Have been invited to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology – NTNU in Trondheim to give a talk and possibly a workshop for echoing.eu (“Recovery of cultural heritage through higher education-driven open innovation”).
And it looks like I may have funds for a book launch in Bristol, a talk at Salford University (near Manchester) and a talk at Cardiff University in Wales. Still to fully organize the UK side trip though.
The book contract is signed, the chapter authors are completing their chapters, and we have a book cover image from Ubisoft (not this one, this is a screenshot from AC Origins Discovery Tour), I just need to update my own chapter and references.
Editors: Erik Champion, Juan Hiriart
Publisher: De Gruyter, Video Games and the Humanities series
Assassin’s Creed in the Classroom: History’s Playground or A Stab in the Dark, an edited book with co-editor Juan Hiriart, is in process, contract sent/signed with De Gruyter…
Image Credit: Midjourney.
Champion, E., & Hiriart, J. (Eds.). (2023: accepted). Assassin’s Creed in the Classroom: History’s Playground or a Stab in the Dark? De Gruyter: Video games and the Humanities series.
It looks like the “Assassin’s Creed in the Classroom: History’s Playground or a Stab in the Dark?” edited book is close to the contract stage, and hopefully will be published by the end of the year…what sort of cover image do you suggest? For De Gruyter’s “Video Games and the Humanities” series (must suit their theme colour):
I am honoured to be invited to the workshop “Real Space-Virtual Space. Aesthetics, Architecture and Immersive Environments”, scheduled on 19 – 21 June 2023 at Università degli Studi di Milano and Triennale Milano.
Website https://an-icon.unimi.it/ (this workshop is not online yet, I believe).
Location: the University of Milan and Triennale Milano
AN-ICON INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP 19th – 21st June 2023: Real Space-Virtual Space: Aesthetics, Architecture, And Immersive Environments. Organized by the project ERC “AN-ICON” University of Milan.
Our article “Exploring Historical Australian Expeditions with Time-Layered Cultural Maps” has been published in IJGI and is available online:
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/3/104
PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/3/104/pdf
Exploring Historical Australian Expeditions with Time-Layered Cultural Maps
The Australian Time Layered Cultural Map platform was created to help digital humanities scholars investigate how online geospatial tools could provide exemplars to their humanities colleagues on how historical collections and cultural data could be extended and re-examined with geospatial tools. The project discussed here investigated how Recogito/TMT could effectively extract spatial and temporal data from pure text-based historical information and generate time-layered interactive maps of that spatio-temporal data using accessible and user-friendly software. The target audience was humanities scholars relatively new to geospatial technologies and relevant programming systems. The interactive maps were created with two free, open-source web applications and one commercial GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping application. The relative pros and cons of each application are discussed. This paper also investigates simple workflows for extracting spatiotemporal data into RDF (Resource Description Framework) format to be used as Linked Open Data.
Reimagining the Humanities edited by Mauer and Salter is out! I wrote a chapter in there somewhere. https://lnkd.in/dgfpc_CK ISBN 978-1-64317-346-7
Champion, E. (2023). Not Quite Virtual: Techné between Text and World. In B. Mauer & A. Salter (Eds.), Reimagining the Humanities (pp. 282). Parlor Press. https://parlorpress.com/products/reimagining-the-humanities
PhD study opportunity* at the University of South Australia (in Adelaide, South Australia) https://unisa.edu.au/research/degrees/participatory-museum-game-design
“ln this project-based research degree, you will investigate and design learning kits for museums and communities and small classes to create escape rooms (physical or hybrid or via a game engine) to help students develop their own learning by designing escape rooms for others. “
*Sorry, there are no degree fees for locals but there is also no scholarship funding attached to this one.
PhD study opportunity* at the University of South Australia (in Adelaide, South Australia) https://unisa.edu.au/research/degrees/leveraging-audio-augmented-reality
“lead tourists around past & present live music hotspots & live music history locations of Adelaide with directed thematic or user-driven audio tours”
*Sorry, there are no degree fees for locals but there is also no scholarship funding attached to this one.
I believe my latest book (well second edition) is out today, “Playing with the Past: Into the Future” (in the Human–Computer Interaction Series) https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-10932-4 but it just takes to me to my own university library link so I’ll have to take my own word for it!
Since the turn of this century (and even earlier), a plethora of projects have arisen to promise us bold new interactive adventures and immersive travel into the past with digital environments (using mixed, virtual or augmented reality, as well as computer games). In Playing with the Past: Into the Future Erik Champion surveys past attempts to communicate history and heritage through virtual environments and suggests new technology and creative ideas for more engaging and educational games and virtual learning environments.
This second edition builds on and updates the first edition with new game discussions, surveys, design frameworks, and theories on how cultural heritage could be experienced in digital worlds, via museums, mobile phones, or the Metaverse. Recent games and learning environments are reviewed, with provocative discussion of new and emerging promises and challenges.
Playing with the past: INTO The Future (2023)
I have received an invitation from the ERC Advanced Project “An-iconology. Theory, History, and Practices of Environmental Images” (AN-ICON) hosted by the Department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti” (https://an-icon.unimi.it/) to speak at the “AN-ICON” International Workshop in MILAN June 2023. An honour to be invited.
We are now organising the workshop “Real Space-Virtual Space. Aesthetics, Architecture and Immersive Environments,” scheduled on 19th-21st June 2023, dedicated to the dialogue between virtual spaces, architecture and urban planning. We will investigate this intertwining which is more and more relevant at both practical and academic level by adopting a transdisciplinary and multimethodological approach – including aesthetics, phenomenology, media studies, architectural design, urban planning, cultural heritage studies.
The workshop will be held at the University of Milan and Milano Triennale (https://triennale.org/), the renowned Italian institution dedicated to design and architecture.
Playing with the Past: Into the Future (second edition, ebook out soon)
Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes: The Real, the Virtual, and the Cinematic-I’m a co-editor but have a chapter on videogame tourism in there somewhere..
Prototyping games in a workshop format..just published a short paper on a “Game Design Prototyping Workshop” with Simon McCallum in Wellington NZ @ACM_ISS 2022 (also trying out Kudos, in partnership with ACM) https://www.growkudos.com/publications/10.1145%25252F3532104.3571472/reader
Game Design Prototyping Workshop, November 2022, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), DOI: 10.1145/3532104.3571472.
Google told me I can buy my chapter today in this book out soon “Difficult Heritage and Immersive Experiences” my chapter is “Chapter 2. Reflective Experiences with Immersive Heritage” #chapter #difficultheritage #darkheritage
In this chapter I will examine difficult and dark heritage. Others have articulated the overlap and potential different connotations and spheres of influence of dark heritage and difficult heritage (Thomas et al. 2019). For the sake of expediency, I will not attempt to distinguish between difficult heritage and dark heritage (a term imported from dark tourism) as I am particularly interested in the difficult interaction aspects of communicating dark heritage due to the technical challenges of virtual heritage, gaps or immaturity in virtual heritage as a distinct scholarly field, and the still to be fully explored role and impact of virtual heritage as an immersive and interactive medium capable of coaxing, encouraging and affording reflectivity.
PHD project in Adelaide, no scholarship but no fees, with cool museum partner (https://mod.org.au):
The successful candidate will investigate and design learning kits for museums, communities and small classes to create escape rooms either physical or hybrid, or via a game engine. The kit will provide resources and interaction strategies to help budding escape room designers plan escape rooms for their compatriots, and in doing so learn for themselves how to create tricky interactive puzzles, quizzes and physical riddles based on principles in science, mathematics or history. The instructions will be either via virtual examples through a game engine or game engine exporting to VR, or via online instruction videos using the latest instructional video expertise.
Successful completion of the project will provide you with experience in boardgame, physical escape room, digital game or VR escape room design including scripting, prototyping, digital modelling, and potentially animation experience. As well as a background in human-computer interaction and education. Thus, you will be provided with the skills for a successful and exciting research or industry career in a diverse range of areas.
What you’ll do
In this project-based research degree, you will review, design and evaluate design resources (physical and digital) for the creation of escape rooms by design students.
You will engage and partner with MOD. staff and deploy IVE, VR and AR equipment, as well as run and evaluate escape room design workshops.
Where you’ll be based
You will be based at UniSA Creative, incorporating the South Australian School of Art, which brings together the disciplines of architecture, planning, art and design, journalism, communication and media, film and television and the creative industries to produce flexible graduates with multidisciplinary capabilities. Our research explores the complexities of the world around us. We engage in future-focused, cross-disciplinary research and consultancy to produce inspired solutions that are human-centred and sustainable.
https://www.unisa.edu.au/research/degrees/designing-an-escape-room-toolkit
Sorry I have been distracted by a Cooperative Research Centre application (plus two books in press and one book proposal under review) but normal service will resume shortly.
Speaking of which, these should be out relatively shortly:
Books:
Champion, E. (2022: in press). Playing with The Past: Into the Future. 2nd edition. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer-Nature. ISBN: 978-3-031-10931-7. Due 30.10.2022. Edit: may be 19 Nov 2022 according to the HCI book series website.
Champion, E., Stadler, J., Lee, C., and Peaslee, R. (Ed). (2023: in press). Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes: The Real, The Virtual, and the Cinematic. Routledge Cultural Heritage and Tourism Series. Contracted. ISBN 9781032355962. Due 30.12.2022.
Book chapter:
Champion, E., Nurmikko-Fuller, T., & Grant, K. (2022: invited). Chapter 12 Alchemy and Archives, Swords, Spells, and Castles: Medieval-modding Skyrim. In R. Houghton (Ed.), Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games, UK: De Gruyter Oldenbourg. https://doi.org/doi:10.1515/9783110712032. To be published 24 October 2022. (Some content seems available online already or via academic institutions).
ICOMOS GA 2023 Scientific Symposium abstracts are due 23 September [update: now 30 September].
I’m looking for reviewers in the digital heritage theme to help with abstracts-English and / or French and / or Spanish readers.
Those interested in reviewing Digital Heritage abstracts can email me for more information.
If anyone would like a review/inspection copy of the edited book “Screen Tourism and Affective Landscapes: The Real, the Virtual, and the Cinematic” (out 30.12.2022, cover to come) there is a link on the webpage.
Ear Zow Digital