Mscape
Encyclopedia
Mscape is a mobile media
gaming platform
under development by Hewlett Packard that can be used to create location-based game
s. The Mscape platform is flexible. HP encourages developers to use Mscape to create not just games, but also informational guides to points of interest, imaginative stories about places, and practical information about worksites. Mscape makes a player's GPS location an element of the gameplay. Events in a game are triggered by a player's location, and the player interacts with a game by moving from place to place.
Mscape is used to create mediascapes, interactive experiences made up of video, audio, images, and text. Mscape stores the digital media files in a structure that associates them with positions from a GPS system. Players play mediascapes on a Windows Mobile
device, such as a mobile phone or a PDA, that's GPS enabled. As players move around, the device senses their position and activates the appropriate media files.
With funding from the British government, researchers in HP Labs Bristol, the University of Bristol, and Appliance Studio collaborated on several trials, working with artists, writers, educators, and others to create a series of interactive, context-aware mobile experiences. In one trial, visitors to Bristol's harbor could virtually navigate the history of what was once one of Britain's busiest ports. In another, middle school students could experience life as a lion by walking around a virtual savannah.
In 2007, HP made the authoring suite and mobile player software available for download at no cost from the Mscapers community website.
(which deals with the combination of real world and computer generated data) and from developments in location-based service
s (services available through a mobile device based on the device’s geographical location). The Mscape technology is also an example of Ubiquitous computing
and a context-aware pervasive system
.
Three technologies are essential to mediascapes: portable computing, embedded sensors, and context-coded information and services.
Portable computing. Mscape has been made practical by the ready availability of consumer GPS navigation device
s such as GPS-equipped PDAs and smartphones.
Embedded sensors. The publicly available version of Mscape currently takes advantage only of a player’s GPS location., However, experimental deployments of mediascapes have made use of other types of sensors, such as short-range radio beacons and heart rate monitors. The Mscape technology enables developers to create plug-ins to easily incorporate data from sensors such as infrared and radio frequency beacons, RFID tags, digital compasses, and other types of sensors.
Context-coded information. Media — images, video, audio, and Flash interactions — is triggered by the logic assigned to a specific space. The logic can not only define behavior based on a person’s presence with the space, but can also vary the behavior based on the number of times the person has entered the space. Media types include:
For future implementations, Hewlett-Packard proposes a client-server architecture using streaming media over a wireless network. Such implementations would enable multi-player games. Streaming media over a wireless network would also be useful in contexts in which content needs to be updated frequently to reflect rapidly changing information or time-based data.
Mscape Library also detects whether a Windows Mobile device has Mscape Player installed on it, alerts the user if it doesn't, and installs the player.
Place Editor. Developers use the place editor to set up the map that's the basis of the mediascape. The map comprises both an image and the GPS coordinates that associate the map image with a real place on the surface of the earth. Once the map is set up, a developer defines areas on the map that trigger digital media and interactions with the mediascape. Simple mediascapes can be created by dragging and dropping components onto the map in the Place Editor.
Script Editor. In the script editor, developers use a much simplified version of C# to script events. HP compares Mscape's scripting language to Adobe Flash
ActionScript
. Their intent is to make Mscape's scripting language simple enough for beginners: "you can pick it up fairly quickly and you can achieve quite advanced things without having to do lots of programming."
Script Object Window. The script object window lists all the script objects that are used in a mediascape. Developers use scripts to manipulate and coordinate four types of script objects:
Properties Window. Developers use the properties window to view and change the properties of script objects.
Mscape Maker saves mediascapes in two file formats:
Developers who upload mediascapes to the Mscapers community website can offer their mediascapes to other users either under a default license (a non–exclusive, royalty–free, worldwide, perpetual license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, perform, or prepare derivative works of the mediascape) or under a Creative Commons license
.
Because the events in mediascapes are triggered by GPS coordinates, mediascapes can offer users various types of experiences of a place.
Members of the HP Labs team who contributed to the development of the Mscapers community website were:
Mobile media
The mobility and portability of media, or as Paul Levinson calls it in his book Cellphone, “the media-in-motion business” has been a process in the works ever since the “first time someone thought to write on a tablet that could be lifted and hauled – rather than on a cave wall, a cliff face, a...
gaming platform
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
under development by Hewlett Packard that can be used to create location-based game
Location-based game
A location-based game is one in which the game play somehow evolves and progresses via a player's location. Thus, location-based games almost always support some kind of localization technology, for example by using satellite positioning like GPS."Urban gaming" or "Street Games" are typically...
s. The Mscape platform is flexible. HP encourages developers to use Mscape to create not just games, but also informational guides to points of interest, imaginative stories about places, and practical information about worksites. Mscape makes a player's GPS location an element of the gameplay. Events in a game are triggered by a player's location, and the player interacts with a game by moving from place to place.
Mscape is used to create mediascapes, interactive experiences made up of video, audio, images, and text. Mscape stores the digital media files in a structure that associates them with positions from a GPS system. Players play mediascapes on a Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
device, such as a mobile phone or a PDA, that's GPS enabled. As players move around, the device senses their position and activates the appropriate media files.
History
Mscape had its origins in 2002 as Mobile Bristol, a project that explored how mobile devices and pervasive information technology could enhance people's interactions with their physical environments and with each other in urban and public spaces.With funding from the British government, researchers in HP Labs Bristol, the University of Bristol, and Appliance Studio collaborated on several trials, working with artists, writers, educators, and others to create a series of interactive, context-aware mobile experiences. In one trial, visitors to Bristol's harbor could virtually navigate the history of what was once one of Britain's busiest ports. In another, middle school students could experience life as a lion by walking around a virtual savannah.
In 2007, HP made the authoring suite and mobile player software available for download at no cost from the Mscapers community website.
Technology
Mscape has evolved from research in Augmented realityAugmented reality
Augmented reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is...
(which deals with the combination of real world and computer generated data) and from developments in location-based service
Location-based service
A Location-Based Service is an information or entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device....
s (services available through a mobile device based on the device’s geographical location). The Mscape technology is also an example of Ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. In the course of ordinary activities, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems...
and a context-aware pervasive system
Context-aware pervasive systems
Context-aware computing refers to a general class of mobile systems that can sense their physical environment, and adapt their behavior accordingly. Such systems are a component of a ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing environment. Three important aspects of context are: where you are; ...
.
Three technologies are essential to mediascapes: portable computing, embedded sensors, and context-coded information and services.
Portable computing. Mscape has been made practical by the ready availability of consumer GPS navigation device
GPS navigation device
A GPS navigation device is any device that receives Global Positioning System signals for the purpose of determining the device's current location on Earth...
s such as GPS-equipped PDAs and smartphones.
Embedded sensors. The publicly available version of Mscape currently takes advantage only of a player’s GPS location., However, experimental deployments of mediascapes have made use of other types of sensors, such as short-range radio beacons and heart rate monitors. The Mscape technology enables developers to create plug-ins to easily incorporate data from sensors such as infrared and radio frequency beacons, RFID tags, digital compasses, and other types of sensors.
Context-coded information. Media — images, video, audio, and Flash interactions — is triggered by the logic assigned to a specific space. The logic can not only define behavior based on a person’s presence with the space, but can also vary the behavior based on the number of times the person has entered the space. Media types include:
- HTML, MP3, and WAV audio
- JPEG and GIF images
- MPEG, WMV, and SWF video and Flash interactions
For future implementations, Hewlett-Packard proposes a client-server architecture using streaming media over a wireless network. Such implementations would enable multi-player games. Streaming media over a wireless network would also be useful in contexts in which content needs to be updated frequently to reflect rapidly changing information or time-based data.
Mscape Player
Mscape Player plays mediascapes on Windows Mobile devices, such as mobile phones or PDAs, that are GPS enabled.Mscape Library
Developers and players use Mscape Library to manage the mediascapes they have on their computers. Players download mediascapes from the Mscapers website into Mscape Library. They then use Mscape Library to copy those mediascapes to their Windows Mobile device. Developers can also use Mscape Library to launch Mscape Maker and Mscape Tester. ,Mscape Library also detects whether a Windows Mobile device has Mscape Player installed on it, alerts the user if it doesn't, and installs the player.
Mscape Maker
Developers use Mscape Maker to create mediascapes. Mscape Maker has four work areas:Place Editor. Developers use the place editor to set up the map that's the basis of the mediascape. The map comprises both an image and the GPS coordinates that associate the map image with a real place on the surface of the earth. Once the map is set up, a developer defines areas on the map that trigger digital media and interactions with the mediascape. Simple mediascapes can be created by dragging and dropping components onto the map in the Place Editor.
Script Editor. In the script editor, developers use a much simplified version of C# to script events. HP compares Mscape's scripting language to Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
ActionScript
ActionScript
ActionScript is an object-oriented language originally developed by Macromedia Inc. . It is a dialect of ECMAScript , and is used primarily for the development of websites and software targeting the Adobe Flash Player platform, used on Web pages in the form of...
. Their intent is to make Mscape's scripting language simple enough for beginners: "you can pick it up fairly quickly and you can achieve quite advanced things without having to do lots of programming."
Script Object Window. The script object window lists all the script objects that are used in a mediascape. Developers use scripts to manipulate and coordinate four types of script objects:
- Media — audio, video, Flash movies, and web pages
- Sensors — GPS coordinates, places (based on MapLib files), regions, and speakers (audio that appears to come from a particular point)
- States — numeric, text, and true/false variables
- Tools — buttons, timers, alarms, playlists, and so on
Properties Window. Developers use the properties window to view and change the properties of script objects.
Mscape Maker saves mediascapes in two file formats:
- .msl files are the native format in the authoring environment.
- .msz files are the compressed format played on a Windows Mobile device.
Mscape Tester
Mscape Tester simulates what a mediascape looks like on a Windows Mobile device. A developer can place a small figure at any point on the mediascape's map to test the gameplay at that point.Licensing
The Mscape platform is available under either a non-commercial license (for not-for-profit or educational use) or a commercial license.Developers who upload mediascapes to the Mscapers community website can offer their mediascapes to other users either under a default license (a non–exclusive, royalty–free, worldwide, perpetual license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, perform, or prepare derivative works of the mediascape) or under a Creative Commons license
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
.
Types of mediascapes
Mediascapes can be either portable or anchored.- Portable mediascapes can be played anywhere. They typically require players to set up the game area before beginning to play.
- Anchored mediascapes can be played only in the specific place they were designed for.
Because the events in mediascapes are triggered by GPS coordinates, mediascapes can offer users various types of experiences of a place.
- Games present some sort of challenge. Players can win or lose, succeed or fail.
- Guides provide specific facts about how the place is now or was in the past. They focus on information
- Stories are an imaginative treatment of facts or fiction. They focus on feelings and thoughts places evoke.
Developers
Members of the HP Labs team who contributed to the development of Mscape were:- Phil Stenton
- Richard Hull
- Patrick Goddi
- Josephine Reid
- Ben Clayton
- Tom Melamed
- Susie Wee
Members of the HP Labs team who contributed to the development of the Mscapers community website were:
- Andrew Dahley
- Patrick Goddi
- Kurt MacDonald
- Allen Arakaki
Games using Mscape
- Alien Alley. A sniper alley game set in Park Street in Bristol, England.
- Augustine's Puzzle. A treasure hunt based in the pedestrian area opposite the entrance of the Bristol Hippodrome in the center of Bristol.
- Doubloons. A trading game that invites players to adventure in the Caribbean Sea during the golden age of sail.
- Hidden Danger UXB! Clear the playing field of unexploded bombs.
- Stamp a Mole. An adaption of the popular arcade game Whac-A-Mole.
Other applications using Mscape
- Always Something Somewhere Else. Interwoven stories connect players to remote locations around the world, soundtracked with a generative music score.
- A Walk to the Park in Shanghai. A walk from the Royal Meridien Hotel in Shanghai to the Peoples Park.
- Gulbenkian Gardens. Hear about the Gulbenkian Foundation Gardens in Lisbon and meet some of the people who spend time there.
- Prisoner Escape from the Tower. A historically accurate re-enactment of four escapes from the Tower of London.
- Yosemite Walk to the Falls. Two virtual rangers guide players on a two-hour nature walk through Yosemite Valley.
See also
- Augmented RealityAugmented realityAugmented reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is...
- Augmented VirtualityAugmented virtualityAugmented virtuality refers to the merging of real world objects into virtual worlds.As an intermediate case in the Virtuality Continuum, it refers to predominantly virtual spaces, where physical elements, e.g. physical objects or people, are dynamically integrated into, and can interact with the...
- GPS tour
- I-Tours
- MediascapeMediascapeThe term mediascape describes the way that visual imagery impacts the world.Such imagery comes from books, magazines, television, cinema, and, above all, advertising that can directly impact the landscape and also subtly influence, through persuasive techniques and an increasingly pervasive...
- Mixed RealityMixed realityMixed reality refers to the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualisations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time...
- ScvngrScvngrSCVNGR is a social location-based gaming platform for mobile phones. The application has both a consumer and enterprise component. Companies, educational institutions, and organizations can build challenges, the core unit of their game, at places on SCVNGR from the web. The service also supports SMS...