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Playkka

Interactive play table

• in: Naantali Taidekesä, Salo Art museum, Playful New York.
• by: Tuomo Tammenpää
• for: Naantali Taidekesä
• in: June 2006

Playkka is a prototype for interactive table-top play. RFID readers below the table surface recognizes the RFID-tagged objects played on the surface. Screen graphics and/or sound can be programmed to respond, guide or direct the play. The prototype is made primarily to explore play-mechanics with tangible objects as computer interface. The actual play / game content will be co-created together with the experts in the area Playkka will be used as play environment e.g. professional educators.

Traditional table-top games & plays, like board games encourage in social interaction, bring people together face-to-face but lack computational logic which can greatly improve the game & play dynamics. Traditional video & computer games on the other hand, excel in logic but restrict the interaction to game controllers that are not as intuitive and exploratory as set of different objects, especially for younger children. Playkka tries to merge these two worlds by combining the best bits of each.