Embodied & Material Play

(I'm going to cheat a little in this post - I'm going to use the present tense as if I was posting just in time.)

This week's discussion about embodiment was inspired by texts with different focuses. Dovey & Kennedy's "Bodies and Machines" reflects about the cyborg and the importance and role of the body when playing games. Simon's "Geek Chic" looks at case modding as a way for moders to express themselves, to bring games outside of the virtual sphere and to make technology present, visible and obvious. Kirkpatrick's "Controller, Hand Screen" proposes an artistic view of the interactive/gaming experience, looking specifically at the materiality of the controller.

Our colleagues driving the discussion suggested some case studies: the sixth sense, by MIT and the 3ds AR tattoo. These two different paradigms of interaction suggest two different views of technology-use. The sixth-sense says interaction is more intuitive if technology is somehow hidden. In this case, the user moves her fingers in the air to produce results, without having an 'intrusive' or 'obviously material' interface. In the second example, the 3DS AR Tattoo, the technology becomes part of the body, as if it was what we first think of as a 'normal tattoo'. The fact that your always carrying this piece of technology around would work as a form of showing off technology, a little like the case modders who change their machines to make technology evident. When looking at these two examples, we tend to try to predict which interaction paradign will outcompete the other one. But it is hard to foresee the future. The notion of 'intuitive' technology is very ambiguous and we need to consider the adaptability of the human. Some forms of interaction may seem 'not intuitive' but after some use they become 'natural'. If we look at today's controllers, they don't look 'natural' at all, while interaction with the kinect would easily be qualified as 'natural'. Yet, for gamers, because they are used to it, using a controller is considered 'natural' and other forms of interaction can cause some discomfort. This makes it hard to choose a paradigm over the other.
Personally, in one hand, I like having a sort of material "portal to engagement", an object that marks the gaming moment as a gaming moment and not a working moment or other. But, at the same time, I can have a lot of fun playing wii or kinect and laugh at the way me and others move while playing. In the latter case, I'm more strongly connected to the physical world and I am more aware of the fact that I am playing a game. That isn't so different, though, from the experience of playing a tabletop roleplaying game - there are no visible controllers and yet I don't feel that my engagement is compromised.