Games and Bionics

Bionics is a discipline that merges biology, technology and electronics. The main goal is the practical realization of animal's construction and mechanism in artificial machines. Copying the organisms have been developed and improved for millions of years by evolution.

Bionics is a discipline that attends to adapt solutions from nature to industrial applications. Bionic scientists achieved smashing successes with, for instance, using ultrasonic waves in medicine and radars, or using surfaces similar to dolphin’s skin for diving suits. Observations of nature are also used for cybernetics and for the research of artificial intelligence.

Is there a place for creative design in the process of bionic system design? What do you think of this? The section work starts with sharing our experiences with bionic design.

Bring a case study to the workshop; a project which involves design, bionics and game (playfulness) preferably from your country. Please write what topic you would like to make a presentation about (for 30-40 minutes) during the application process; it is a requirement for applying to this section.

Vladimir Monostori
designer
assistant professor

Games without Frontiers

I would like to expand the activity of designing in teams in parallel with toy-design with a particular emphasis on ’helping playfully’: designing daily life tools aiming to facilitate the integration of children with disabilities in social and daily life. The expression ‘didactic toy’ suggests the intention of education and preparation for life through a playful process. This intention can easily be seen throughout the works of designers who design for children with disabilities. These children find it much more difficult to integrate socially and to create bonds and relationships. We may help them by creating new ideas bearing in mind that a playful education may help their development with greater efficiency.

Gábor Bánáti
designer
Assistant professor of NyME

Serious Game
– The Maze of Virtual Reality

This section’s task is to create a concept of a labyrinth through understanding the basics of computer game development. The most important part of the section’s work is to organize previous and new ideas about the way of sharing information with the player. Which of these helps more to find the way out? Listening to the voices, watching as a light turns on or the answer could be something as simple as following footsteps on the floor. We will create concepts and make observations which may result in a better understanding on effectiveness. We shall also find funny ways of navigation in virtual space. This short course opens up the way to acquire some skills of communication in virtual reality.

Márk Selján
designer
DLA student

Game, as an Act of Creation

What is a game? In scientific context, mostly in Mathematics and Psychology, this question arose in the 20th century.
“Game theory attempts to mathematically capture behaviour in strategic situations, in which an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others.” (Source: Wikipedia)
“Play is older than culture, for culture, however inadequately defined, always presupposes human society, and animals have not waited for man to teach them their playing.” (Source: Homo Ludens, 1938, Johan Huiziga)

Game, as an act. A good game is demanding enough to improve our skills without driving us to our limits. The success we so experience makes our act gratifying and playful. The vital risk of failure, monotony, and strict bonds transform our action into joyless work. The difference between games and other activities lie neither in utility nor stake. Playing games is one of the most useful acts, either for leisure or for study purposes. If a game lacks stake, it becomes boring, and soon comes to an end. Furthermore, games can only be played according to the rules. The most unique substance of playing a game is joy.

Game, as an act of creation. The main muse of creation is game; the playful mind can be the most tenacious and inventive. The presence of games in the everyday life is especially important for creative people, to provide inspiration and resource for creative work. It is also important that our environment and the products surrounding us have the potential of being playful and josh. Playfulness can only be created by playing. This is why the understanding of the philosophical approach to games has to be combined with the act of playing. This time, it is not about designing games, but the game of designing, which can be mastered by the practice and observation of games.

Our schedule for the section work is the following:
• Philosophical and psychological inspection of the nature of games.
• The relation of reality and games.
• Game as a way of learning, creating and leisure.
• Games for children, games for adults.
• The aesthetics of happiness.
• Games in the world of forms.
• Objects inspiring for games.
• Unusual shapes.
• Ergonomics of games.
During section work, members attend to practical and theoretical classes. In the first three days, we discuss the practical and theoretical aspects of the workshop’s and the section’s topic. We examine the way how something can become playful. How can we make our environment more playful? How are we inspired by playing? The following two days consist of group or individual creative work, where we summarize the results of the first three days in the form of a presentation.

Attila Simonfi
philosopher

Visual Games

This section deals with the mystery of visual design using the difference between watching and seeing. The perception of shapes, colours, surfaces and space are parts of our professional toolbox. How can we use our anthropometric capabilities and skills for reaching our professional goals? What kind of new visual effects and space-building methods can we come up with, knowing the achievements of morphology? Where are the borders of our 2 and 3 dimensional worlds? What does visual gag mean? How can we learn visual delusion?
Such questions will be dealt with during the workshop, in the search for new ways of visual design.

András Gosztom
Graphics designer