A Mathematical Framework for Interpreting Playing Environments as Media for Information Flow.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Human-Computer Interaction Volume 2008, Article ID 258516, 7 pages doi:10.1155/2008/258516 Research Article A Mathematical Framework for Interpreting Playing Environments as Media for Information Flow Tatsuo Motoyoshi, Takashi Hattori, Hiroshi Kawakami, Takayuki Shiose, and Osamu Katai Department of Systems Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan Correspondence should be addressed to Tatsuo Motoyoshi, motoyosi@sys.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp Received 1 October 2007; Accepted 18 August 2008 Recommended by Adrian Cheok This paper proposes a novel strategy of designing play equipments. The strategy introduces two loose constraints as a guideline for designers. The first constraint is “describing unit of play action chain” O, S, V based on Barthes’ semiology, and the second is the infomorphism between designer, play equipment, and players based on channel theory. We provide detailed explanation of the strategy through an example of a designing process of playing environment where the players usage of the play equipment cannot be foreseen. Copyright © 2008 Tatsuo Motoyoshi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1. Introduction equipment that is often seen at playgrounds as equipment for which it is difficult to assume players’ intentions. When playing computer games, users sometimes tend to add We expect to gain broad knowledge that also covers their own original ru