Virtual Creativity - Volume 10, Issue 1, 2020

Digital games are a critical form in which makers express models of play that create meaning beyond entertainment. Game culture is pervasive and amidst a wider technological context that invites all our active participation provides one setting for creative self-expression. Games collapse the distance between makers and players in a uniquely active manner and whilst this paper centers on possibilities for game making, all players co-create their own gameplay experience, which holds potential for enacting individual agency. Based on experience introducing game design and development education at an art and design university over the past decade as part of the Digital Futures programme, this paper develops some early discussions around the concept of game sketching to both pedagogic and research-creation ends.

On the precipice of space exploration, smart fabrics, biochips and exoskeletons, the materiality of our wearable and body-centric future is a critical and political issue. If we are to develop technologies to take us to new places, we should be able to imagine radically different futures. The materials, tools and supply chains available to us seed the future we can build and are fuel for the possibilities we can imagine. Textile-based Do It Yourself (DIY) electronics have been suggested in Maker technology circles as an alternative path to electronics to broaden the diversity of those imagining our future, but they are still heavily divided by lines of gender, and hindered by supply chain availability. There are many textile-based technologies that have unique technical qualities to offer, but their development is stifled by systemic issues. This article suggests that e-textile technologies are a result of an entrenched system of power and act as a control method over the vision of the future rather than the suggested notion that they are an avenue of exploration. Using Erbu Kurbak’s concept of Lost Futures, and Elizabeth Ryan’s interoperation of wearable technology as immaterial labour, I make the case for e-textile practice being a trap and never equal contributor to the technological discourse.

While chatbots are a space that has been researched and worked on for the past few decades, a renewed industry interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and the popularity of devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Home has pushed them back into the spotlight. According to Edison Research and National Public Media, an estimated 21 per cent of US households now use a voice-enabled smart device in some capacity. Similarly, the popularity of texting, technology-mediated communication and social media has laid the groundwork for the return of chatbots. Chatbots are even making inroads into areas like mental health, where they are being used to address the growing mental health concerns of wellness and loneliness. While this is an interesting development, the conversation of what is considered useful in a mental health chatbot is still very much driven by commercial applications. This article considers using natural language processing and networking technologies to explore a more DIY approach to mental-health-based chatbots, by documenting the development of an Alexa that experiences depression.

Dementia is a major cause of disability among older adults, with 50 million people worldwide living with the disease and 10 million new cases diagnosed each year. Postcard Memories is a web-based, virtual memory-sharing mobile application, designed to support individuals diagnosed with early-stage dementia (ESD), their families, friends and caregivers. The research and design methods employed argue the value and importance of elder–computer interaction, and greater personalization, supporting and enhancing elder’s engagement in both the virtual and physical mnemonics of memory sharing. The researchers implemented a two-stage study design, including formative and summative assessments of low- and high-fidelity prototypes, pre-, and post-testing questionnaires, patient and carer interviews and ‘think-aloud’ testing methodologies for interaction evaluation. Through quantitative and qualitative assessments this research demonstrates that the Postcard Memories application has potential benefits, including enhanced technical ability and hence self-confidence with new technologies; and enhanced interactions with family members, a promising outcome for those living with ESD.

In this article, I will focus primarily on how Instagram has been used as a means of public control by rewarding the continuous projection of a relentlessly positive self-image. Furthermore, the article will discuss the performative nature of the Instagram platform and how it facilitates the subjugation of women by creating a flirty-and-fun frictionless space that turns their bodies, thoughts and feelings into commodities. Left unchecked, smooth platforms like Instagram provide a distraction that delays society’s dealings with the present. To conclude this article will present a selection of Instagram artists whose projects encourage us to think critically about the smooth as a demonstration of how women might combat this force of nature.

Review of: Morality by Design: Technology’s Challenge to Human Values, Wade Rowland (2019)

Bristol: Intellect, 120 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-78938-1-238, p/bk, $24