The Role of Art in Computer Game Design

Computer games are significant since they embody our youngsters’ engagement with contemporary culture, including both play and education. These games rely heavily on visuals, systems of sign and expression based on concepts and principles of Art and Architecture. We are researching a new genre of computer games, ‘Educational Immersive Environments’ (EIEs) to provide educational materials suitable for the school classroom. Close collaboration with subject teachers is necessary, but we feel a specific need to engage with the practicing artist, the art theoretician and historian. Our EIEs are loaded with multimedia (but especially visual) signs which act to direct the learner and provide the ‘game-play’ experience forming semiotic systems. We suggest the hypothesis that computer games are a space of deconstruction and reconstruction (DeRe): When players enter the game their physical world and their culture is torn apart; they move in a semiotic system which serves to reconstruct an alternate reality where disbelief is suspended. The semiotic system draws heavily on visuals which direct the players’ interactions and produce motivating gameplay. These can establish a reconstructed culture and emerging game narrative. We have recently tested our hypothesis and have used this in developing design principles for computer game designers. Yet there are outstanding issues concerning the nature of the visuals used in computer games, and so questions for contemporary artists. Currently, the computer game industry employs artists in a ‘classical’ role in production of concept sketches, storyboards and 3D content. But this is based on a specification from the client which restricts the artist in intellectual freedom. Our DeRe hypothesis places the artist at the generative centre, to inform the game designer how art may inform our DeRe semiotic spaces. This must of course begin with the artists’ understanding of DeRe in this time when our ‘identities are becoming increasingly fractured, networked, virtualized and distributed’ We hope to persuade artists to engage with the medium of computer game technology to explore these issues. In particular, we pose several questions to the artist: (i) How can particular ‘periods’ in art history be used to inform the design of computer games? (ii) How can specific artistic elements or devices be used to design ‘signs’ to guide the player through the game? (iii) How can visual material be integrated with other semiotic strata such as text and audio?

Exploring Alternative Terrain in the Rehabilitation and Treatment of Offenders: Findings from a Prison-based Music Project

The arts in prison settings have provided an alternative or complimentary component to rehabilitation. Despite increased interest, studies capturing the voice of offenders participating in projects and the long-term impact are limited. Data from semistructured interviews with 18 men who had taken part in a music-based project while incarcerated, including one group of five participants who were tracked for 18 months with supplemented data from correctional staff and official documentation, is presented. Participants of the art-based projects comment on changes they believe to have derived from participating in the project, particularly relating to emotions, self-esteem, self-confidence, communication and social skills. An exoffender sample of participants reported that participation in art projects provide experiences that promote beneficial skills that have been useful for post prison life.

Mapping of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in Rivers From Very High Resolution Image Data, Using Object Based Image Analysis Combined with Expert Knowledge

The use of remote sensing for monitoring of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in fluvial environments has been limited by the spatial and spectral resolution of available image data. The absorption of light in water also complicates the use of common image analysis methods. This paper presents the results of a study that uses very high resolution (VHR) image data, collected with a Near Infrared sensitive DSLR camera, to map the distribution of SAV species for three sites along the Desselse Nete, a lowland river in Flanders, Belgium. Plant species, including Ranunculus aquatilis L., Callitriche obtusangula Le Gall, Potamogeton natans L., Sparganium emersum L. and Potamogeton crispus L., were classified from the data using Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and expert knowledge. A classification rule set based on a combination of both spectral and structural image variation (e.g. texture and shape) was developed for images from two sites. A comparison of the classifications with manually delineated ground truth maps resulted for both sites in 61% overall accuracy. Application of the rule set to a third validation image, resulted in 53% overall accuracy. These consistent results show promise for species level mapping in such biodiverse environments, but also prompt a discussion on assessment of classification accuracy.