Jonathon Watkins
05-05-2004, 08:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3674365.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3674365.stm</a><br /><br /></div>So, what do you use your PDA for? Is it anything like described in this BBC news story? "Combine PDAs, the internet, a modern British metropolis and an imaginary uncle and what have you got? A big game of hide-and-seek. It's the most hi-tech game of hide and seek you ever did see. It is called Uncle Roy All Around You and is the invention of the Blast Theory group of artists. Led by Matt Adams, the group specialises in exploring interactivity and relationships between cyberspace and city space, the virtual and the actual."<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/UncleRoy4-interface_sml.jpg" /><br /><br />"Street players are equipped with PDAs to help them look for Uncle Roy, who regularly supplies them with clues about his whereabouts as well as a lot of other messages. Catherine Williams, development officer for Blast Theory, says the clues can be poetry, lyrical descriptions of parts of the city, historical information or just blunt facts. Even those who think they know part of a city well can be surprised by what Uncle Roy reveals to them about the play area. "All the reference points that come through to look out for are things you would not notice walking through that part of the city," says Ms Williams. Changing the way that people think about a city - which for most people is just a backdrop for their life - is one of the professed aims of Uncle Roy. Instead of a blank cityscape, players have to interact and engage with it, asking people they have never met if they are Uncle Roy. Instead of a city full of strangers, people become potential helpers and friends."<br /><br />Wow, now that's using technology in several intriguing ways! These guys have quite modest aims don't you think? :wink: It certainly sound like playing this game would be quite a blast. :wink: You can visit Blast Theory <a href="http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/">here</a> and find out more about the game (including dates & info on games in different countries) <a href="http://www.uncleroyallaroundyou.co.uk/">here</a>. Have any of you guy played this? Would you do so if you had the chance?