Familiar Glow is an installation platform designed to host approachable LED experiences, designed for audiences otherwise ignored by the games industry.

The platform currently hosts two games:

GLOW GOLF

A simple golf game played along a line of glowing rope.

GLOW GOLF was the first LED installation I've built, which aimed to distil golf into an experience which captured the essence of the sport whilst bringing the skill barrier down to something more approachable. I recently upgraded the project to have LED rope and a door handle as the new controller.

RADIANT VINES 

Water the plants with light from your watering can until they blossom.

Radiant Vines was recently developed for Rotherham's Plug in and Play festival, a nature themed games trail through the town centre. Since the event, I've been finding public places to set up through the winter months. Find out more about the installation here: Radiant Vines by presskit

Controller Workshops

An important part of Familiar Glow is running controller workshops. These are creative sessions where participants fashion games controllers from cardboard, tinfoil and other craft materials. These workshops are run with the public and engage marginalised communities ignored by games and tech and help them surface what interfaces resonate with them. Over the last year I've been running sessions with young people with disabilities and I'm planning next to work with the elderly.

Why the elderly?

The elderly has historically been an audience both ignored and villainised by the games industry in pursuit of the young. But this no longer reflects reality; games developers have begun dying of old age and as populations skew towards the elderly, it is inevitable we will cater to these audiences.  Games themselves have shown promise as a potential tool for combatting cognitive decline and it was clear with Wii Sports that an older devoted audience base can be fostered by accommodating their needs and interests. 

Here's a 5 minute talk I delivered earlier this year discussing the topic: