Digital Flexibility
There is something elegant about the flexibility of playing cards.
By comparison, computer games are often rigid, fast-paced, and lonely. So, I built a card game system from the ground up, trying to stay true to the inherent strengths of physical cards. Striking a good compromise between the physical and digital turned out to be a serious design challenge. This effort and the results of the delightful play sessions in the lab can be glimpsed in my presentation below. My presentation style is highly narrated & visual, so if you visit the SlideShare site itself or download the presentation, you'll find that the notes will explain much of the imagery in the slides. |
Augmenting Physical Cards
Card Board was not my only effort in this space. In an internship at Nokia, we thought that there was something special about how analog card games are socially-negotiated.
Building on that observation, we tried to bridge the analog-digital gap by putting NFC chips on playing cards and by taking advantage of the sensor technology on smartphones. We elevated the players decision-making about the rules of the game over the fast-paced automation of traditional digital games. This design research provided key principles for hybrid design that deeply informed the design of Card Board. |