Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
a podium, almost everyone who looks at this arrangement would understand that people sit in the chairs
to observe the central speaker's presentation. This is pretty basic, and almost universal, in terms of its
meaning. What makes designing virtual meeting spaces so interesting is that you can abstract the design
of these elements and still imply the same kind of affordances. If the affordances have been transmuted
and abstracted and still communicate to the users of your designed environment, you have created a good
design. Look around you for more abstracted affordances, and you will see them on signage, on buttons and
switches, and even on web interfaces.
Once you understand how people perceive the affordances presented to them in a virtual space (the
furnishings, seating arrangements, and visual screen access), you can broaden your scope. Consider the
affordances deined by Dr. Janet Murray [6]. She deined the affordances in a computer medium as contain-
ing procedural, participatory, encyclopedic, and spatial qualities. If you put yourself back into the Paleolithic
cave while you consider them, you can see how these four qualities have long been in existence and just
subsumed by the new media.
Procedural.
Early cave dwellers did not have the skills to write artiicial intelligence programs, but
they did have keen eyes for behavior patterns and the understanding of procedural structures. You
can see that in their art, in the herds of animals drawn as they moved across the landscape, the posi-
tions of the predators and the ecologically aware hierarchies between the predators and prey. This
was the procedural system of hunting described in pictures.
Participatory.
Like our online social sites, the prehistoric peoples created a participatory environ-
ment, demonstrating the importance of the group by putting their handprints on the wall and by
visiting and marking the caves repeatedly over long periods of time.
Encyclopedic.
On their cave walls, they stored encyclopedic information, just as we do in our com-
puter iles. The walls on the caves of Lascaux appear to contain star charts, useful no doubt for
determining the best time for hunting and how to navigate in the wilderness [7].
Spatial.
The use of the space in prehistoric caves is notable in that it creates a 2D interface in a
3D space. Each location inside the cave gave you a different perspective on the story that was
painted on the walls, and as the images danced in the irelight, the observer must have felt a sense of
movement and life in those symbols. As they added cave art, the internal surface of the cave became
the projection screen of their dreams and experiences.
As you design your Ideagora, think about how these four affordances can support the message of the
presentation more eficiently and comprehensively in the meeting space. You are creating the place for
your social group to communicate their experiences, to record information, and to develop procedural
structures. For instance, how would you present a surface in your meeting space that allows for access-
ing websites related to the topic? This element alone could be participatory and encyclopedic. Spatially,
perhaps that element can be the loor or some lower area that all can see when their cameras are in the
default positions. Can you make the room smart? Where can you add some artiicial intelligence to help
your attendees get more out of the meeting? Finally, are the design and intent of your devices clear to all
who enter the space? The most important thing about affordances is that we perceive and understand them
quickly and easily in our meeting and community spaces.
9.1.3 p
arTiCipaTion
How can you encourage participation by the attendees at your meeting? If their smartphones and tablets are
all out on the table in your real-space meeting room, and the virtual meeting room is one tab over from their
