Presentation

The research group "Culture and Leisure Technology" (CTL) was created with the idea of studying this phenomenon in its various humanistic, social, technical and creative manifestations.

Thus, it focuses its main area of ​​activity on play as an object of multidisciplinary analysis, either in its digital or analog aspect.

The group's activity is divided into three main areas of specialisation, which are linked to:

  • Academic knowledge and research of recreational phenomena in the framework of the Humanities and Social Sciences (the block we call “Game Studies”);
  • Research and design in usability and user experience (UX) methods and techniques (Game User Research).
  • The role played by technological advances (understood here as “new leisure technologies”).

    Areas of research

    The main lines of research of the group are:

    1. Game Studies
    2. Game User Research
    3. New leisure technologies

    Group members

    Dr. Antonio José Planells de la Maza

    Coordinator
        CONTACTAR

     INFORMACIÓ

    Dr. Ester Bernadó Mansilla

    Dr. Adso Fernández Baena

    Dr. Ana Urroz Osés

    Dr. Alexandra Samper Martínez

    Daniel Candil Gil-Ortega

    Dr. Marco Antonio Rodriguez Fernandez

    Dr. Ana Beatriz Pérez Zapata

    Dr. Victor Manuel Navarro Remesal

    Dr. Francisco José Pinel Cabello

    Dr. Joan Pons López

    Research projects

    Research projects active or carried out by the group or by some of its members:

    • Member of the GREDITS research group, an emerging group recognised by the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014 SGR 816), BAU, Center Universitari de Disseny, UVic. (2013-2017)
       
    • Coordinator of the research line “Pedagogical innovation in and through design” of the GREDITS research group, an emerging group recognized by the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014 SGR 816), BAU, Center Universitari de Disseny, UVic. (2013-2014)
       
    • Collaborator in the KONECTO research group, an emerging group recognized by the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014 SGR 1188). UVic.
    • “Heroes of the crisis. Narrative and social discourse in contemporary popular culture. Pompeu Fabra University ”(UPF) (CSO2014-56830-P). Funding entity: State Plan for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research of Excellence. Period: 2015 - 2017. IP: Dr. Óliver Pérez Latorre (UPF) & Dra. Maria Mercè Oliva Rota (UPF). Type of participation: member of the research team.
       
    • “Leisure Culture, Digital Competence and Learning” (CSO2014-57305-P). Funding entity: State Program for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research of Excellence, State Subprogram for Knowledge Generation, 2014 call. Period: 2015-2017. IP: Jordi Sánchez-Navarro & Daniel Aranda. Type of participation: member of the research team.
       
    • "Audiovisual culture and gender representations in Spain: messages, consumption and youth appropriation in television fiction and video games." (FEM 2011-27381). Funding body: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Period: 2011-2016. IP: Dra. María del Mar Chicharro Merayo (UCM-CES Felipe II). Type of participation: member of the research team.
    • SGR - 2014-SGR-502. Funded by: Universities and Research Commission of the Ministry of Innovation and Universities. Type of collaboration: junior researcher.
       
    • “Cultec: Culture, Leisure and Digital Technologies: Interpreting the interdependence of social uses”. Project type: MINECO - ECO 2011-29558-C02-01-E. Funded by: Ministry of Education and Science and the European Union (ERDF). Type of collaboration: assistant researcher.
    • Group on Media Technologies (GTM) - 2014-SGR-590. 2011-2015. Universities and Research Commission of the Ministry of Innovation and Universities. Type of collaboration: junior researcher.
       
    • Technologies of the Hotel del FUturo (THOFU), CEN-20101019. 2012-14 Funded by: Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI). Government of Spain, Ministry of Science and Innovation. Type of collaboration: team leader and researcher.
       
    • Pain and Anxiety Treatment based on social Robot Interaction with Children to Improve pAtient experience (PATRICIA), TIN2012-38416-C03-02. 2014-15 Funded by: Government of Spain, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Type of collaboration: researcher.

    Scientific production

    Book chapters

    - Navarro Remesal, Víctor (2022). The possible worlds of the metaverse: from cyberpunk resistance to playful co-optation. In Hernández Ruiz, Victoria (Ed.) Metaverso. The real in the virtual (pp.17-31). Madrid: Editorial Sinderesis. ISBN 978-84-19199-40-9.

    Articles

    - MARTíN NúñEZ, M., NAVARRO REMESAL, V.. Ludonarrative complexity in the video game: a double boomerang. Atalanta. Review of cinematographic studies, Valencia, Spain, 0, January. 2021. Available in: .

    Llibres

    -    Navarro-Remesal, V. (coord) (2020). Culture at Playh: How video games influence and replicate our world. shine At the interface/probing the Boundaries, Volume 134. 143 pp. ISBN: 978-90-04-37338-9

    -    Navarro-Remesal, V. (coord) (2020). Think the game. 25 paths for Game studies. Ludografías. Shangrila. ISBN 978-84-122080-6-1

    Book chapters

    -    Navarro Remesa, V. (2020) "State of the issue: the video game in the spotlight: the scientific production on the digital game". In: Sánchez Navarro, J.; Aranda Juárez, D. (Coord). (2020) Ludoliteracy. Video games, digital competence and learning. Open University of Catalonia (UOC) - GAME Group DOI: 10.7238/uoc.ludoliteracy.2020

    -    Navarro Remesa, V.; Planells de la Maza, Antonio José (2020) "Let's talk about games: Gamers and digital communication". In: Sánchez Navarro, J.; Aranda Juárez, D. (Coord). (2020) Ludoliteracy. Video games, digital competence and learning. Open University of Catalonia (UOC) - GAME Group DOI: 10.7238/uoc.ludoliteracy.2020

    -    Garca, G; Lehner, A; Navarro-Remesal, V (2020) Regenerative Play and the Experience of the Sublime. In: Mythopoeic Narrative in The Legend of Zelda. Rouledge. ISBN: 9781003005872.

    Articles

    - Estanyol, Elisenda; Montaña, Mireia and Planells de la Maza, Antonio José (2019). Young women and video games. Perceptions about their informational treatment in the media. Studies on the Periodical Message, Vol. 25 (1), pp. 129-145.

    Articles

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2018). The dispossession of user data and privacy in the use of video games: the case of Steam. BiD, University Texts in Library and Information Science, 41. ISSN: 1575-5886.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2018). Use of board games in video game design: a college experience. Pedagogical Studies, vol. 44 (1), pp. 415-426. ISSN: 0718-0705.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2018). The digital seed in video games: universal arguments as game-fiction frameworks. Characters. Cultural and critical studies of the digital sphere, vol. 7 (1), pp. 450-471. ISSN: 2254-4496.

    Articles


    - Pérez Latorre, O .; Navarro Remesal, V .; Planells de la Maza, AJ and Sánchez Serradilla, C. (2017). Recessionary games. Video games and the social imaginary of the Great Recession (2009–2015). Convergence. ISSN: 1354-8565.

    - Gómez García, S., Planells de la Maza, AJ, and Chicharro Merayo, M. (2017). Do students want to learn with video games? What their users think of the educational potential of this medium. Educate, 53 (1), 49-66. ISSN: 0211-819X

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2017). Video games and the crowdfunding ideology: From the gamer-buyer to the prosumer-investor. Journal of Consumer Culture, 17 (3), 620-638. ISSN: 14695405


    Book chapters


    - Samper-Martínez, A., Sánchez-Bergara, S., García-Álvarez, E. (2017) The digital leisure in the configuration of normative frames: a look through the co-creative practice of online video games. In D. Muriel and R. San Salvador del Valle (eds.) Digital Technology and New Forms of Leisure. Bilbao: Deusto Digital. ISBN: 978-84-169-82-41-7.

    - Samper-Martínez, A., Cuenca-Amigo, J., Monteagudo, MJ, López-Sintas, J. (2017) When Digital Leisure "Leaves the Screen": the Invasion of Pokémon Go. In Daniel Muriel and Roberto San Salvador del Valle (eds.) Digital Technology and New Forms of Leisure. Bilbao: Deusto Digital. ISBN: 978-84-169-82-41-7.


    Llibres


    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2017). Possible Worlds in Video Games: From Classic Narrative to Meaningful Actions. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University ETC Press.


    Conference papers


    - Planells de la Maza, AJ “Immersive journalism in Spain. New journalistic narratives through docuweb and newsgame ”. International Congress about New Narratives Between information and fiction: from deregulation to transmedia integration. July 3-5, Autonomous University of Barcelona.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ "The fantastic Lovecraftian as a ludofictional world between digital and analog: The case of the board game" The Mansions of Madness: Second Edition ". III International Congress Visions of the Fantastic: "The Horror and its forms", Study Group on the Fantastic (GEF) - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. June 28-30.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ “Will Technology Set Us Free? The Impact of Digital Systems in Non-Digital Gaming Experiences ”. Board Game Studies Colloquium XX. University of Copenhagen, 17-20 May.

    - Samper-Martínez, A .; Monteagudo, MJ; García-Álvarez, E. “Pockémon Go: When the Digital and the Flesh Blend Together in Ordinary Social Life”. Leisure Studies Association Conference, 2017 ‘Enacting Leisure: Recreating Leisure’. Leeds Beckett University, UK. July 4-6.

    - Samper-Martínez, A .; Rojas De Francisco, L .; García-Álvarez, E. “Business Digital Leisure Evolutions: Pokémon Go Bridged Atoms and Bits”. Leisure Studies Association Conference, 2017 ‘Enacting Leisure: Recreating Leisure’. Leeds Beckett University, UK. July 4-6.

    Book chapters


    - Urroz Osés, A. (2016). Design and development: Responsible innovation through Design Thinking. In “Social Design and Development”, from the series of Notebooks of the Center for Design and Communication Studies The Faculty of Design and Communication of the University of Palermo (Argentina) and the School of Design of the Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (Brazil ).


    Conference papers

    - Urroz Osés, A. “(art) (Political) Video games in action! GameArtivism Tactics and Strategies.” VIII International Latin Congress of Social Communication. University of La Laguna, December 2.

    Articles


    - García-Álvarez, E., López-Sintas, J., & Samper-Martínez, A. (2015). The social network gamer's experience of play: A Netnography of Restaurant City on Facebook. Games and Culture, 12 (7-8), 650-670. DOI: 10.1177 / 1555412015595924

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2015). Possible worlds, pressure groups and public opinion in the video game Tropic 4. Tripods, 37, 63-77. ISSN: 1138-3305

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2015). The expressive power of the possible worlds theory in video games: when narratives become interactive and fictional spaces. Communication and Society, 27, 289-302. ISSN: 1645-2089

    Conference articles


    - Albo-Canals, J., Fernández-Baena, A., Boldu, R., Barco, A., Navarro, J., Miralles, D., & Angulo, C. (2015, March). Enhancing long-term children to robot interaction engagement through cloud connectivity. In Proceedings of the Tenth Annual ACM / IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction Extended Abstracts (pp. 105-106). ACM.

    - Fernández-Baena, A., Boldú, R., Albo-Canals, J., & Miralles, D. (2015, August). Interaction between Vleo and Pleo, a virtual social character and a social robot. In 2015 24th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) (pp. 694-699). IEEE.

    - Samper-Martinez, A., Gerling, K., García-Álvarez, E., Kirman, B., & Lawson, S. (2015, October). After All the Time I Put Into This: Co-Creation and the End-of-life of Social Network Games. In Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 135-140). ACM.


    Book chapters


    - García-Álvarez, E., Samper-Martínez, A., López-Sintas, J. (2015) The co-creative experience of the social game player: from commitment to loss in the reconfiguration of the business model. In López-Sintas, J. (Ed.) The social construction of the experience of cultural leisure. Barcelona: Omnia Science Monographs. pp. 253 - 278. ISBN: 978-84-944229-9-7.


    Llibres


    - Aranda, D., Gómez, S., Navarro, V., and Planells de la Maza, AJ (2015). Game & Play Design and analysis of the game, the player and the leisure system. Barcelona: Editorial UOC. ISBN: 978-84-9064-709-7

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2015). Video games and fictional worlds. From Super Mario to Portal. Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra. ISBN: 978-84-37633-49-7



    Conference papers


    - Samper-Martínez, A .; García-Álvarez, E .; López-Sintas, J. “Logics in Transition in the Freemium Co-creative Business Model on the Internet”. Ociogune 2015, The social effects of the cultural and creative industries: measuring the unforeseen. University of Deusto, Bilbao. June 11-12.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ "Creating video games from the non-digital: The contribution of contemporary board games to the learning of mechanics, dynamics and playful aesthetics." I International Congress of Art, Design and Development of Video Games in the Creative Industry, ESNE, Madrid. May 7.

    Articles


    - Macià, N., & Bernadó-Mansilla, E. (2014). Towards UCI +: a mindful repository design. Information Sciences, 261, 237-262.
    - Fernández-Baena, A., Montaño, R., Antonijoan, M., Roversi, A., Miralles, D., & Alías, F. (2014). Gesture synthesis adapted to speech emphasis. Speech communication, 57, 331-350.
    - Donaire Villa, FJ, and Planells de la Maza, AJ (2014). Intellectual property and video games (or "l'imbroglio di super mario"): by its own legal regulation for a strategic cultural industry. Ceflegal, 161, 69-96. ISBN: 1699-129X
    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2014). The analog fiction of the board game and its relevance for the video game: an educational proposal for digital youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 106, 109-121. ISSN: 0211-4364.

    Conference articles


    - Fernández-Baena, A., Salle-URL, L., & Miralles, D. (2014). A vatar: Tangible interaction and augmented reality in character animation. On Interacting with Smart Objects, 28.

    Conference papers
    - Urroz Osés, A. “Learning Design by Cinema. An Experiment ”. INTED2014. 8th International Technology, Education and Development Conference. Valencia, March 2014.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (Poster) “Mods in Videogames: Speech, gender and reception”. 5th European Communication Conference - ECREA 2014. Lisbon, Portugal, 12-15 November.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ "Methodologies and contents of teaching video game design to digital natives: challenges, opportunities and needs." SEECI 2014 - International Congress of the Spanish Society for Ibero-American Communication Studies. Madrid, 28-29 April.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ “The configuration and refiguration of video game heroine in the 2013st century: possible worlds and gender issues in Tomb Raider (2013) and Bioshock Infinite (2014)”. IV International Congress of the Spanish Association for Communication Research AE-IC 21 Bilbao "Communication Spaces". Bilbao, 24-XNUMX January.

    Articles


    - Cuadrado Alvarado, A., and Planells de la Maza, AJ (2013). Play the film: cutscenes and the genesis of the interactive film model. Archivos de la Filmoteca, 72, 91-103.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2013). Pixelated art, nostalgia and lost genres: "Resonance" or the resurgence of the classic graphic adventure. ArDIn. Art, Design, and Engineering, 2, 8-15. ISSN: 2254-8319

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2013). The emergence of Game Studies as its own discipline: researching the video game from the methodologies of Communication. History and Social Communication, 18, 519-528.

     

    Book chapters


    - Urroz Osés, A. (2013). Interactivity as social participation. Brief history of the social development of the Internet. In Aprendizajes 21, vol.2 “Interactivity in digital media”. University of León, Mexico / University of Vic.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2013). Video games, college and communication studies. From intellectual ostracism to social legitimacy. In A. Mendieta (coord.), Avant-garde trends in communication (pp.345-363). Madrid: Visión Libros. ISBN: 978-8-415-96584-8

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ (2013). Sorry, but our princess is in another castle! Towards a theory of video games as ludofictional worlds. In B. Bigl, and S. Stoppe (eds.), Playing with Virtuality, Theories and Methods of Computer Game Studies (pp. 53-64). Frankfurt: Peter Lang. ISBN: 978-3-631-64060-9

    Conference papers

    - Urroz Osés, A. “Research in design pedagogy” VI TIDD (Tecnologias da Inteligência e Design Digital) research meeting. Sao Paulo, Brazil, December.

    - Urroz Osés, A. “Animation and digital design” Auditorium of the Pontifical University of Sao Paulo (PUC-SP), 2 December.

    - Urroz Osés, A. “Design and social transformation. Challenge and pedagogical objective ”IV Latin American Congress of Design Education Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 2018.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ “Video games and the free-to-play model: the playful slavery of the 14st century? Lights and shadows on social media and the Internet. " II International Congress on Media Education and Digital Competence. Barcelona, ​​15-2013 November XNUMX.

    - Planells de la Maza, AJ “The arrival of crowdfunding in video games, digital emancipation or passing fashion? The Kickstarter case. ” XIII Ibercom International Congress. Santiago de Compostela, 29-31 May 2013.