User:Silviolorusso/research-method/annotation-niewdorp-pervasiveinterface

Annotation of "The Pervasive Interface: Tracing the Magic Circle", by Eva Nieuwdorp

In “The pervasive interface: Tracing the Magic Circle”, Eva Niewdorp analyzes the concept of interface when applied to pervasive games, games in which the player interacts with his own everyday life environment in order to accomplish tasks received from a mobile device.  The main question raised by the author is where one can trace the boundary between reality and fantasy (or virtuality) within the pervasive game.

In digital games, the interface is traditionally located in the hardware or in the software elements of the game. In this distinction, the screen owns a special status because it is at the same time hardware and software, the connexion (and the defined boundary) between physical and digital. In fact, it has been seen as an obstacle to a more immersive game’s experience. This categorization of interface is hardly applicable to pervasive games, as in this case it is extended in first instance to the player’s mindset.

A crucial interface could be found in the mind of the player because a shift of focus by him is required in order to enter into the game realm.  This shift takes place in semiotic terms: the relationship between the signifier and the signified is altered, therefore instances of everyday life acquire new meaning. In the case of pervasive games the virtual semiotic domain is juxtaposed to the usual one. 

In order to define the boundary between the two domains, Niewdorp introduces the concept of magic circle, “a nearly organic entity that changes, develops and interacts with its surroundings”. The circle allows a two-way direction exchange between game and reality. According to  Erving Goffman, there are three types of mechanism that govern this exchange:

1. rules of irrelevance, 

2. transformation rules,

3. realised resources. 

Transformation rules determine in which way an element taken from everyday context acquire a role and meaning in the game. In pervasive games these rules are not rigidly defined, as  one of the player’s tasks it to find out the objects that are useful in the game. In pervasive games, realised resources are defined accordingly: the set of possible moves the player can make seem infinite. 

At this point the author deconstructs the active shift required to enter the game realm. Two different phases can be detected: the paratelic and the paraludic shift. The paratelic shift consists in the transition between a non-play state of mind to play. When the player accesses the paratelic state, he rejects particular conventions derived from everyday life. This transition is connected to the Goffman’s rules of irrelevance: the renunciation of elements and practices not required by the game. The following phase, the paraludic one, sees the player “developing a literacy”, embodying the set of rules that are necessary to be active part of the game. It is through the liminal interface, the one inside the mind of the player, that he passes through these stages in order to play the game. The liminal interface challenges the traditional notion of interface, asserting its mobile and ubiquitous nature.