NTAA22 FINALIST: Ling Tan - Playing Democracy

Playing Democracy is a giant multiplayer game of Pong, exploring the principles of democracy, The audience controls the game using their body movement tracked by a camera.

Each time a player scores a point, he or she can choose to modify 3 rules in the game which changes the environment. The rules are simple and are also, in essence, the principles of democracy:

1. Fairness – The degree to which players have a voice in making or changing the game rules.
2. Freedom – The degree to which everyone in the game is allowed to play in their own way, to express their own individuality.
3. Equality – The degree to which players are treated respectfully, as equal to everyone else.

Players can choose to cooperate with each other, modify the rules or violate them, which can cause the game to fall apart. As more people play over time, influencing its fairness, equality, and freedom parameters, the default game environment reflects the rules and structure that people are seemingly most attuned to.