by Tekes and a consortium of collaborating companies, the Hybrid Social Play project aims to identify best practices and principles for hybrid social playability and develop tools and concepts for future, social physical-digital products and services. The key research questions that will be examined in this two-year-long project are the following:
1. What are the key digital and physical aspects that define successful social playability in physical, digital, and in hybrid use contexts?
2. What are the principles and best practices for the design and evaluation of hybrid entertainment products?
3. How successful hybrid social playability can be implemented within emerging, near future forms of game and media?
The research work packages are organised around four key phenomena and related research themes:
- WP1: Augmented, physical-digital board games and principles of social playability that successfully combines physical interaction and mediated, digital social gameplay;
- WP2: Toy-based play, that makes use of successful links and a long history between physical toys, rule-based game interaction and media;
- WP3: Physical-digital money gaming, particularly focusing on the new forms of social scratchcard and lottery gameplay utilizing augmented print materials and digital service functionalities;
- WP4: Transmedial play that includes the use of physical print media in combination of augmented digital and social functionalities.
For more information, contact:
- UTa/Gamelab; lead: professor Frans Mäyrä (responsible leader)
- UTu/Digital Culture; lead: professor Jaakko Suominen
- JU/Contemporary Culture; lead: professor Raine Koskimaa