Active Ingredient's 'Ere Be Dragons took place at the Radiator Festival 2005. Photo: Aria Ahmed. Courtesy Active Ingredient.
An exciting new arts and technology project is coming to the East Midlands.
Nottingham-based technology artists, Active Ingredient, have been commissioned to develop an interactive game that will link the people of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.
The project, entitled Love City, will allow people to text each other in a mobile phone-based game that awards points for making connections with people from the other cities.
Rachel Jacobs of Active Ingredient said: "We wanted to create a game that would allow people to use technology that they already owned. We wanted it to be simple to use and easy to grasp even for the computer game phobic."
"We examined the success of texting as a channel for gossip and the making or breaking of personal relationships and wondered if this could be a key element. We needed a concept that was upbeat and iconic, something that had a universal theme which people could tap into from the moment they heard the title," she added.
Photo: Keli Miles
Participants will be awarded points on behalf of their city each time they make contact with anyone from one of the other participating locations.
Any number of inhabitants can take part in the game that will run from Broadway Nottingham, Phoenix Arts Leicester and the Metro Cinema Derby.
The first test of the game will take place on April 3 – 9 2006 and will involve students from De Montford University, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Derby. There will also be a series of public lectures by the artists.
The full-scale public project is likely to take place at the end of the year when a big-screen projection of the game will be broadcast in the main public spaces of each city.
'Ere Be Dragons took place in Nottingham during 2005. Photo: Aria Ahmed. Courtesy Active Ingredient.
Participants will also be able to track the progress of the game via a special website.
Details of the project are due to be finalised in the coming weeks, after which a marketing campaign will be launched to enlist players.
In December 2005 Active Ingredient used GPS and heart rate monitors to create a city-wide mapping game as part of the Radiator Festival. The game, called 'Ere Be Dragons, mapped players movements as they moved through the city of Nottingham.
The latest project has been organised by Three Cities Create and Connect, which celebrates arts activities in the cultural quarters of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, boosting development and collaboration between the three cities.
More information about Three Cities Create can be found on their website at www.threecitiescreate.org.uk. To find out about Active Ingredient, visit the website at www.i-am-ai.net.
