Real life Pac-Man in Hamra

Pretty cool!

The classic 80’s arcade game Pac-Man found its way to the streets of Hamra. The project was the senior graphic design project of AUST arts and design department student Ahmad Makary as he took an innovative approach to better understanding urban navigation and enhancing the cognitive mapping and urban knowledge of individual travelers.

The project consisted of 10 players, 5 dressed as Pac-Man and Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde – the 4 ghosts. The 5 other players, known as path-markers, are there to mark the trail of their Player as he or she runs through the streets. As Pac-Man moves from intersection to intersection, his position is being tracked, his points calculated and updated.

According to Mac, the creator of the project: “The goal is to give people the opportunity to make the city theirs by transforming it into a huge playground and harnessing the knowledge of its spatial elements. The choice was to focus on the social aspect of the game rather than the technological aspect: there is no use of any technological aid (GPS, Chats, Cell phones) each player has a partner running along his side, this allows more team play and an enhanced experience.” Source