My Research
Games, Play and Place
Eastern Market Murder AR game by True Crime Games.
One of my key research interests is the intersections between games, play and place. This is the topic of my first book, Location-based Gaming: Play in Public Space.
I draw on research about play, urbanism and environments to study mobile, augmented reality and location-based games. I use ethnographic methods - interviews, observation and surveys - to examine both their design and their impact on players’ experiences of places and their inhabitants.
In 2019, I curated a temporary exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Games on 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.
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
Libraries
My other research examines how libraries are responding to digital technologies through their design and their connection with urban planning strategies.
This is the focus of my second book, Public Libraries in the Smart City, co-written with Danielle Wyatt.
Tianjin Binhai Library, China
Our latest book is The Library as Playground: How Games and Play are Reshaping Public Culture.
It explores how games and playful practices are changing public libraries spatially, temporally, and as public institutions.
Oodi Central Library, Helsinki (Photo by Risto Rimppi)
Universities
The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco (licenced from Adobe Stock)
In 2023-25 I was a postdoctoral researcher on the Australian Research Council-funded project The University and the City at the University of Sydney.
This project examined 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.