ECT Thesis EXPO - Joanna Liu

Joanna Liu

Cartographr: AR World Creator

Cartographr harnesses the power of augmented reality to enable collaborative, virtual world creation and to enhance creative play in the physical world

Click on the youtube icon to watch Joanna Liu's thesis presentation

Cartographr: an Augmented Reality World Creator for Imaginative and Fantasy Play

Inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, powered by learning science, Cartographr unleashes a new power for creating in 3D

What is Dungeons and Dragons?

Photo credit from Geek & Sundry: Critical Role

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that allows players to build a shared fantasy through collective story-telling.

In the game, players move through game-stories, following rules, overcoming obstacles, accomplishing tasks, and increasing the abilities of their character.

The Dungeon Master or Game Master (DM or GM) moves the stories forward by describing settings the players enter, role-playing allies and enemies the players encounter, and revealing the mysteries and plot twists of the story (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004).

Tools & Game Immersion

D&D players are extremely creative when constructing their worlds. The world can exist solely in the theatre of the mind or it can be visualized through a physical map and miniatures.

Some DMs use grid paper to measure distance between characters and landmarks. Others build extensive collections of physical 3D battlefields. Still others use digital map-building tools to create a complex world for players to explore.

Maps provide an organized representation of a given physical space (Hattangadi, 2014). They are powerful tools, helping us visualize worlds that are foreign to us. In D&D, they can help players to navigate through scenes, understand narratives, and identify goals. Mostly importantly, like other D&D tools, maps serve to provide increased immersion for the game.

Evolution of D&D Tools. Photo Credit: Joshskyesminiatures (Instagram), Roll20

Why is increased immersion better?

The more we can increase immersion in a D&D session, the more enjoyable it is. The magic of D&D is its ability to bring players back to their childhood where they can experience the thrill of make-believe—the chance to become another person in another place and another time and live that life. Each added layer of immersion takes players one step deeper into this shared fantasy of being the hero in their own stories.

Design Research

We surveyed 261 D&D players, interviewed 40 Dungeon Masters

What we learned:

From my research, D&D players want a more beautiful and detailed representation of terrain, a diversified representation of world culture, and interactive landmarks and objects. Moreover, players want to be able to visualize the world in three dimensions. They want tools that help them to enhance the narrative experience, while not taking away the imaginative play and magic of the theatre of the mind. Especially with a globalized movement toward online play, D&D players want a tool that satisfies both online play and in-person gaming experience. Currently, none of the existing tools can accomplish the level of immersion that is desired by players. A more immersive experience for the map and world-building process is in-demand.

Please contact me for detailed research results including:

Online play vs. in-person play difference
How has COVID-19 changed game play?
A list of creative tools players use, frequency of use, satisfaction rate
Players' dream maps
Players' attitude toward XR technology
DM game preparation rituals and length
DM's fears and desires

“My dream world and battle map would be a seemingly peaceful oasis. It would be beautiful, filled with rainforest and lush greenery.”

“I have no mind’s eye, so really anything to aid in visualizing combat is great. Something tangible, like a detailed 3D map with minis, or a digital map that could be easily updated as combat progresses would be a dream.”

Design Inspiration

From our research, we learned that most targeted users do not understand what AR is and how to use AR.

Following the Technology Acceptance Model (Rogers,1983), we wanted to foster a sense of voluntariness toward AR. One way to achieve that is for the tool to resemble the current tools users already use.

We took inspiration from modular builders such as Dwarven Forge, LEGO, Minecraft, and other construction kits, and created an extremely intuitive interaction design.

Dwarven Forge Modular Map

LEGO Miniature Map

Design Solution

#1 Make it as simple as possible, maybe even simpler (Resnick & Silverman, 2005)

"Super easy to get started. As easy as taking a picture with your phone!"

"I can do whatever I want with it! I can create a forest or a small town in mere minutes!"

"My 8-year-old can use it to play with friends. I can use it to build professional environments for board meetings."

#2 Instant Feedback

We wanted to create instant feedback for both creators and users. Creators will benefit from instant feedback to confirm their design, so they can keep iterating and building. Viewers get instant updates to be on the same page as the creator.

Location 1

Person one drags to change the location of one item

Location 2

Person two sees the instant update in real time

Location 3

Person three sees the same on another device

#3 Connected Learning (Ito et al., 2013)

Open access: free to download, create & share

Peer-supported: work as a community, contribute ideas

Interest-powered: powered by deep interested in tabletop gaming

Production-centered: product creation focused, remix available

Shared purpose: create better resource for D&D community

Openly networked: open to share, under Creative Common License

Future Development

Extended Uses

Architecture

Higher Education

K-12 Education

Creative Play

References:

Ito, M., Gutiérrez, K., Livingstone, S., Penuel, B., Rhodes, J., Salen, K., ... & Watkins, S. C. (2013). Connected learning: An agenda for research and design. Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

Resnick, M., & Silverman, B. (2005, June). Some reflections on designing construction kits for kids. In Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children (pp. 117-122). ACM.

Rogers, E.M. (1983) Diffusion of Innovations New York, NY: The Free Press.

Salen, K., Tekinbaş, K. S., & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. MIT press.

Questions, comments?

Leave me comment below or email me at Joanna.Liu@nyu.edu