Uncle Roy All Around You (URAY) is a

pervasive game A pervasive game is one where the gaming experience is extended out in the real world, or where the fictive world in which the game takes place blends with the physical world. The "It's Alive" mobile games company described pervasive games as "game ...

made by

Blast Theory Blast Theory is a Portslade-based artists' group, whose work mixes interactive media, digital broadcasting and live performance. Biography The group was founded in 1991 by Matt Adams, Niki Jewett, Will Kittow and Ju Row Farr. The group is curr ...

. URAY was built in the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

project on the EQUIP

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. "The defining characteristic of this game is the way it mixes preprogrammed game content with live performance that takes place on the city streets." Players "on the street" set out on a journey to find a fictional character called Uncle Roy. Simultaneously players online journeyed through a parallel 3D world, all the while guiding or misleading street players. The game was staged in May/June 2003 in central London. Players on the street were given a mobile device to use to navigate through the city and keep contact with game operators and online players. In URAY, self-reported positioning was used instead of location tracking. Street players were presented with a map that they could pan around and subsequently mark their location upon. The mobile device allowed street players to record and send short audio clips to the online players. The notable end of the game is when the street players find Uncle Roy's office where it is possible for the online to meet the street players through webcam. The street players are asked if they are willing to "commit to help a stranger for the next year and if so, whether they are prepared to release their personal contact details". Later the street players are invited into a limousine, where they are asked the same question. Players are paired up to meet if they both committed to the agreement.

Orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

was particularly important in URAY to keep players out of danger in the streets and ensure players advanced through the stages of the game properly. Actors were used in some scenarios of the game and operators were some times required to deal with technical issues. The orchestration team consisted of more than 10 people.

References

External links

* Mixed reality games Location-based games Pervasive games {{Game-stub