GlowPhones
Timothy Robert Merritt, Christine Linding Nielsen, Frederik Lund Jakobsen, Jens Emil Sloth Grønbæk · 2017
Location-based mobile games often utilize built-in sensors for supporting game experiences tied to the physical world, yet the visual user interface remains constrained to the small high-resolution screen. GlowPhones is a location-based mobile social game using low-resolution displays to augment the physical space and move the attention away from the mobile screen. Players explore the physical world and collaborate to overcome challenges relying on the screen glow intensity emitted from the phone's screen and light flash frequency of the camera flash for navigation. Three game stages explore proxemics play using low-resolution light displays designed to require social competition, physical cooperation and bodily contact challenging cultural norms. A user study was conducted in a public forest during the night. Spatial analysis of proxemics and F-formations in conjunction with a Game Experience Questionnaire provide insights about the experiential and socio-spatial qualities of low-resolution displays. Qualitative examples offer new strategies for proxemics play.