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Ben Kirman

Questionable Design?

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What is this?

A collection of recent projects from creative technologist Ben Kirman.


I specialise in the design and implementation of interactive playful experiences that interfere with the edges of technology, culture and sensibility. I'm interested in the application of playful design to create unusual and challenging social and locative experiences in ways that are critical, provocative, irreverent and, most importantly, fun.


As an academic, I teach game and interaction design theory and do quantitative and qualitative research with playful technologies. I publish extensively in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction, Game Studies and Entertainment Technology, however have developed a reputation for not taking it too seriously.


My work has often been covered by traditional media, including the BBC, New Scientist, Wired, The Guardian, TIME, Metro, the New York Times, the Lincolnshire Echo and even Your Cat magazine.


I'm always interested in possible collaborations, workshops, talks, articles and any other distractions. Please get in touch.

Catastrophic

(2018) A card game to support students’ systemic learning in Biology

Read more "Catastrophic"

Ritual Algomancy

(2018) Using Chaos Magick as an Interface to AI Agents

Read more "Ritual Algomancy"

The Dog Internet

(2017) What is the Dog Internet? It’s like the human internet, but for dogs.

Read more "The Dog Internet"

Fictional Conference

(2016) Organising a fictional conference for imaginary people to pretend to talk about fabricated research

Read more "Fictional Conference"

Non-League Football Supporter

(2015) A game about passion, superstitions, rituals and pies

Read more "Non-League Football Supporter"

Joust Cabinet

(2015) On old chewing gum and coin mechanisms

Read more "Joust Cabinet"

Sacred Harvest

(2015) A game exploring prayer, superstition and how to design with worship

Read more "Sacred Harvest"

Quantified Pets

(2015) Speculative design as a tool to understand the implications of technology for animal companions.

Read more "Quantified Pets"

Dead Fun: Coffin Games

(2014) Coffins as game controllers, uncomfortable interactions and death in VR

Read more "Dead Fun: Coffin Games"

Punk HCI

(2014) The banal right-wing values of computing research

Read more "Punk HCI"

Evil Robots from the Future

(2013) Research fiction on automation and the sinister values of Human-Computer Interaction

Read more "Evil Robots from the Future"

Blowtooth – The game of international smuggling

(2012) The notorious mobile game played in real airport security

Read more "Blowtooth – The game of international smuggling"

GetLostBot Serendipity Generator

(2011) Award winning adventure generator for wannabe urban flâneurs

Read more "GetLostBot Serendipity Generator"

The Corridor of Dreams

(2011) Ambient digital mindreading for office workers

Read more "The Corridor of Dreams"

FearSquare

(2011) The infamous urban game that rewards players for visiting locations with higher crime statistics

Read more "FearSquare"

Playtter – Social Nutrition

(2010) Using social networks for estimating nutritional value of home cooking

Read more "Playtter – Social Nutrition"

Feckr.

(2010) The game of secret tags and mischief

Read more "Feckr."

TagPuss – I can haz emoshuns?

(2010) Understanding anthropomorphism of cats on the internet

Read more "TagPuss – I can haz emoshuns?"

Evil Kitchen

(2010) Speculative design of a digital assistant that changes behaviour through punishment instead of reward

Read more "Evil Kitchen"

PASION Fruit

(2009) A social game where players must send gifts to progress

Read more "PASION Fruit"

Familiars 2

(2009) Analysing social network data to determine animal personality

Read more "Familiars 2"

Magpies

(2009) A game about collecting trinkets and building social networks

Read more "Magpies"

Familiars

(2007) Social game about creatures who travel the world meeting new people

Read more "Familiars"

BBC Together

(2006) Early exploration of Social TV in the BBC Innovation Labs

Read more "BBC Together"
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