Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Locative Media: Uncle Roy All Around You

A long time ago, I was introduced to an interactive, locative media game called Uncle Roy All Around You. The object of the game is between people playing online in a virtual city and participants in real life walking around a real city, using GPS technology and cell phones to communicate, the participants are asked to find "Uncle Roy" in a city. They are given no clues to his location and they are asked to communicate with the online players and the online players communicate with the real life players. This use of technology, interactivity, and interfacing between two people in a virtual and real world setting is extremely interesting and shows how locative media can not only be fun, but engage in a sort of commentary on the way in which humans interact with technology.

At the end of the game, players are asked whether they want to make a commitment to the virtual player or real life player with which they have been paired or not. If they do make this commitment, it is up to the players to see where it goes from there. They could exchange contact info or not.

I thought it was worth checking out if you haven't heard of it.

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