Exploring Empathy through the Design of an Embodied Installation Game

Xiaoou Ji; Steven Malliet; Ekaterina  Muravevskaia

doi:10.60543/ijsim.v9i1.9381

Xiaoou Ji LUCA School Of Arts
Steven Malliet LUCA The School Of Arts
Ekaterina Muravevskaia School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Amritapuri Campus

DOI: https://doi.org/10.60543/ijsim.v9i1.9381

Abstract

This article discusses the design of the embodied installation game Sisyphus: Endless Dilemma, designed to help examine and resolve the inequalities faced by patients with mood disorders. By employing a critical design framework and the form of an interactive art installation, Sisyphus: Endless Dilemma creates a dystopian physical interactive environment to immerse players in an inescapable predicament to evoke empathy for mood disorder groups. This embodied installation game takes artistic research as an overarching method. Through the iterative creation of, and reflection upon, an experimental game within a performative context we aim to generate new knowledge on spatial and experimental game design. The resulting gameplay is not only shaped by a set of interaction mechanisms but also composed of elements such as various sensory experiences, bodily movements, and the physical environment. The article illustrates the potential of the embodied installation game based on artistic research in contributing to the discourse on contemporary game design as well as serving as a catalyst for addressing social issues, moral dilemmas and cultural challenges.

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Author Biographies

Xiaoou Ji, LUCA School Of Arts

Xiaoou Ji is an independent artist and a PhD candidate at LUCA School of Arts, Inter-Actions Research Unit, campus C-mine Genk (Belgium). She obtained a design MA degree with the creation of an Embodied Installation Game from the Faculty of Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen (Norway). Her research interests relate to multi-sensory interactive environments, embodied interaction, empathy development, and meaningful play.

Steven Malliet, LUCA The School Of Arts

Steven Malliet is a lecturer and researcher at LUCA School of Arts, and an Associate Professor at the University of Antwerp. He teaches meaningful play, digital design and art-based research. He is a member of the academic board of the Re: Anima Erasmus Mundus master program in animation film and he coordinates the FilmEU Research and Innovation project ‘Expanded Memories’. He is active in several research projects that involve the creation of game and interaction rules within artistic and applied contexts, in addition to investigating the relationship between music and visuals in audiovisual media production. His academic research addresses the socio-psychological determinants of digital game play and the methodology of game text analysis – topics on which he has published in international journals. As a musician, he has created several albums and music videos under the name Slow Bear.

Ekaterina Muravevskaia, School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Amritapuri Campus

Ekaterina Muravevskaia is an Assistant Professor at Amrita University (India), where she conducts research with Indian school children in order to explore how empathy games can vary within different cultural contexts. She received her PhD in Human-Centered Computing from the University of Florida in 2021. Her research interests relate to empathy development, conscious communication, and social-emotional learning. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences, including IDC, IEEE VR, CHI Play, and Game-Based Learning, and published in scientific journals, such as the International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.