reLarp

The test version of reLarp is hosted and deployed on shinyapps.io. Each time the app is accessed, a non-permanent container to store the input data is set up. This means once the app is closed, all data is deleted. If you want to retain your input data, use the download buttons of the app or send the data to your mail address at the end of the procedure.

Due to how data is stored by shinyapps.io, you cannot request a copy of the data after you close the app (cf. Art. 15 GDPR) nor ask for its erasure (cf. Art. 17 GDPR) because the data will be auto-deleted. Larpwright Online is not responsible for the data storage or the traffic to/from the shinyapps.io servers. You, therefore, use the test version of reLarp at your own risk. Thus, Larpwright Online asks you to refrain from inputting personal data and use the test version only with data not traceable to you or other individuals.

For details on how shinyapp.io handles security, compliance, and user metrics/application metrics, see their documentation:

• Chapter 6: Metrics
• Chapter 8: Security and Compliance

Step 1: Stimulating Instructions

First, the participants receive stimulating instructions to start an individual interview or a group discussion. Our example edu-larp, Village, Shelter, Comfort (Design Document) seeks to foster an engagement with a paradox dilemma, thus, we placed the experience of this dilemma in the focus of the reflections. Regardless of language, the instructions thus conformed to the following format (paraphrased):

Please recall the experience of facing the dilemma in the three scenarios of Village, Shelter, Comfort. List words or short sentences that are meaningful to you in describing this experience. Think of as many words as possible and record them in the order that the words occurred to you.

Step 2: Free Word Association

Following these instructions, the participants input their word associations related to their experience of the dilemma of the larp.

Step 3: Order of Importance

The first words or images that occur to participants may not always be the most “important” in that the words or images are necessary to explain the recalled experience. Thus, in this step, the participants are requested to rearrange their inputs in order of importance.

Step 4: Image/Evaluation

For the purpose of the subsequent analysis, we also ask participants to evaluate the meaning of each item as positive (+), negative (-), or neutral (~).

Step 5: Degree of Similarity

In preparation for the subsequent discussion and analysis, the participants are asked to rate the items in pairs based on the degree of how close they are in connotative meanings on a 7-point scale (from 1, very close in meaning, to 7, very different in meaning). The participants would receive instructions, such as:

Please rate the distance between each pair of the items you listed according to the 7 scale below. In so doing, evaluate how close they are in your image. Do not evaluate in terms of the accuracy of meaning in the dictionary.

Step 6: Cluster Analysis

Based on the matrix given in the previous step, we perform a hierarchical cluster analysis with Ward’s method on the similarity matrix to obtain a so-called dendrogram, a tree diagram to illustrate the arrangement of clusters. Cluster here refers to a number of items that are close in meaning and thus may build a set of relations. This relates to the meaningful structuring of information necessary for learning.
Although the analysis of the distance between items can be meaningful, the dendrogram in a PAC analysis is utilized to explore the structural meaning of the participants’ experience.

Step 7: Dendrogram Interpretation

In this important step, we ask the participants to explain the meaning of each cluster, the relationship between or among clusters, and also within clusters. Therefore, the participants are asked to elaborate on some of the items. Often the participants include the evaluations from step 4 in their explanations. This whole process is for exploring the participant’s overall image of the experience (the dilemma) concerned and helping them in their reflection. This step may, of course, include questions and comments by the larp organizers.

Step 8: Cooperative Understanding

Following from the above, organizers may share their interpretation of the dendrogram rather immediately with the participants or keep their thoughts until the end of the debriefing process. Important to note is that if interpretation happens in a dialogue, organizers should refrain from imposing their own interpretation on the participants or “rail-roading” them to a desired conclusion. The goal is to share interpretations to receive some responses from the participants. This process requires cooperation and interaction between both parties.

For more details on the process and example analyses, see:

• Kamm, Björn-Ole. 2017. “Translating Research into Larp: Village, Shelter, Comfort.” In LARP: Silberhochzeit. Aufsatzsammlung zum MittelPunkt 2017, edited by Rafael Bienia and Gerke Schlickmann, 31–60. Braunschweig: Zauberfeder Verlag.
• Kamm, Björn-Ole. 2019. “Experience Design for Understanding Social Withdrawal: Employing a Live-Action Role-Play (LARP) to Learn About and Empathize with Hikikomori in Japan.” In Neo-Simulation and Gaming toward Active Learning, edited by Ryoju Hamada, Songsri Soranastaporn, Hidehiko Kanegae, et al., 387–96. Singapore: Springer.
• カム ビョーン=オーレ. 2019. “ライブ・アクション・ロールプレイ(LARP)という意識向上を目的とした シリアス・ゲーミング方法:「ひきこもり」についての LARP を例に” [Live-Action Role-Play(Larp)as a Serious Gaming Tool for Awareness Raising: The Case of hikikomori(Acute Social Withdrawal]. 作業科学研究 13 (1): 32–44.

Download the code and copy it to your shiny server (or use shinyapps.io)

In app.R replace the hostname for the mail server with your information (so that emails can be sent to the facilitator). Store your SMTP credentials in the .Renviron file.

Share the app link with your participants.

Currently, the app is available in English, German, and Japanese (and includes a language switcher via shiny.i18n). Feel free to add further translations via the translation.json in the www-folder.