Yomeci Hole

Background: Situated in the fields of experimental games, urban play, public art, urban design and creative placemaking, this practice research project investigated how embodied forms of play can be harnessed as a design strategy for interaction with sound. This was motivated by the overarching research inquiry of the Clarendon Street Arcade that examined how custom-made arcade games in a public street could create opportunities for social connection and reinvigorate outdoor public life in the street through play. Contribution: Yomeci Hole was one of five outdoor street arcade games commissioned for the Clarendon Street Arcade project in South Melbourne (2022) via a successful pitch made by the RMIT Future Play Lab. Yomeci Hole extended conventional arcade game approaches with players interacting with a digital world via a screen that lies horizontally on the ground surrounded by six buttons activated by players feet. Rather than use a conventional arcade win or lose state, Yomeci Hole enabled novel movement-based interaction and collaboration between players, acting as a ‘musical toy’ inviting play, exploration and experimentation. Significance: The Clarendon Street Arcade was supported by Port Phillip Council, funded under the Victorian Government’s COVIDSafe Outdoor Activation Fund and developed in partnership with RMIT Future Play Lab. The Clarendon Street Arcade was featured as a key event in Melbourne International Games Week and in the Play About Place symposium at the State Library of Victoria. In 2023, Yomeci Hole will be featured in a public play event for RMIT Orientation Week and a Playable City Festival for Melbourne International Games Week.