Experience Design Guidelines for Creating Situated Mediascapes

Mediascapes are a new medium. We use the term mediascape to describe the user experience of walking through the physical world and triggering digital media which has been situated in that place for a particular reason by the mediascape designer. Forms of mediascape include tours, situated plays, games, augmented attractions and wearable applications. What the different forms of mediascape hold in common is that the user is always mobile, rather than at a desk and the interaction mechanisms are often through movement or gesture rather than using a mouse or keyboard. Design for this new medium is still at a formative stage. It introduces a wide variety of issues for both the user and the spectator experience. This report provides an overview and practical design advice to anyone who is interested in understanding the new medium of locative media and in creating their own situated mediascape. The report is based on the collective experience of the Mobile Bristol group who have used the Mobile Bristol Authoring framework to develop a wide range of mediascapes for different purposes. The report describes both general guidelines as well as specific recommendations for designers who want to use the Mobile Bristol Authoring tools.