What can perfume communities teach game designers? What do the dandy and the smelly gamer have in common? (hint: animalic notes).
Join us for a four hour workshop as we explore the largely uncharted territory of smell games! We will cover foundational concepts of game design and find playful uses for IAO’s stock of aromamolecules. No previous gaming or design experience is required, and we will provide all necessary materials. All you need to bring is a playful attitude!
This workshop will introduce the topics of games and play, and show examples of how smell has been incorporated into game and play forms. Participants will re-experience some classic examples of scent-based toys and simple smell games, and have the opportunity to produce quick and dirty prototypes of smell-based game mechanics. They will also experiment with digitally mediated scent play.
The Playful Uses of Scent
A gaming workshop with Simon Niedenthal
Thursday July 30
5:30-9:30pm
Cost: $12.00
> RSVP HERE
ABOUT SIMON NIEDENTHAL
Senior Lecturer Malmo University
What is the contribution of the senses to our experience of games and play? What are the legitimate pleasures of digital games? How can we expand the sensory and embodied experience of play in new media?
Simon Niedenthal conducts design-oriented game studies research in the areas of game aesthetics, the sensory experience of gaming, and playtesting processes for innovative game design.
Niedenthal’s background is eclectic: He holds a BFA in photography, an MA in Medieval English literature, and a Ph.D. in interaction design. In 2008 he defended his Ph.D. thesis ‘Complicated Shadows: the Aesthetic Significance of Simulated Illumination in Digital Games’, in the area of game lighting and its effect upon the emotions and behavior of the player. He has worked to develop close bonds to the game industry, including companies such as Ubisoft Massive, where he conducted a residence in 2006 during the development of a strategy game. Besides teaching courses in media design, interaction design, visual communications and game design, he is a supervisor for thesis work at the bachelors, masters and doctoral level at Malmo University in Sweden.
Read Simon Niedenthal’s article on Smell Games, for Eludamos – Journal for Computer Game Culture
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