Art and Design Commons^™

Playing At The Crossroads Of Religion And Law: Historical Milieu, Context And Curriculum Hooks In Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter presents the use of Lost & Found – a purpose-built tabletop to mobile game series – to teach medieval religious legal systems. The series aims to broaden the discourse around religious legal systems and to counter popular depiction of these systems which often promote prejudice and misnomers. A central element is the importance of contextualizing religion in period and locale. The Lost & Found series uses period accurate depictions of material culture to set the stage for play around relevant topics – specifically how the law promoted collaboration and sustainable governance practices in Fustat (Old Cairo) in twelfth-century …

Minecrafting Bar Mitzvah: Two Rabbis Negotiating And Cultivating Learner-Driven Inclusion Through New Media., Owen Gottlieb

Articles

In 2013, a boy with special needs used the video game Minecraft to deliver the sermon at his bar mitzvah at a Reform synagogue, an apparently unique ritual phenomenon to this day. Using a narrative inquiry approach, this article examines two rabbis’ negotiations with new media, leading up to, during, and upon reflection after the event. The article explores acceptance, innovation, and validation of new media in religious practice, drawing on Campbell’s (2010) framework for negotiation of new media in religious communities. Clergy biography, philosophy, and institutional context all impact the negotiations with new media. By providing context of a …

Designing Analog Learning Games: Genre Affordances, Limitations And Multi-Game Approaches, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

This chapter explores what the authors discovered about analog games and game design during the many iterative processes that have led to the Lost & Found series, and how they found certain constraints and affordances (that which an artifact assists, promotes or allows) provided by the boardgame genre. Some findings were counter-intuitive. What choices would allow for the modeling of complex systems, such as legal and economic systems? What choices would allow for gameplay within the time of a class-period? What mechanics could promote discussions of tradeoff decisions? If players are expending too much cognition on arithmetic strategizing, could that …

Transeuntis Mundi: An Installation About Migration And Human Legacy, Cândida Borges, Gabriel Mario Vélez

Frameless

Transeuntis Mundi is a journey through transcultural and transnational humanity and geography. It is presented as an immersive installation, powered by virtual reality, projection mapping, sound sculptures and performative actions, the audience is able to transit through places and ethnicities.

Wind, Light And Seating Xperience (Xr), Shaun Foster

Frameless

Inspired by Plato’s Cave metaphor from "The Republic", this mixed reality experience talk and demonstration will ask the user to enter a virtual reality experience that is not completely virtual. Elements from the real world exist inside of the virtual; a flash light, a chair and wind. Research and demonstrations will be presented discussing what is XR (mixed reality) right now and what are some exciting technologies on the horizon that will take this field further...

Cross Disciplinary Virtual Reality For Lighting And Composition: Research Update, Shaun Foster, Ihab Mardini

Frameless

Advanced technology has made Virtual Reality a viable tool for widespread multidisciplinary use. We saw an opportunity to use VR to benefit multiple departments at RIT; 3D Digital Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, and the School of Film and Animation. All departments wrestle with the problem of effectively allowing the students the speed to iteratively light, compose and compare work. The complexity and length of rendering time using previous generation (CPU rendering) 3D applications distracts learners from focusing on design. Light and Composition are two major elements of designs that are often buried under overwhelming technical obstacles.

Smirk It: Goal Setting Through Augmented Reality, Ilene Kang, Anesi Ikhianosime

Frameless

This paper attempts to list one possible healing solution for those that suffer from a lack of happiness. We will be making an assumption that goal setting and working through goals will help those people by creating opportunities for happiness. Through an AR game application, we hope to reinforce good habits and hopefully inspire them to continue those tasks in regular day life.

Evaluating Audience Engagement Of An Immersive Performance On A Virtual Stage, Victoria J. Kraj, Thomas Maranzatto, Joe Geigel, Reynold Bailey, Cecillia Ovesdotter Alm

Frameless

Presenting theatrical performances in virtual reality (VR) has been an active area of research since the early 2000's. VR provides a unique form of storytelling, which is made possible through the use of physically and digitally distributed 3D worlds.

We describe a methodology for determining audience engagement in a virtual theatre performance. We use a combination of galvanic skin response (GSR) data, self-reported positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS), post-viewing reflection, and a think aloud method to assess user reaction to the virtual reality experience.

In this study, we combine the implicit physiological data from GSR with explicit user feedback …

Lost & Found: New Harvest, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context.

Set in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the 12th century, a great crossroads of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The Lost & Found games project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens …

Acts Of Meaning, Resource Diagrams, And Essential Learning Behaviors: The Design Evolution Of Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

Lost & Found is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed for teaching medieval religious legal systems. The long-term goals of the project are to change the discourse around religious laws, such as foregrounding the prosocial aspects of religious law such as collaboration, cooperation, and communal sustainability. This design case focuses on the evolution of the design of the mechanics and core systems in the first two tabletop games in the series, informed by over three and a half years’ worth of design notes, playable prototypes, outside design consultations, internal design reviews, playtests, and interviews.

Applying Generative Systems To Product Design, Alex Lobos

Articles

Generative Design provides multiple benefits to the development of new products. First is the creation of intricate patterns that resemble natural systems, moving away from geometric shapes typical of mechanical design. Second is the automation of processes where computers perform complex and repetitive tasks that would be too hard or tedious for humans to do. The opportunities that automation provides is frequently considered the main benefit of generative design in the creation of new products, buildings and systems. In both of these approaches, the output that computers generate is driven primarily by a designer’s vision that already has a general …

Jewish Time Jump: New York, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Jewish Time Jump: New York (Gottlieb & Ash, 2013) is a place-based mobile augmented reality game and simulation that takes the form of a situated documentary. Players take on the role of time traveling reporters tracking down a story “lost to time” to bring back to their editor at the Jewish Time Jump Gazette. The game is played in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, New York City. Players’ iPhones become their time traveling device and companion. Based on the player’s GPS location, players receive digital images from their location from over a hundred years in the past as well …

Statement Of Creative Practice: Creative Making And Vr Literature, Mez Breeze

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Editor's Note
Mez Breeze authored her artist’s statement in virtual reality. You can view Mez’s artist’s statement even without a VR headset. Just click this link: https://bit.ly/2Kov372
You’ll need this password to access it: XR_PlayG

Abstract
Constructing creative writing in XR (aka Extended Reality: an umbrella term that covers Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and a fourth category called Synthetic Reality), and VR in particular, is an exciting and recent phenomenon in the Electronic Literature field. This proposed Statement of Creative Practice will examine the scope and reach of XR artforms while focusing in particular on the subset of …

Publication And Evaluation Challenges In Games & Interactive Media, Elizabeth L. Lawley

Presentations and other scholarship

Faculty in the fields of games and interactive media face significant challenges in publishing and documenting their scholarly work for evaluation in the tenure and promotion process. These challenges include selecting appropriate publication venues and assigning authorship for works spanning multiple disciplines; archiving and accurately citing collaborative digital projects; and redefining “peer review,” impact, and dissemination in the context of creative digital works. In this paper I describe many of these challenges, and suggest several potential solutions.

Design Thinking As A Framework For Teaching Packaging Innovation, Javier De La Fuente, Irene Carbonell, Mary Laporte

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Students in scientific/technical-oriented disciplines struggle with achieving good levels of innovation when exposed to design problems. Research indicates the need for implementing alternative pedagogical approaches in technical curricula that enhance students’ creative skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a cross-disciplinary pedagogical approach with a focus on teaching innovation in the field of packaging engineering at a university in the United States. A Design Thinking Project-Based Learning (DTPBL) approach was used to improve the levels of innovation in student work. Its outcomes were compared with those of a Traditional Project-Based Learning (TPBL) approach. The implementation …

Consumers’ Preference Leading Purchase Intention Toward Manipulation Of Form And Transparency For Juice Packaging Design, Swati Pal, Abhishek Yevalkar, Amrita Bhattacharjee, Shivani Holkar

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Packaging plays a fundamental role on consumer’s intention to purchase, as it may be the first contact between the consumer and the product. The product packaging has a crucial role to attract consumer, force them to choose the product and act as a brand communication vehicle. The point of focus is how the elements of the package design affect consumer’s perceptions about products and brand. In this study, to understand the effect of package form and transparency on consumers’ pre-purchase preference of juice packaging, the participants (N=60) are asked to assess six designs against a 5-point Likert scale. The findings …

Perceptions Of Shop Operators On Packaging Of Made-In-Ghana Products, Agnes Decardi-Nelson Dr, Adam Rahman

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

The importance of packaging in the marketing of a product cannot be overemphasized. It raises the appeal of the product and becomes its silent salesman. Proper packaging is a less expensive means of advertisement and leads to a direct reduction in production cost and indirectly increases sales by attracting the final consumer. The use of packaging as a marketing and sales promotional tool has been very well developed in the advanced countries with developing countries such as Ghana lagging far behind. In Ghana, many products are poorly labelled and packaged. This paper seeks to ascertain the views of sellers/traders about …

Investigation Of Compression Strength Of Bliss Style Corrugated Fiberboard Boxes, Javier De La Fuente, Jay Singh, Rebecca Kisch, Soma Roy, Daan Peleman

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

The global demand for corrugated fiberboard is projected to experience a significant upsurge in the near future. Based on the end-use, packaging for processed and fresh food categories accounted for approximately 39% of the overall consumption of corrugated fiberboard in 2015. With key advantages such as providing an uninterrupted bottom, laminated corners for higher stacking strength, increased material use efficiency, side cutout options for display at retail and a wide range of styles over other styles of containers, Bliss style boxes find prominence in the agriculture sector. While numerous predictive strength models associating corrugated fiberboard material specifications to the box …

Re-Playing Maimonides’ Codes: Designing Games To Teach Religious Legal Systems, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Lost & Found is a game series, created at the Initiative for

Religion, Culture, and Policy at the Rochester Institute of

Technology MAGIC Center.1 The series teaches medieval

religious legal systems. This article uses the first two games

of the series as a case study to explore a particular set of

processes to conceive, design, and develop games for learning.

It includes the background leading to the author's work

in games and teaching religion, and the specific context for

the Lost & Found series. It discusses the rationale behind

working to teach religious legal systems more broadly, then

discuss the …

Finding Balance In Generative Product Design, Alex Lobos

Presentations and other scholarship

Generative design develops complex forms and structures similar to those found in nature, taking advantage of automated tasks and high-scale computing power. This approach benefits designers in the creation systems that are efficient, resilient and visually engaging. These systems follow specific rules for form generation and meet clear design goals in terms of shape, strength, mass, and other physical attributes.

There is a large number of methods for creating generative systems, based on establishing desired outcomes and behaviors for how components relate to each other. Examples of methods include L-Systems, Shape Grammars, Swarm Intelligence, Form Optimization, Lattice Design, and many …

The Lost & Found Game Series: Teaching Medieval Religious Law In Context, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context. The Lost & Found project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens in our pluralist democracy. The first game in the series is a strategy game called Lost & Found …

Prosocial Religion And Games: Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

In a time when religious legal systems are discussed without an understanding of history or context, it is more important than ever to help widen the understanding and discourse about the prosocial aspects of religious legal systems throughout history. The Lost & Found (www.lostandfoundthegame.com) game series, targeted for an audience of teens through twentysomethings in formal, learning environments, is designed to teach the prosocial aspects of medieval religious systems—specifically collaboration, cooperation, and the balancing of communal and individual/family needs. Set in Fustat (Old Cairo) in the 12th century, the first two games in the series address laws in Moses Maimonides’ …

Your Iphone Cannot Escape History, And Neither Can You: Self-Reflexive Design For A Mobile History Learning Game, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This chapter focuses on the design approach used in the self-reflexive finale of the mobile augmented reality history game Jewish Time Jump: New York. In the finale, the iOS device itself and the player using it are implicated in the historical moment and theme of the game. The author-designer-researcher drew from self-reflexive traditions in theater, cinema, and nonmobile games to craft the reveal of the connection between the mobile device and the history that the learners were studying. Through centering on this particular design element, the author demonstrates how self-reflexivity can be deployed in a mobile learning experience to …

Finding Lost & Found: Designer’S Notes From The Process Of Creating A Jewish Game For Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This article provides context for and examines aspects of the design process of a game for learning. Lost & Found (2017a, 2017b) is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed to teach medieval religious legal systems, beginning with Moses Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (1180), a cornerstone work of Jewish legal rabbinic literature. Through design narratives, the article demonstrates the complex design decisions faced by the team as they balance the needs of player engagement with learning goals. In the process the designers confront challenges in developing winstates and in working with complex resource management. The article provides insight into the pathways the team …

Introduction: Jewish Gamevironments – Exploring Understanding With Playful Systems, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

The study of Judaism, Jewish civilizationi, and games is currently comprised of projects of a rather small set of game scholars. A sample of our work is included in this issue.

Statefulness And Tangible Interaction In Design Education, Alex Lobos, Tim J. Wood

Presentations and other scholarship

Interaction in Industrial Design is expanding from tangible realms to intangible digital experiences. In this new environment, Interaction Design provides logical sequences and behaviors that allow users to easily navigate through complex workflows. This paper discusses a framework in which interaction design provides an innovative approach to traditional industrial design. This includes the concept of ‘statefulness’, where the dynamic changes of complex systems are broken down into states that can be defined and manipulated in order to achieve a desired user experience. This framework goes beyond having physical components of a product control digital interfaces and develops experiences that jump …

Card Tricks: A Workflow For Scalability And Dynamic Content Creation Using Paper2d And Unreal Engine 4, Owen Gottlieb, Dakota Herold, Edward Amidon

Presentations and other scholarship

In this paper, we describe the design and technological methods of

our dynamic sprite system in Lost & Found, a table-top-to-mobile

card game designed to improve literacy regarding prosocial

aspects of religious legal systems, specifically, collaboration and

cooperation. Harnessing the capabilities of Unreal Engine’s

Paper2D system, we created a dynamic content creation pipeline

that empowered our game designers so that they could rapidly

iterate on the game’s systems and balance externally from the

engine. Utilizing the Unreal Blueprint component system we were

also able to modularize each actor during runtime as data may be

changed. The technological approach behind Lost …

Redefining Sustainable Potential In Product Design, Alex Lobos

Presentations and other scholarship

Sustainability in product design is not determined only at the creation of an object; it can be acquired over time, just like a product that was designed with sustainability in mind is misused and underappreciated. Designers need to redefine how products and systems are created, and users need to reevaluate their relationship with them by engaging in sustainable behaviors at multiple points of their lifecycle. This paper introduces a categorization of products based on their ability to solve user’s needs and to minimize environmental impact across the lifecycle. Categories range from sub and ephemeral products, which don’t even serve relevant …

Time Travel, Labour History, And The Null Curriculum: New Design Knowledge For Mobile Augmented Reality History Games, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This paper presents a case study drawn from design-based research (DBR) on a mobile, place-based augmented reality history game. Using DBR methods, the game was developed by the author as a history learning intervention for fifth to seventh graders. The game is built upon historical narratives of disenfranchised populations that are seldom taught, those typically relegated to the 'null curriculum'. These narratives include the stories of women immigrant labour leaders in the early twentieth century, more than a decade before suffrage. The project understands the purpose of history education as the preparation of informed citizens. In paying particular attention to …

Lost & Found: Order In The Court -- The Party Game, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Presentations and other scholarship

Lost & Found is a strategy card-to-mobile game series that teaches medieval religious legal systems with attention to period accuracy and cultural and historical context.

The Lost & Found games project seeks to expand the discourse around religious legal systems, to enrich public conversations in a variety of communities, and to promote greater understanding of the religious traditions that build the fabric of the United States. Comparative religious literacy can build bridges between and within communities and prepare learners to be responsible citizens in our pluralist democracy.

The second game in the series, Lost & Found: Order in the Court …