No abstract

Abstract. Hospitalized children often experience physical changes that negatively affect their bodily perceptions, thereby adding to the stress of being sick. Existing approaches to supporting hospitalized children such as those promoted by the Clown Doctors use play to distract the child from negative bodily perceptions. In contrast, we propose reframing the bodily perception of these children through bodily virtual play facilitated by their imagination. We explore this design space through an analysis of the literature combined with design explorations around play and bodily imagination. This research results in a set of themes for games that aim to reframe bodily perception to a more positive self-image full of creative potential. We envisage that our work could help designers who aim to create digital play for sick children.

Audio Arc is an audio-spatial game for a group of players using mobile phone ringtones. A game host instructs players to set their phone alarms to default ringtones in unique pairs. Alarms are set a few minutes in advance of the game starting so that they all activate at the same time. Once the phone alarm activates, players seek their audio counterparts with the matching ringtone whilst blindfolded. On finding each other, players can remove their blindfolds and silence their phone alarms. The game is designed to keep rules and organization to a minimum so players may focus on the experience of navigating space using audio cues. The simplicity of the game play belies the more profound contemplation of the role of the human senses in orientation within an environment. It draws attention to the proliferation of digital sound in everyday situations. Each time the game is played, a unique soundscape is generated based upon the number of players, their choice of ringtone and the inherent acoustic qualities of the site of play. The mobile phone is re-signified for ludic and collaborative ends in ways that facilitate ad-hoc social interaction and draws attention to our audio-spatial senses.