Becoming the other: examining race, gender, and sexuality in <i>Detroit: Become Human</i>

Leach, Rebecca; Dehnert, Marco

doi:10.1080/15358593.2021.1892173

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Reading as a mechanic helps reveal how ludology and narratology are mutually reinforcing rather than mutually exclusive categories in each of the ensuing case studies. The first of the cases considered is Detroit: Become Human , which represents a visually robust, action-based blockbuster noted for its narrative prowess by industry critics and media scholars ( Holl & Melzer 2021 ; Leach & Dehnert 2021 ; Schubert 2021 ). On the surface, the game bears the appearance of a dystopian action video game, yet its gameplay mechanics are concerned more with conscripting player agency in building narrative through ethical choices than kinetic combat as in a first-person shooter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

At the nexus of ludology and narratology: Advances in reality-based story-driven games

Chen

Dowling²,

Goetz³

2023

F1000Res

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Story-driven games are growing in popularity across a wide range of genres. However, the narrative potential of video games is still being debated, particularly in light of the so-called tension between gameplay and storytelling. This study proposes that rules and game mechanics perform narrative semiotic functions, offering a ludic grammar of interactive storytelling. Case studies of four representative games show through exploratory player action shaped by rules, the medium of video games can generate meanings that traditional media cannot, thereby better achieving their narrative goals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

At the nexus of ludology and narratology: Advances in reality-based story-driven games

Chen

Dowling²,

Goetz³

2023

F1000Res

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“…For instance, by including the player in the above situation, we would not only introduce a set of new actions, but also new tensions, meanings and potential readings of the situation. In the case of Detroit: Become Human , this inclusion could bring out issues of race and structural oppression, since in this game, androids are treated like an oppressed minority in ways that mirrors the struggles of racialized minorities in the U.S ( Dehnert & Leach, 2021 ; Leach & Dehnert, 2021 ; Schubert, 2021 ), and the inclusion of the player as an actor could bring up interesting tensions and contradictions between the player’s identity and experiences and that of the player character. However, in this project, we decided to solely include the actors represented within the work, which means that the database does not register the player or the console here, but the combined action of distributed agents, as represented by Connor.…”

Section: Example Analyses: Assemblages In the Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Machine vision situations: Tracing distributed agency

Gunderson,

Solberg,

Kronman

et al. 2024

Open Res Europe

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This article proposes a new method for tracing and examining agency in heterogeneous assemblages, focusing on the role of machine vision technologies in creative works. We introduce the concept of the “machine vision situation” and define it as the moment in which machine vision technologies come into play and make a difference to the course of events. By taking situations as the unit of analysis, we identify moments at which machine vision technologies take part in actions without reducing them to either tools or protagonists, instead allowing for more complex agential entanglements between human and non-human actors. Grounded on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, this article demonstrates how an analytical unit such as the machine vision situation is a valuable method for tracing how agency is distributed. We illustrate this through three examples by applying the method to creative works – narratives, digital games, and artworks – revealing key aspects of distributed agency and calling attention to the excess, complications, and messy entanglements that might otherwise be overlooked in analyses of agential assemblages. The machine vision situation is shown to be a flexible unit of analysis that can be productively incorporated in both quantitative and qualitative studies and applied to other contexts in which human and non-human agencies interact.

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“…Humanoid robots and their representations provide a unique frame onto which we can analyze future perceptions of human-machine relations and how the technology (and its design) reflects current power structures (Fortunati et al, 2021;Leach & Dehnert, 2021). Sex robots elucidate an additional layer of complexities, given their intimate and companionship nature (Dehnert, 2022).…”

Section: Sex Robot Representationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing and Marketing Sexual Fantasy: Analyzing the Social Media of Sex Robots

Masterson

2023

SPIR

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Since the release of sex robots in 2017 by RealDoll, they have been marketed as companions and sexual fantasies. Social media platforms provide RealDoll and its affiliates the opportunity to justify and celebrate the creation of a responsive sex robot directly to the public and potential consumers. To expand the fourth level of abstraction of mass media within the social construction of technology theory, this paper investigates the Instagram and Twitter pages of the technological segment of RealDoll, Realbotix, and the most prevalent RealDoll affiliate, Brickdollbanger. Framed by Fairclough’s (2012) perspective of critical discourse analysis, I reviewed a combined 1,016 Tweets and Instagram posts to analyze the process of enrollment by key actors in relation to the design of sex robots and the sex robot industry. Results indicate humor and explicit images are utilized to market the sexual capabilities of the sex robots versus ideas of love and companionship. This paper adds to human-machine communication literature on the design of sex robots by exploring the sex-forward messaging not fully present in other marketing materials of Realbotix.

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Becoming the other: examining race, gender, and sexuality in Detroit: Become Human

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

At the nexus of ludology and narratology: Advances in reality-based story-driven games

At the nexus of ludology and narratology: Advances in reality-based story-driven games

Machine vision situations: Tracing distributed agency

Constructing and Marketing Sexual Fantasy: Analyzing the Social Media of Sex Robots

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