Abstract
This paper describes the use of the WOz method in the development of a prototype for a multi-player mixed reality game for children. It is an adventure game with hidden treasures, clues to hiding places, and information that should not be revealed. The game design, however, includes deceptive elements aimed at luring players to give up information. The game’s underlying intent is to raise children’s online risk awareness. The WOz was used in the early developmental stage to evaluate and explore the game concept, and to find a way to synchronise and integrate different in-game processes. We describe four central game mechanics for which the wizarding proved to be highly useful. We also discuss some ethical aspects related to the method a such as well as to the game design. In sum, we found the WOz method as such to be very useful for game design and development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bobrow, D.G., Kaplan, R.M., Kay, M., Norman, D.A., Thompson, H., Winograd, F.: GUS, a frame-driven dialog system. Artif. Intell. 8, 155–173 (1983)
Bernhaupt, R., Jenisch, S., Keyser, Y., Will, M.: Capture the flag: simulating a location-based mobile game using the Wizard-of-Oz method. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, pp. 228–229 (June 2007)
Dow, S., MacIntyre, B., Lee, J., Oezbek, C., Bolter, J.D., Gandy, M.: Wizard of Oz support throughout an iterative design process. IEEE Pervasive Comput. 4(4), 18–26 (2005)
Dow, S., Lee, J., Oezbek, C., MacIntyre, B., Bolter, J.D., Gandy, M.: Wizard of Oz interfaces for mixed reality applications. In: CHI 2005 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1339–1342. ACM (2005b)
Gould, J.D., Conti, J., Hovanyecz, T.: Composing letters with a simulated listening typewriter. Commun. ACM 26(4), 295–308 (1983)
Höysniemi, J., Hämäläinen, P., Turkki, L.: Wizard of Oz prototyping of computer vision based action games for children. In: Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Interaction Design and Children: Building a Community, pp. 27–34. ACM (2004)
Höysniemi, J., Read, J.: Wizard of Oz studies with children. In: Proceedings of Interact 2005 Workshop on Child Computer Interaction: Methodological Research (September 2005)
Kelley, J.F.: An iterative design methodology for user-friendly natural language office information applications. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. (TOIS) 2(1), 26–41 (1984)
Marco, J., Cerezo, E., Baldassarri, S.: Tangible interaction and tabletops: new horizons for children’s games. Int. J. Arts Technol. 5(2–4), 151–176 (2012)
Paelke, V., Sester, M.: Augmented paper maps: exploring the design space of a mixed reality system. ISPRS J. Photogram. Remote Sens. 65(3), 256–265 (2010)
Paavilainen, J.: Mobile game prototyping with the Wizard of Oz. In: Proceedings of Dream 2008 (2008)
Riek, L.D.: Wizard of Oz studies in HRI: a systematic review and new reporting guidelines. J. Hum. Robot Interact. 1(1), 119–136 (2012)
Susi, T., Torstensson, N.: “Who’s texting?” – playful game experiences for learning to cope with online risks. In: Fang, X. (ed.) HCII 2019. LNCS, vol. 11595, pp. 427–441. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22602-2_32
Susi, T., Torstensson, N., Wilhelmsson, U.: Can you send me a photo? A game-based approach for increasing young children’s risk awareness to prevent online sexual grooming. In: DiGRA 2019, the 12th Digital Games Research Association Conference, Kyoto, Japan (2019)
The Change Attitude Foundation. Hidden in the Park [Parkgömmet©, Adventure game]. IUS Innovation (2019)
Unity Technologies. Unity game engine. Unity Technologies (2015)
Vahdat, M., George, S., Serna, A.: Wizard of Oz in designing a collaborative learning serious game on tabletops. Int. J. Inf. Educ. Technol. 3(3), 325–329 (2013)
Acknowledgements
The game Hidden in the Park was developed by a team of researchers at the University of Skövde, Sweden, on commission and in collaboration with the Change Attitude Foundation. The project was funded by Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture. The final game production was conducted by IUS Innovation AB, Sweden, in a following, separate project. The game is available for download at www.parkgommet.se (in Swedish).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Torstensson, N., Susi, T., Wilhelmsson, U., Lebram, M. (2020). Wizard of Oz and the Design of a Multi-player Mixed Reality Game. In: Fang, X. (eds) HCI in Games. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12211. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50164-8_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50164-8_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50163-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50164-8
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)