Marta Fernández-Ruiz 
, David Ruiz-Torres , Héctor Puente Bienvenido
pp. 69 - 88, view paper, download
(https://doi.org/10.55612/s-5002-056-004), Google Scholar
Issue N. 56, Spring 2023
While spatiality in desktop and console interface video games has been widely studied, not many approaches have been made in the context of mobile augmented reality (MAR), an environment from which popular games such as Pokemon Go have emerged. On the one hand, this paper retakes the notion of spatial affordance that Janet Murray introduced for digital environments and proposes a reinterpretation of the concept throughout the integration of the MAR features. On the other, it seeks to approach the impact that these characteristics have on the gameplay experience. For this purpose, 46 mobile augmented reality video games of different genres were analyzed. The study reveals that augmented reality is still a superfluous element rather than a central aspect of the gameplay in most MAR video games, although trends involving new hybrid game experiences have been observed. Finally, we propose a tool for classifying MAR video games according to two axes that assess up to what extent physical space is integrated into the gameplay: gameworld spaces (representational layer) and gameplay spaces (interactive layer, interaction with the game rules and mechanics).
Keywords: mobile augmented reality, game studies, spatial affordance, visualization, 6DoF, gameplay experience
CRediT author statement: Marta Fernández-Ruiz: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing-original draft, writing-review and editing, visualization, project administration. David Ruiz-Torres: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing-original draft, writing-review and editing, visualization, project administration. Héctor Puente Bienvenido: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, writing-original draft, writing-review and editing, visualization, project administration.
Cite this article as:
Fernández-Ruiz M., Ruiz-Torres D., Puente Bienvenido H.: Environmental Visualization and Exploration in Mobile Augmented Reality Games: Redefining the Spatial Affordances, Interaction Design & Architecture(s) – IxD&A Journal, N.56, 2023, pp. 69–88, DOI: https://doi.org/10.55612/s-5002-056-004
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