Our History

In the beginning

Lynn Hughes and Nina Czegledy conceived an analogue card game—later called the Different Abilities project—at the Technoculture Art and Games (TAG) lab, Hexagram, Concordia University, Montreal. The proposed a card game aimed at exploring ideas and issues related to various physical and mental abilities/disabilities. “Ability Jam” the first brainstorming event took place on May 2nd - 3rd, 2014 at Concordia University. Following thematically related presentations and a participatory discussion group participants preceded to prototype various games. The results of “Ability Jam” were so promising that a decision was made to further develop the idea. Concurrently, Lynn Hughes was invited to curate a games related exhibition and workshop the Different Abilities card game at Transitio_MX 06 in Mexico City.

January 2014

November 2014

A tale of two cities

Nina Czegledy invited Lynne Heller and Judith Doyle to form a collaboration between OCAD U and the TAG lab to develop the Different Abilities card game for presentation at the Transitio_MX 06 workshop. Lynne Heller recruited students, Anna Lew and Martin Shook from the department of Graphic Design in the Faculty of Design, OCAD U. Judith Doyle suggested involving Robin Len, an artist and designer with acquired brain injuries (ABI).

Going international

Dobble Debate was first formally workshopped at Transitio_MX06, a festival of new media and video that took place in Mexico City in 2015. The game went on to be presented at numerous events, inviting audiences to participate and contribute feedback towards the development of the game. Fabiola Hernandez Cancino, a MITAC intern at OCAD U, assisted in the translation of the text on the cards into Spanish.

October 2015

June 2016

Further refinement

Over the subsequent three years the design and information offered on the cards was refined and augmented. We responded to critique of the cards and new developments in games and pedagogy. Through our international workshops we gathered ideas about developing the game through the use of technology and different game structures.

Co-creation opportunities

In the spring of 2018 we learnt that we were the recipients of a Partnership Engagement Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of the Government of Canada. With this support we launched a new round of workshops to continue exploring ways of addressing dis-and-differing abilities and gathering feedback on game methodology, particularly how to use digital technology to address a wide range of abilities.

March 2018

August 2019

The next wave

Our future research questions include the following: How does the embodied experience of AR/VR, lead to a deeper understanding of other people’s differences? How can design methods, co-creation and research-creation within 3D environments help to develop knowledge exchange of dis and differing abilities? How can the technologies of AR/VR allow us the communal experience of humor and imagination that are an essential element in breaking down barriers to understanding?

Event Chronology

Workshop and Exhibition, OCAD University, Toronto, CA
September 25, 2015

Workshop and Presentation, Transitio_MX 06, Canart University, Mexico City, MX
October 1 & 2, 2015

Exhibit, OCAD U Continuing Studies Gallery, Toronto CA
November 18, 2015 - January 25, 2016

Presentation, Research Rendezvous, OCAD University, Toronto, CAanada
January 18, 2016

Presentation, ArtSci Salon/LASER Toronto, Toronto, CA
March 30, 2016

Panel Presentation, The 17th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association, University of Bologna, Bologna, IT
June 24, 2016

Workshop and Presentation, The Multimedia Cognition Art-Therapy International Conference, Guanajuato, MX
November 11, 2016

Workshop, ISEA2017, Manizales, CO
June 11, 2017

Workshop, University of Guanajuato, Salamanca Campus, MXMexico
December 14-16, 2017

Workshop, Student Night, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, CA
September 20, 2018

 

 

SSHRC funded workshops, OCAD University, Ryerson University, Toronto, CA
July - October, 2018

Conference Presentation, Sound Integration Into a Game Structure. Festival Internacional de Música y Nuevas Tecnologías: Visiones Sonoras 2018, Centro Mexicano para la Música y Artes Sonoras (CMMAS), Morelia
September, 2018

Graphic Novel Workshop, University of Guanajuato, Guanajuato, MX
October 1, 2018

Conference Presentation, Serious Play. 6th international Computer Art Congress, University of Guanajuato, Guanajuato, MX
October, 2018

Workshop and Presentation, Disruptive Media Learning Lab, University of Conventry, Coventry, UK
May, 2019

Workshops and Presentations, Laznia Cultural Centre, Gdansk, PL
May, 2019

About Dobble Debate

Dobble Debate is an umbrella project that uses games, humour and imagination to promote discussion and education about dis- and differing abilities.

Dobble Debate © 2019