Geogames And Geoplay: Game-based Approaches To The Analysis Of Geo-information (advances In Geographic Information Science)

"This book brings together contributions from researchers, GIS professionals and game designers to provide a first overview of this highly interdisciplinary field. Its scope ranges from fundamentals about games and play, geographic information technologies, game design and culture, to current examples and forward looking analysis. Of interest to anyone interested in creating and using Geogames, this volume serves as a channel for sharing early experiences, discussing technological challenges and solutions, and outlines a future research agenda. Games and play are part of human life, and in many game activities, place, space and geography plays a central role in determining the rules and interactions that are characteristic of each game. Recent developments and widespread access to mobile information, communication, and geospatial technologies have spurred a flurry of developments, including many variations of gaming activities that are situated in, or otherwise connected to the real world."--Page [4] of cover Foreword 6 Contents 8 Contributors 10 Chapter 1: Introducing Geogames and Geoplay: Characterizing an Emerging Research Field 12 1.1 Introduction 12 1.2 GIS/Spatial Principles and Game Patterns 13 1.2.1 Core Geographic Concepts 13 1.2.2 Core Game and Play Concepts 14 1.3 Reconciling Core Geographic and Game Concepts 17 1.3.1 Spatial/Non-spatial Game Patterns and Core Geographic Concepts 19 1.3.2 Intersection of Core Geographic Concepts with Games and Play 22 1.4 Structure of the Book and Research Questions 25 References 29 Chapter 2: Defining a Geogame Genre Using Core Concepts of Games, Play, and Geographic Information and Thinking 30 2.1 Introduction 30 2.2 The Genesis of Our Geographic Information Systems-­Multiplayer Online Games (GIS-MOG) Idea 31 2.3 The GIS-MOG Technology Framework 32 2.4 Defining the GIS-MOG Genre 34 2.4.1 Representation 36 2.4.2 Location 37 2.4.3 Spatial Expansion 38 2.4.4 Temporal Expansion 39 2.4.5 Pervasiveness 42 2.5 Summary and Discussion 43 References 44 Chapter 3: OriGami: A Mobile Geogame for Spatial Literacy 47 3.1 Introduction 47 3.2 Related Work: Spatial Ability, School Curricula and Geogames 49 3.2.1 Individual Differences in Spatial Abilities 49 3.2.2 Spatial Competencies in School Curricula 50 3.2.3 Curricular Requirements for Geogames 52 3.3 Overview and Analysis of Geogames 53 3.4 Educational Concepts for Training and Measuring Spatial Literacy 55 3.4.1 The OriGami Prototype 55 3.4.2 Evaluating the Educational Concept behind OriGami 58 3.4.3 Spatial Perspective in Route Following on a Map 58 3.5 Empirical Study on the Educational Concept 59 3.5.1 Methodology 60 3.5.2 Results and Discussion 62 3.6 Spatial Literacy Training with OriGami 67 3.6.1 Navigation 67 3.6.2 Orientation Task 68 3.6.3 Map Comprehension Task: Cartographic Basics 68 3.6.4 Map Comprehension Task: Spatial Learning 68 3.6.5 Spatial Competency Testing and Training 68 3.6.6 Game-Based Aspects 69 3.7 Conclusion 70 References 70 Chapter 4: Spatial Game for Negotiations and Consensus Building in Urban Planning: YouPlaceIt! 73 4.1 Introduction 73 4.2 Previous Work 75 4.2.1 Collaborative Planning and Consensus Building 75 4.2.2 Negotiation Models 76 4.2.3 Communication in Physical vs. Virtual Space 77 4.2.4 Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) 77 4.2.5 Digital Serious Games for Urban Planning 79 4.3 Negotiation for Building Consensus Among Stakeholders: Case Study of Dharavi 80 4.3.1 The Selected Study Site: Dharavi in Mumbai, India 80 4.3.2 The Issues of Civic Engagement in Dharavi 80 4.3.3 Novel Approach for Civic Engagement in Dharavi 82 4.3.4 The Main Requirements for the Negotiation and Consensus Building Game for Dharavi 83 4.4 Serious Digital GeoGame for Negotiations and Consensus Building: YouPlaceIt! 84 4.4.1 Goal of the Game 85 4.4.2 Premise 85 4.4.3 Game Elements 85 4.4.4 Gameplay 86 4.4.5 Negotiation and Communication 90 4.5 Testing YouPlaceIt! Game and Reflections About the Implementation 92 4.5.1 User Experience Tested with the Selected Players 92 4.5.2 Discussion About YouPlaceIt! and Further Research and Implementation Directions 94 4.6 Conclusions 96 References 97 Chapter 5: Addressing Uneven Participation Patterns in VGI Through Gamification Mechanisms 101 5.1 Introduction 101 5.2 The OpenStreetMap Case Study 103 5.2.1 Is There a Commitment Between OSM Contributors and Their Spatial Edits? 104 5.2.2 Is the OSM Dataset Kept Up-to-date by the OSM Contributors? 105 5.2.3 Is There Any Spatial Pattern in the OSM Contributors’ Behavior? 107 5.3 Spatial Gamification 108 5.3.1 Design Pattern for Allocation Games 109 5.3.2 Place Allocation and Game Flow 111 5.4 Simulation Studies: The Problem of Accumulated Advantage 115 5.5 Conclusions and Outlook 118 References 119 Chapter 6: Teaching Geogame Design: Game Relocation as a Spatial Analysis Task 121 6.1 Introduction 121 6.2 Related Work and Basic Terminology 122 6.3 The Game Relocation Process 124 6.4 The CityPoker Game 126 6.5 Narrative Design: Place Design Through “Place Storming” 129 6.6 Ludic Design: Game Flow Balancing Through the CityPoker Game Designer 133 6.7 Discussion and Outlook 138 References 139 Chapter 7: (Re-)Localization of Location-Based Games 141 7.1 Introduction 141 7.2 Location-Based Game Concepts and Related Work 143 7.2.1 Games and Play 143 7.2.2 Scripts and Narratives in Games 143 7.2.3 Places and the Meaningful Environment in Games 144 7.3 A Layered Model of Game Localization 145 7.3.1 Three Conceptual Game Layers 145 7.3.2 Ontology of Game States 146 7.3.3 Game Processes as State Transitions 147 7.3.4 Ludic Layer 149 7.3.5 Game Narrative 149 7.3.6 Environmental Perception and Simulation 150 7.4 Game Localization Criteria 151 7.4.1 Game Localization as Embedding 151 7.4.2 Consistency Preservation of Game States Under a Given Localization 153 7.4.3 Quality Criteria 155 7.4.3.1 Playability and Breakability 155 7.4.3.2 Authenticity 157 7.4.3.3 Game Balancing 157 7.5 Relocalizing a Simple Conquer Game 158 7.5.1 Medieval Fantasy Embedding at “Schloss Burg” 159 7.5.2 Crime Story Embedding in “Little Italy” 161 7.6 Localization of an Existing Multi-player Game: CityPoker 163 7.7 Discussion and Conclusion 166 References 167 Chapter 8: The Design and Play of Geogames as Place-­Based Education 170 8.1 Introduction 170 8.2 What Is Place-Based Education and Why Should Educators Care About It? 172 8.2.1 Moving from Place-Based Education to Geo-games and Geoplay 174 8.2.2 Geoplay and Geo-games for Supporting Place-based Learning 174 8.2.3 Geogames and Geoplay Can Encourage Learners to Access Local Places They Don’t Typically Visit 175 8.2.4 Geogames Can Foster New Ways of Seeing and Experiencing Places 176 8.2.5 Geogames and Geoplay Can Help Narrow the Participation Gap 178 8.2.6 Geogames, and the Design of Geogames, Can Foster Opportunities for Learners to Tell Their Own Stories of Place and Engage in Discussions and Actions That Impact the Future of Local Communities 179 8.3 A Critical Perspective on the Design of Geogames 180 8.3.1 If You Are Intrigued by These Ideas, How Can You Get Started? 181 8.3.2 How Can We Facilitate the Growth of These Ideas? 183 8.4 Conclusion 184 References 184 Chapter 9: A Cost-effective Workflow for Depicting Landscapes in Immersive Virtual Environments 186 9.1 Introduction 186 9.2 Modeling the World in Three Dimensions: Immersive Virtual Environments and Their Applications 188 9.2.1 Virtual Landscapes as a Tool for Engagement and Learning 189 9.2.2 Virtual Environments as a Tool for Training and Professionalization 190 9.2.3 Cost and Feasibility Challenges to Digitally Recreating the Real World 190 9.3 Using Kite Aerial Photography and Computer Vision Software to Create Immersive Digital Environments 191 9.3.1 Data Collection 192 9.3.2 Three-Dimensional Reconstruction 195 9.3.3 Exporting to a Game Engine 197 9.4 Discussion 200 References 202 Chapter 10: Structural Gamification of a University GIS Course 204 10.1 Introduction 204 10.2 Literature Review 205 10.3 Mechanics 208 10.3.1 Design Considerations 209 10.3.2 Quests 210 10.4 Results 212 10.5 Summary and Conclusions 215 References 216 Chapter 11: Geocaching on the Moon 218 11.1 Introduction 219 11.2 Background 219 11.2.1 The Exploration of the Moon 220 11.2.2 Lunar Geology 221 11.2.3 The New Trend and Associated Challenges 221 11.3 Related Work 223 11.3.1 Geocaching Games 224 11.3.2 Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality 224 11.4 The Approach 226 11.4.1 Two-Module Structure 227 11.4.2 The Mapping Scheme 228 11.4.3 Gameplay 231 11.4.4 The Game World 232 11.4.5 Players and Communities 234 11.4.6 Development 235 11.5 Summary 237 References 238 Ludography 241 Front Matter ....Pages i-x Introducing Geogames and Geoplay: Characterizing an Emerging Research Field (Ola Ahlqvist, Christoph Schlieder)....Pages 1-18 Defining a Geogame Genre Using Core Concepts of Games, Play, and Geographic Information and Thinking (Ola Ahlqvist, Swaroop Joshi, Rohan Benkar, Kiril Vatev, Rajiv Ramnath, Andrew Heckler et al.)....Pages 19-35 OriGami: A Mobile Geogame for Spatial Literacy (Thomas Bartoschek, Angela Schwering, Rui Li, Stefan Münzer, Vânia Carlos)....Pages 37-62 Spatial Game for Negotiations and Consensus Building in Urban Planning: YouPlaceIt! (Alenka Poplin, Kavita Vemuri)....Pages 63-90 Addressing Uneven Participation Patterns in VGI Through Gamification Mechanisms (Vyron Antoniou, Christoph Schlieder)....Pages 91-110 Teaching Geogame Design: Game Relocation as a Spatial Analysis Task (Christoph Schlieder, Dominik Kremer, Thomas Heinz)....Pages 111-130 (Re-)Localization of Location-Based Games (Simon Scheider, Peter Kiefer)....Pages 131-159 The Design and Play of Geogames as Place-Based Education (Jim Mathews, Christopher Holden)....Pages 161-176 A Cost-effective Workflow for Depicting Landscapes in Immersive Virtual Environments (Nathaniel J. Henry)....Pages 177-194 Structural Gamification of a University GIS Course (Michael N. DeMers)....Pages 195-208 Geocaching on the Moon (Cheng Zhang)....Pages 209-231 Back Matter ....Pages 233-238 Annotation This book brings together contributions from researchers, GIS professionals and game designers to provide a first overview of this highly interdisciplinary field. Its scope ranges from fundamentals about games and play, geographic information technologies, game design and culture, to current examples and forward looking analysis. Of interest to anyone interested in creating and using Geogames, this volume serves as a channel for sharing early experiences, discussing technological challenges and solutions, and outlines a future research agenda. Games and play are part of human life, and in many game activities, place, space and geography plays a central role in determining the rules and interactions that are characteristic of each game. Recent developments and widespread access to mobile information, communication, and geospatial technologies have spurred a flurry of developments, including many variations of gaming activities that are situated in, or otherwise connected to the real world