Ontwikkeling nieuwe Treasure Hunt

Media artist Louisa Teichmann volgde onlangs een ontwikkeltraject bij Tetem. Louisa werkt met thema’s als gaming en onderzoekt het effect van nieuwe technologieën op de perceptie van realiteit van de speler. “By analyzing gameplay methods and implementing them into real-life settings, I am creating scenarios in which the viewer turns into the protagonist of an interactive fictional narrative.”

Subjectiviteit van perceptie

Louisa vertelt me waar haar fascinatie voor de overlap tussen realiteit en fictie vandaan komt. Vroeger was ze een slaapwandelaar. Deze ervaring is van grote invloed op haar werk. “I try to construct a shared fiction between me and the audience by suggesting alternate realities and narratives that are set in real spaces. In my work I address different frameworks that can dissociate us from our environment, from virtual platforms to the architecture of public spaces, in order to forge new pathways. Since my set-ups usually use a variety of media and forms, the boundaries of the game are unclear, which leads to a hyperfocus in players who consider everything in their environment as a potential clue. This re-establishes a sense of presence in public space that is usually lost as one grows older, only moving along set paths to efficiently reach the destination.”

Inspiratie

Tetem heeft Louisa gevraagd om een nieuwe Treasure Hunt te ontwerpen die zich afspeelt in de buitenruimte rondom Tetem. Het ontwikkeltraject was bedoeld ter voorbereiding op het creëren van een locatiegebaseerd spel voor kinderen. Via Tetem ontmoette Louisa verschillende experts die haar verder brachten, van deskundigen op het gebied van opvoeding en spel tot hackers en computeringenieurs. “I really loved meeting Dave, Renze and Rebecca at TkkrLab who told me about the tradition of designing electronic badges for hacker festivals. Getting in contact with people who are excited about similar things as me - game stages and unraveling complexity, but from a much more advanced technical standpoint - was really inspiring. Another inspiring meeting was with Edwin Dertien, who showed me ways of turning light waves into sound, using electronic candles and a light sensor.”

Het bouwen van een game voor kinderen was nieuw voor Louisa, die normaliter gewend is met een volwassen doelgroep te werken. “I had to change my frame of reference when making decisions.This really affects all aspects of building the game. From the storyline to the puzzles and the tactility of the tools, it needs to be approachable, engaging and challenging without being too complex. How can a game be critical but fun? Educational but not too dry? I decided to lean into the magic of discovering secret messages through sensors and receivers, as a practical tool to understand its workings instead of discussing it too literally in the story of the game.”

Agents of the mirror world

Louisa heeft een aantal spannende ideeën die ze de komende tijd verder gaat uitwerken. “The players will become agents of the mirror world, who are locked out of this mysterious invisible land of the electromagnetic spectrum and will need to regain access. I'm working on an agent pass inspired by the fifth element's multipass, which will include an NFC reader and an audio set. Around Tetem, the players will have to locate NFC tags and tap them with their pass to listen into secret messages and solve small puzzles to complete their missing password. Once they return to Tetem, they will be able to log into the mirror world with the password, and the balance between the worlds will be restored.”

Dit klinkt nu al goed! We wensen Louisa veel succes de komende tijd met het ontwikkelen van de nieuwe Treasure Hunt!

Louisa Teichmann in gesprek met Maika Eggink van Tetem.

Foto credit: Amos Peled