Journal of Digital Media and Interaction

Interaction as a "between experience"

Exploring Players’ Perceptions of the Haptic Feedback in Haptic Digital Games

Abstract This study explores the added value of haptic digital games as a novel and innovative form of human-computer interaction that complements and enriches traditional forms of visual and auditory communication. In light of the limited number of empirical studies in this area, the statement above becomes more significant. The use of haptic digital games becomes especially important when we consider that these games are not just passive digital applications where users do not act and passively receive information on their skin. Haptic interaction is an active form of communication in which the user receives information through vibrations, rumbles, pulses or thermal feedback on their body. Users intentionally choose their actions when exploring and manipulating an object or situation. These actions provide information about the properties of objects and thus give the player helpful feedback that affects the game experience. The main objectives of this qualitative study was to examine and clarify the features of haptic digital games that (a) increase player immersion and player engagement in the game, (b) make the game experience more realistic and compelling, and (c) distract or disengage them.

Digital Storytelling approaches in Virtual Museums: Umbrella review of systematic reviews

Abstract Museums have the mission of promoting and safeguarding objects of historical value and have undergone several modifications over time to take the focus off the object and give more importance to information and the visitor. Currently they encompass different types of experiences, either through digital and interactive elements, or through new approaches, such as storytelling, which has acted as a protagonist of these transformations. In this sense, the museum in the digital mode, known as virtual museum, plays an important role in this sharing of information and experiences. However, by having different modalities for navigation and interaction, especially in formats that simulate the physical visit, like virtual tours, they present some problems that have been identified in the literature, such as, solitary visit, lack of script to follow and little interaction with the exhibited objects. This literature review was conducted between 2013-2021 and 14 papers were selected for analysis. The results support the understanding of the role of narratives and the way museums use them in the virtual space and highlights the gaps of knowledge on the use of storytelling in this context.

Portuguese Community Radios on the Internet: Broadcasting Exclusively Online and the High Practice of Podcasting

Abstract The Portuguese community radios, with their exclusively online presence, enhance new ways of civic participation and a new democracy stage (Dahlgren, 2013; Ferreira, 2012), and assume themselves an ideal place to mobilize people to a common cause. The participation’s intensity is observed by the fact that their programs are being made by their own listeners and regards some subjects that don’t find space in the mainstream radios. Consequently, it reinforces the proximity with the local communities. For instance, each radio program corresponds to a different author, clearly existing diverse contents or subjects, even though we can notice there is an excessive number of musical programs. About the contents, 367 radio programs of these 21 radio projects were analyzed, following a grid made based in the studies of Beaman (2006), Bonini et al. (2014) and Fleming (2009). The 21 online radio projects analyzed mostly present a program grid with the name and time of broadcasting. Online broadcasting occurs in 62% of these stations, the same percentage of projects that makes their programs available in content format. This percentage equals 13 radio projects that allow listening to the programs in streaming (57%) or podcast (19%). Of the 367 analyzed programs, the majority is inside a musical author typology. We can also see a few programs in the categories of radio drama, call-in-phone in, soundscape, sports, and religious.

(A New Chapter in Esports Research? Mapping, Gaps, and the Early Years of Mobile Esports in Academia)

Resumo Este artigo desenvolve uma revisão da bibliografia internacional sobre esports móveis até setembro de 2021. Seu intuito é documentar a evolução, lacunas e os primeiros anos de apropriação deste objeto pela comunidade acadêmica. A abordagem é guiada por procedimentos metodológicos mistos complementares, voltados para a organização do conhecimento e de natureza quali-quantitativa. A classificação confeccionada para este estudo buscou reunir os achados em blocos de análises, primeiramente de dados bibliográficos para, em seguida, construir uma apreciação epistemológica/crítica. O levantamento identificou 20 trabalhos que tratavam, de alguma forma, sobre esports móveis em diversos formatos de publicação. Entre os principais resultados, destaca-se o pequeno volume de trabalhos sobre este segmento de esports até o momento. No material selecionado, predomina uma baixa reflexão sobre o assunto. Computação é a disciplina que se destaca, acompanhada da Comunicação e das Ciências do Esporte. Além disso, a maioria das pesquisas adota o termo esports móveis de modo aleatório, usual e como exemplo pontual em estudos sobre outros fenômenos sem endereçar reflexões ou problematizações sobre a temática central.

Abstract This paper develops a review of the international literature on mobile esports by September 2021. It intends to document the evolution, gaps, and the first years of appropriation of this object by the academic community. The approach is guided by complementary mixed methodological procedures, aimed at the organization of knowledge, and is quali-quantitative. The classification made for this study sought to gather the findings into blocks of analysis, firstly of bibliographic data, and then to build an epistemological/critical appreciation. The survey identified 20 papers that dealt in some way with mobile esports in various publication formats. Among the main results, the small volume of work on the mobile esports segment to date stands out. In the selected material, a low reflection on the subject predominates. Computing is the discipline that stands out, followed by Communication and Sports Sciences. In addition, most research adopts the term mobile esports randomly, habitually, and as a one-off example in studies about other phenomena without addressing reflections or problematizations about the central theme.

Multimodal engagement in WhatsApp stickers: verbal-visual analysis to understand the context

Resumo O presente estudo busca refletir sobre a representação do corpo na construção dialógica nas aplicações de mensagens, com ênfase no WhatsApp, como também nos dispositivos tecnológicos, considerando a conversão dos corpos em mensagens multimodais. Para tanto, recorremos ao que denominamos aqui como “corpos-stickers”, como objeto de análise e reflexão - que nada mais são do que as figurinhas presentes na aplicação em estudo - e que, na contemporaneidade, participam na construção dos diálogos, nos aparelhos tecnológicos e no ciberespaço. Dividindo o mesmo espaço ocupado há anos pelos emojis, emoticons e smiles, os stickers correspondem às novas evoluções na construção dos diálogos que fazem uso das representações dos corpos e das expressões humanas. Sendo assim, os corpos, enquanto imagens, dizem tanto quanto as palavras, revelando informações codificáveis de formas objetivas e subjetivas através de diferentes modos semióticos encontrados na multimodalidade. Neste caminho seguimos com o aporte bibliográfico dos estudos da semiótica social de Kress e Van Leeuwen (1996; 1998; 2001) para realização da análise verbo-visual dos corpos-stickers em diálogos dentro da aplicação do WhatsApp.

Abstract The present study seeks to reflect on the representation of the body in the dialogic construction in messaging applications, with emphasis on WhatsApp, as well as on technological devices, considering the conversion of bodies into multimodal messages. For that, we make use of what we call here as “stickers-bodies”, as an object of analysis and reflection - which are nothing more than the figures present in the application under study - and that in contemporary times participate in the construction of dialogues in technological and in cyberspace. Sharing the same space occupied for years by emojis, emoticons and smiles, stickers correspond to new developments in the construction of dialogues that make use of representations of bodies and human expressions. Thus, bodies, as images, say as much as words, revealing codifiable information in objective and subjective ways through different semiotic modes found in multimodality. In this way, we continue with the bibliographic contribution of the studies of social semiotics by Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996; 1998; 2001) to carry out the verbal-visual analysis of the bodies-stickers in dialogues within the WhatsApp application.

(Analysis of the use of transmedia in political communication)

Resumo Inicialmente cunhado por Henry Jenkins no decorrer da conceptualização da cultura de convergência dos media, o fenómeno transmedia ultrapassou, nos últimos anos, a barreira entre a ficção e a realidade e transformou-se em ferramenta estratégica para a comunicação político-partidária do século XXI. O presente estudo analisa, através de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, as principais obras que unem o fenómeno à comunicação política, procurando compreender a extensão e profundidade da sua utilização. Foram considerados para a presente análise todos os trabalhos encontrados na base de dados escolhida, Elsevier Scopus, que usavam o conceito de transmedia no contexto da comunicação política e/ou partidária, bem como os que se focavam apenas na explicação e conceptualização do transmedia per si. Destaca-se o caso do partido político espanhol Podemos, como exemplo claro do uso eficaz do transmedia como parte integrante de uma estratégia de comunicação política digital. O presente artigo contribui para alargar o conhecimento sobre a ligação do transmedia à comunicação política, concluindo-se que o fenómeno não se encontra tão difundido na esfera política como seria expectável.

Abstract Initially coined by Henry Jenkins during the conceptualization of the media convergence culture, the transmedia phenomenon has overcome, in recent years, the barrier between fiction and reality and has become a strategic tool for political party communication in the XXI century. This study analyses, through a systematic literature review, the main works that link the phenomenon to political communication, seeking to understand the extent and depth of its use. It was considered for the present analysis all the works found in the chosen database, Elsevier Scopus, that used the concept of transmedia in the context of political and/or party communication, as well as those that focused only on the explanation and conceptualization of transmedia per se. The case of the Spanish political party Podemos stands out as a clear example of the effective use of transmedia as an integral part of a digital political communication strategy. This article contributes to broaden the knowledge about the connection of transmedia to political communication, concluding that the phenomenon is not as widespread in the political sphere as it would be expected.