The DOTA 02 trophy was an interesting challenge. Pulling imagery from the game into the real world to connect the physical and virtual experiences together for this audience of gamers was the goal. It wasn’t about replicating anything from the game, and certainly not just making a trophy. Rather it was about referencing all in a piece of art.

As art, it should also spin off an altogether new experience of its own, not just extend an existing one.

I included just enough of the actual DOTA shield appearance to draw that recognition in the gamer’s eye while rendering it in authentic metal utilizing my signature Linn Gear sprockets and broken chain links to challenge the senses and include a bit of defiance.

The result was the gamers loved it.

Who is Roger MacGuffin?

MacGuffin is a name Alfred Hitchcock gave to an object that is used to move a story forward. MacGuffins are so common that they can be easily spotted even in the names of stories and films, such as The Fellowship of the Ring, Raiders of the Lost Ark or Saving Private Ryan. MacGuffins are central to many games as well, DOTA being one. PokemonGo is of course filled with McGuffins galore.

Roger Macguffin

Roger MacGuffin is a name I have affectionately given a real world object whose primary purpose is to acknowledge a corresponding object in a virtual world. In this way it is intended to be an intellectual and emotional connection between real world and virtual world experience. The result intended is a holistic experience, bringing connectedness to a generation that has become lost in the virtual.

And oh yeah. I’ll admit, I also of named it after myself. I never liked the name Roger well enough to name one of my kids after me. My sons have cooler names than me, Noah and Josiah. I suppose if I ever get another dog, I might consider naming it Roger. hmmm.

PokemonGo

PokemonGo is a fascinating phenomenon. It’s a mix of things in a winning recipe, a bit of nostalgia about collecting Pokemon cards wrapped in fairly simple augmented reality. AR purists might dis it because it utilizes a phone and not a headset. As a human factors person, I say it doesn’t matter. The user will build a mental model of the blended environment in their mind. So, it isn’t really necessary that the system blends it all for them.

Above all, it is the social dynamic that is most compelling, Strangers hunting pokemon meet one another and instantly have a rapport. My daughter-in-law and granddaughters have taken this up as an activity they can do as a family. They have discovered that they are somewhat famous in the gamesphere in that, when people meet them, they recognize them by their player names. It may be that in the future, most of our fifteen minutes of fame happen as a avatar in a ame somewhere.

Culturally, it has gone beyond these elements to become it's own thing. A lot can be learned from observing PokmonGo,

Unfortunately,

Cyber criminals are also discovering esports.

Fortunately,

Researchers at Trend Micro are on the case.

Check out this report from Trend Micro,
Cheats, Hacks, and Cyberattacks -
Threats to the Esports Industry in 2019 and Beyond

Extra Life and Trend Micro

This little piece was made for the Extra life fund-raiser event sponsored by Trend Micro. It was a great event and a great cause, supporting kids with medical needs. So I wanted to help how I could. And the gaming dimension was something interesting to me. So, no brainier to do something for it.

The top is a loose interpretation of the Extra Life logo and the base portion is the Trend Micro logo in layers of anodized aluminum. Combining the two looks in one piece was a deliberate clash. The rugged techXpressionist style and the neat tech deco style in the same piece. This collision is meant to ignite sort of a sweet and sour fire and ice effect.

This basic configuration is being developed further in some ongoing work I am doing with other organizations and events. More to come. So stay tuned.

Trend Micro and the T-ball logo are property of Trend Micro