My Research
Games, Play and Public Space
Me playing the AR app 64 Ways of Being by Troy Innocent.
One of my key research interests is the intersection of games, play and public space. This is the topic of my first book, Location-based Gaming. I draw on scholarly research about urban play to trace the history of these games and use ethnographic methods to study their design and their players’ experiences.
In 2019 I curated a temporary exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Games that showcased the history of location-based games from geocaching to Pokémon GO and beyond.
I’ve also co-edited a book and journal special issue and produced a report examining games and play in urban policy. In 2022 I worked as an embedded ethnographer at RMIT’s Play About Place project.
From Ben Russell’s headmap manifesto
I’ve also written about videogame tourism, platform studies and platformisation, augmented reality, Pokémon GO, tabletop games, locative media and speculative design.
Dobuita Street, Yokosuka
Public Libraries
My other research examines how public libraries are responding to digital technologies and becoming central components of their cities’ urban development strategies.
This is the focus of my second book, Public Libraries in the Smart City, co-written with Danielle Wyatt.
Photo: Tianjin Binhai Library, China
My latest book is The Library as Playground: How Games and Play are Reshaping Public Culture.
It explores how games and playful practices are changing libraries’ spaces, programming, design and everyday rhythms.
Photo: Oodi Central Library, Helsinki by Risto Rimppi
Universities
Image: The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco (licenced from Adobe Stock)
I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher on the Australian Research Council-funded project The University and the City at the University of Sydney.
This project examines the relationship between universities and the cities in which they are embedded.
Open Data
In 2018, I worked as a research consultant for the State Government of Victoria in Melbourne, studying the development and implementation of its open data program.
My book Openness in Practice, with Suneel Jethani, outlines the findings of this research.