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The contested nature of the Indian Urban Street creates the narrative of the plot for the proposed game. The realm of the street is in a constant state of flux orchestrated by different urban actors, activities on the street, physical and social infrastructure etc. The solutions offered by designers tend to be top down and treat user participation only as a means to validate pre conceived design intentions. This is very evident in the manner of involving people in participatory engagement at concept generation. After this stage the users are entirely ignored – so are all the complex dynamics and un-mappable factors like weddings, festivals, use of rickshaws etc.
This confusion on the street realm demands for the deployment of complex framework like gaming through which user decision patterns and social behaviour can be modelled.The player/actor would engage in the issues of the street and would have the immersive experience and the opportunity to program his way through the maze of the street experience through the act of walking. Collecting the responses of the participants to the procedure of the game and layering them can create newer insights about the way we can think of answers to complex urban systemic issues.
*You can read Vinit’s report here