| Social Interaction for Interactive Storytelling | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 1-15 | |
| Edirlei Soares de Lima; Bruno Feijó; Cesar T. Pozzer; Angelo E. M. Ciarlini; Simone D. J. Barbosa; Antonio L. Furtado; Fabio A. Guilherme da Silva | |||
| In recent years interactive narratives emerged as a new form of digital
entertainment, allowing users to interact and change stories according to their
own desires. In this paper, we explore the use of social networks as a way of
interaction in interactive narratives. We present the interaction interface of
an interactive storytelling system that allows users to interact and change
stories through social networks. To validate our approach we conducted a user
study with 24 participants. The preliminary results show that our method
improved the user satisfaction and experience. The proposed methods can be
adapted to other applications that require social interaction. Keywords: Interactive Storytelling; Social Networks; Social Interaction | |||
| Gaming after Dark | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 16-29 | |
| Ivana Müller; Petra Sundström; Martin Murer; Manfred Tscheligi | |||
| Design Patterns help a range of designers, architects, and others. However,
there is surprisingly little such guidance for game artists. In this paper, we
present our look at late 19th century art works and the emergent set of visual
features commonly used to create an atmosphere of horror in visual art.
Further, we show how we transformed these features into a set of seven patterns
to be used in interactive artistry, based on an analysis of six well known
survival horror games. Finally, we provide the full description of one of these
patterns, the Visual Contrast. Keywords: Design Patterns; Visual Art; Atmosphere; Survival Horror Games | |||
| Information-Gathering Events in Story Plots | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 30-44 | |
| Fabio A. Guilherme da Silva; Antonio L. Furtado; Angelo E. M. Ciarlini; Cesar Tadeu Pozzer; Bruno Feijó; Edirlei Soares de Lima | |||
| Story plots must contain, besides physical action events, a minimal set of
information-gathering events, whereby the various characters can form their
beliefs on the facts of the mini-world in which the narrative takes place. In
this paper, we present an approach to model such events within a plan-based
storytelling context. Three kinds of such events are considered here,
involving, respectively, inter-character communication, perception and
reasoning. Multiple discordant beliefs about the same fact are allowed, making
necessary the introduction of higher-level facilities to rank them and to
exclude those that violate certain constraints. Other higher-level facilities
are also available for pattern-matching against typical-plan libraries or
previously composed plots. A prototype logic programming implementation is
fully operational. A simple example is used throughout the presentation. Keywords: Plot Composition; Communicative Acts; Perception; Deduction; Abduction; Plan
Recognition; Plan Generation; Logic Programming | |||
| Design and Evaluation of Parametrizable Multi-genre Game Mechanics | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 45-52 | |
| Daniel Apken; Hendrik Landwehr; Marc Herrlich; Markus Krause; Dennis Paul; Rainer Malaka | |||
| Designing digital games is primarily interaction design. This interaction
manifests as a meaningful change in the game world. An aspect of a game can
only change dynamically with a parametric model of this aspect available. One
aspect of digital games is yet missing such a systematic description: the genre
of a game is currently only determined by its designer. This paper introduces a
new approach that allows for dynamic blending between genres. We describe a set
of game mechanics that express the characteristics of different game genres. We
extract a parametric model from these mechanics to allow dynamic blending. The
paper illustrates the possibilities of this approach with an implementation of
a multi-genre-game. It also provides empiric evidence that the described model
successfully generates different game genres. Keywords: multi-genre games; genre blending; parametrizable game mechanics; game
mashups | |||
| A Virtual Training Tool for Giving Talks | | BIBA | Full-Text | 53-66 | |
| Oswald D. Kothgassner; Anna Felnhofer; Leon Beutl; Helmut Hlavacs; Mario Lehenbauer; Birgit Stetina | |||
| In this paper we present two studies concerning the application of a virtual environment for public speaking anxiety. We have created a program simulating a virtual lecture room, which can be filled with a large number of listeners behaving in different ways. The purpose of the scene is to train people who are anxious to give talks in front of a large audience. We present the results of two studies, showing the impact of this kind of virtual exposure. Results indicate that people do experience such a situation as realistic, as well as report social insecurity and show heightened psychophysiological arousal (HR). Furthermore, we show that especially curious people, and people with high social insecurity rate the system as useful. | |||
| Stories from the History of Czechoslovakia, A Serious Game for Teaching History of the Czech Lands in the 20th Century -- Notes on Design Concepts and Design Process | | BIBA | Full-Text | 67-74 | |
| Vít Šisler; Cyril Brom; Jaroslav Cuhra; Kamil Cinátl; Jakub Gemrot | |||
| In the context of curricular history education both commercial entertainment games as well as serious games specifically tailored for educational purposes were employed. Especially the latter types of games were reported as being promising concerning instructional effectiveness. Still, there are not many complex serious games for history education, particularly in the secondary schools context. In this work-in-progress paper, we report on the progress of project Stories from the History of Czechoslovakia, a serious game for teaching history of the Czech lands in the 20th century. We introduce main game concepts, describe two main design challenges we have been facing during the development and how we have addressed them and overview our feasibility study on 71 high-school students. This paper can be informative for researchers and designers working on similar projects. | |||
| Cognitive Processes Involved in Video Game Identification | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 75-84 | |
| Christopher Blake; Dorothée Hefner; Christian Roth; Christoph Klimmt; Peter Vorderer | |||
| Identifying with video game characters is one potentially important process
in game enjoyment. Based on a theoretical model of video game identification as
transformed self-perception, cognitive processes in video game identification
were explored. An experiment with N = 60 male players revealed that increased
cognitive accessibility of character-related concepts should be considered as
element of the identification process. Moreover, shifts in players'
self-perceptions were observed so that players of a shooter video game (Call of
Duty 2™) described themselves as less gentle more soldier-like than a
control group. Overall the study suggests that shifts in self-related cognition
occur as part of the gaming experience. Implications for future research on
game enjoyment and long-term game effects are discussed. Keywords: Video games; entertainment; identification; priming; experiment; lexical
decision task | |||
| An Annotation Scheme for Social Interaction in Digital Playgrounds | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 85-99 | |
| Alejandro Moreno; Robby van Delden; Dennis Reidsma; Ronald Poppe; Dirk Heylen | |||
| This paper introduces a new annotation scheme, designed specifically to
study children's social interactions during play in digital playgrounds. The
scheme is motivated by analyzing relevant literature, combined with
observations from recordings of play sessions. The scheme allows us to analyze
how key social interactions are related to different stages of play and the
physical activity levels associated to them. We can use this information for
two goals. First, we can identify relations between social interactions and the
impact that changing game dynamics have on their occurrence. Second, it
facilitates the analysis of automatic recognition of these social behaviors.
Results obtained are useful for both goals. They show that it is possible to
identify social interactions and their relation to game dynamics. Finally they
also allow for further analysis into the possibility of their automatic
recognition. Keywords: Observation scheme; children's play; social interaction; digital playground | |||
| Philosophy Meets Entertainment: Designing an Interactive Virtual Philosopher | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 100-113 | |
| Xuan Wang; Eng Tat Khoo; Sanath Siriwardana; Horathalge Iroshan; Ryohei Nakatsu | |||
| To many people, philosophy seems to be a difficult and daunting subject. Our
research seeks to make the esoteric philosophical ideas and concepts more
accessible to people in the modern world, and make philosophy learning an
entertaining activity by allowing people to directly interact with virtual
philosophers from the past. With Artificial Intelligence technology, we have
created a virtual philosopher that can automatically respond to user's input in
natural language text. It is hoped that the added interactivity can help to
increase the appeal of philosophical subject to the users, and the users can
have a better idea of the philosophy after an entertaining experience talking
with the virtual philosopher. In this paper, we share our considerations for
designing the system, the system architecture, and our preliminary user study
on the interaction with the virtual philosopher. Keywords: Virtual philosophers; interactive philosophy; artificial intelligence;
conversational agent | |||
| Spotting the Difference: Identifying Player Opponent Preferences in FPS Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 114-121 | |
| David Conroy; Peta Wyeth; Daniel Johnson | |||
| This paper describes a study designed to understand player responses to
artificially intelligent opponents in multi-player First Person Shooter games.
It examines the player's ability to tell the difference between artificially
intelligent opponents and other human players, and investigates the players'
perceptions of these opponents. The study examines player preferences in this
regard and identifies the significance of the cues and signs players use to
categorise an opponent as artificial or human. Keywords: Video Games; Artificial Intelligence; Indentification Processes; User Study;
Multi-player | |||
| AR Paint: A Fusion System of a Paint Tool and AR | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 122-129 | |
| Suwon Lee; Jinki Jung; Jihye Hong; J. B. Ryu; Hyun S. Yang | |||
| In this paper, we present AR Paint, a fusion system of a paint tool and
Augmented Reality (AR) that can augment in-place hand-drawn paintings onto an
object. The system allows users to draw anything using the paint tool and then
augment it onto an object whenever they want while providing a new experience
and enjoyment during the process. It also has potential value if used in
industry or for medical purposes. The hand drawing and visualization for AR is
done through the screen of a mobile device, and all processes of the system are
performed in real time. Keywords: Augmented Reality; AR; AR Paint | |||
| Pictures at an Exhibition: Design of a Hybrid Puppetry Performance Piece | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 130-143 | |
| Ali Mazalek; Michael Nitsche; Claudia Rébola; Paul Clifton; Andy Wu; Nick Poirier; Firaz Peer | |||
| Pictures at an Exhibition is a physical/digital puppetry piece that uses
tangible interface puppets to modify a virtual scene projected at the back of
the stage in real-time. The piece merges traditional puppeteering practices
with tangible interaction technologies and virtual environments to create a
novel performance for the live stage. This paper describes the design and
development of piece, as well as our lessons learned from this process and from
on-stage performances of Pictures at an Exhibition in a puppetry theatre. Keywords: physical/digital puppetry; performance; experimental theatre; tangible
interaction; virtual space | |||
| Follow the Grass: A Smart Material Interactive Pervasive Display | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 144-157 | |
| Andrea Minuto; Gijs Huisman; Anton Nijholt | |||
| Smart materials offer new possibilities for creating engaging and
interesting forms of interaction and ways of displaying information in a
material way. In this paper we describe Follow the Grass, a concept of an
interactive pervasive display for public spaces. The display will be built up
out of a number of blades of grass that are actuated in eight directions using
nitinol muscle wires (i.e. a shape-memory alloy). A Microsoft Kinect-based
tracking system is employed to detect users' presence. Follow the Grass can be
used for entertainment purposes by displaying animations through movement of
the grass, as well as for indoor way-finding and ambient persuasive guidance.
We present a number of scenarios with varying scales of interaction, and
different applications, followed by a description of the initial hardware
design of a single blade of grass and its actuated root. We will give a
description of the tracking system, and how it tracks users and is capable of
identifying individuals. Finally we will provide suggestions for the further
development. Keywords: Smart material interface; quiet computing; ambient; organic; display | |||
| The ICOCOON Virtual Meeting Room: A Virtual Environment as a Support Tool for Multipoint Teleconference Systems | | BIBA | Full-Text | 158-171 | |
| Aljosha Demeulemeester; Katriina Kilpi; Shirley A. Elprama; Sammy Lievens; Charles-Frederik Hollemeersch; An Jacobs; Peter Lambert; Rik Van de Walle | |||
| Globalization and increasing collaboration between remote teams drive the need for teleconference systems. However, currently no videoconferencing system matches the face-to-face experience for a business meeting with many participants in a flexible and affordable manner. In search for a better solution, we created a Virtual Meeting Room (VMR) application that visualizes key events detected using computer vision (e.g., participant entering the meeting room, talking, presenting) in a 3D virtual environment. The goal was to provide a good sense of overview to users when many meeting participants -- represented by 3D avatars -- from remote locations join a teleconference. In this paper, a technical overview of the working prototype -- built using 3D game technology -- is presented. Also, feedback from multiple user tests performed during the development of the prototype is discussed and presented as a set of recommendations. From the technical perspective, we found that existing 3D game technology is mature, affordable and contains the features needed to build the VMR application. From the users' and experts' feedback, we conclude that the VMR has merits as a teleconferencing support tool accompanying a video stream that conveys more detailed non-verbal communication of the active speaker. | |||
| Playing with the Weather | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 172-184 | |
| Sofia Reis; Nuno Correia | |||
| In this paper the contribution of real time weather data to player enjoyment
was tested and evaluated. To gauge the contribution of weather to player
engagement an adaptronic, multiplayer, location based game, where real time
weather data is key to the gameplay, was created. In this game the player
assumes the role of a wizard and confronts other players in duels where the
current weather plays a decisive role. A survey was conducted and results
indicated that the weather contributed positively to the enjoyment of players
and to their feeling of a connection between the real world and the game. Keywords: game; casual game; pervasive game; weather; adaptronic games; multiplayer
games; location based | |||
| fAARS: A Platform for Location-Aware Trans-reality Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 185-192 | |
| Lucio Gutierrez; Eleni Stroulia; Ioanis Nikolaidis | |||
| Users today can easily and intuitively record their real-world experiences
through mobile devices, and commodity virtual worlds enable users from around
the world to socialize in the context of realistic environments where they
simulate real-world activities. This synergy of technological advances makes
the design and implementation of trans-reality games, blending the boundaries
of the real and virtual worlds, a compelling software-engineering problem. In
this paper, we describe fAARS, a platform for developing and deploying
trans-reality games that cut across the real and parallel virtual worlds,
offering users a range of game-play modalities. We place fAARS in the context
of recent related work, and we demonstrate its capabilities by discussing two
different games developed on it, one with three different variants. Keywords: Game platform; trans-reality games; virtual worlds; mobile games | |||
| How to Analyse Therapeutic Games: The Player / Game / Therapy Model | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 193-206 | |
| Stéphanie Mader; Stéphane Natkin; Guillaume Levieux | |||
| In this paper, we present a new model to analyse therapeutic games. The goal
of the model is to describe and analyse the relations between the three aspects
of a therapeutic game: the player, the game, and the therapy. The model is
intended to game designers. It is a tool to improve the communication between
health experts and game designers, and to evaluate the game design coherency of
therapeutic games. It also helps to analyse existing games to discover relevant
features. The model is built with respect to existing serious game definitions
and taxonomies, medical definitions, motivation theory, and game theory. We
describe how the model was used to design le village aux oiseaux, a therapeutic
game which goal is to train people with attention disabilities. In the last
section, we present the results of analysis done with our model and discuss the
model limits. Keywords: video games; evaluation; analysis; model; game design; serious games;
therapeutic | |||
| Game-Based Trust | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 207-220 | |
| Sebastian Matyas; Daishi Kato; Takao Shime; Kazuo Kunieda; Keiji Yamada | |||
| Trust stands at the beginning of every meaningful interaction between
members of any kind of community -- be it in the real world or in a virtual
one. But how could an application look like that helps to create or even foster
the interpersonal trust of its users? We developed a game -- Kokochi -- with
the goal to positively affect the interpersonal trust level of its players. We
evaluated Kokochi in two case studies and compared the results with a control
group that didn't play the game. We could show that playing the game --
featuring three unique game elements to enhance trust: disclosure of personal
information (emotional statements), collaborations (face-to-face) and showing
goodwill towards other players (virtual hugging) -- resulted in an
(significant) higher interpersonal trust level of the subjects after the game
than they had before. Keywords: Emotion; Trust; Location-based gaming; Collaboration | |||
| Design of Tangible Games for Children Undergoing Occupational and Physical Therapy | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 221-234 | |
| Robby van Delden; Pauline Aarts; Betsy van Dijk | |||
| Games can offer an entertaining alternative to repetitive tasks. In this
paper, we propose the use of tangible interactive games for the repetitive
training of upper limbs in the therapy of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). We
obtained promising results. The total of four created games succeeded in
triggering all the to-be-trained movements properly and in a motivating and
entertaining way. A physical quiz game was especially successful as children
kept on playing the game making the proper movements without additional
encouragement or instructions of the therapists or researchers. These results
indicate that in this kind of occupational or physical therapy, there is
additional value in using tangible interactive games. Furthermore, the research
shows the importance of including the therapists in the design of games and we
report on several ways to achieve that. Keywords: Participatory design; games for therapy; tangible games; special user
groups; children; cerebral palsy | |||
| Game Design for Older Adults: Effects of Age-Related Changes on Structural Elements of Digital Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 235-242 | |
| Kathrin Maria Gerling; Frank Paul Schulte; Jan Smeddinck; Maic Masuch | |||
| Recent studies report various positive effects on elderly persons playing
digital games. Yet, games are rarely designed with an elderly user group in
mind. In this paper, this issue is addressed by providing an overview of common
age-related changes followed by a summary of game design considerations for
senior audiences. The impact of age on game design is discussed based on an
analysis of the most important structural elements of games. The analysis shows
that age-related changes in users' cognitive and physical abilities affect the
use of games on multiple levels, making the complexity of games and
interrelations between different game mechanics a crucial factor when designing
for older adults. Keywords: Game design; older adults; accessibility; design recommendations | |||
| The Effect of Closely-Coupled Interaction on Player Experience in Casual Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 243-255 | |
| Anastasiia Beznosyk; Peter Quax; Wim Lamotte; Karin Coninx | |||
| This paper presents a study investigating cooperation between players in
casual games. Although widely used in co-located or asynchronous settings,
cooperative gameplay elements are not popular in networked synchronous casual
games. In our study, we have analyzed different types of cooperation between
players in casual games. Each of these is based on a certain cooperative game
design pattern, and can be classified as either closely- or loosely-coupled.
Six game patterns have been selected and an equal number of games developed,
each targeting one pattern. By means of a user experiment we have investigated
which cooperation types fit most of the criteria that define casual games. More
specifically, we have focused on the applicability of close coupling between
players. Based on the games used in the experiment, most patterns with
closely-coupled interaction have shown an overall higher user evaluation than
loosely-coupled, satisfying criteria of casual games. These results indicate
that introducing close coupling in the casual games under consideration is a
potential way to increase the player experience. Keywords: casual games; cooperative game patterns; closely-coupled interaction;
loosely-coupled interaction | |||
| Leisure Food: Derive Social and Cultural Entertainment through Physical Interaction with Food | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 256-269 | |
| Jun Wei; Ryohei Nakatsu | |||
| Food is not simply a source of nutrition, but also a symbolic medium for
social bonds and entertainment. Beyond this, food is common artefact across
cultures, embedded with internal cultural value and identity. This paper
presents the notion of "Leisure Food", which explores the roles of mundane food
in deriving social and cultural entertainment from people's interaction with
physical food. We focus on the application of culturally based food experiences
as a gateway for enriched and profound entertainment, through maximizing the
physical, social and cultural affordances of food using technologies. From this
notion, we developed two prototypes based on the positive interactions that
people have as they eat and prepare food in their everyday lives and also
extend them to remote situations. The preliminary user study demonstrates that
these two prototypes can enhance the level of social engagement and culture
recollection experience through the new designed forms of physical
food-mediated interaction, which verified the proposed features regarding
"Leisure Food". Keywords: Food-mediated interaction; social entertainment; culture recollection; user
experience | |||
| A Method for Measuring the Creative Potential of Computer Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 270-283 | |
| Wilawan Inchamnan; Peta Wyeth; Daniel Johnson; David Conroy | |||
| This paper describes a method for measuring the creative potential of
computer games. The research approach applies a behavioral and verbal protocol
to analyze the factors that influence the creative processes used by people as
they play computer games from the puzzle genre. Creative potential is measured
by examining task motivation and domain-relevant and creativity-relevant
skills. This paper focuses on the reliability of the factors used for
measurement, determining those factors that are more strongly related to
creativity. The findings show that creative potential may be determined by
examining the relationship between skills required and the effect of intrinsic
motivation within game play activities. Keywords: Creative potential; Computer game; Creative measurement; Task motivation;
Domain-relevant skill; Creativity-relevant skill; Behavioral assessment | |||
| Similarity in Visual Designs: Effects on Workload and Performance in a Railed-Shooter Game | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 284-291 | |
| David Milam; Magy Seif El-Nasr; Lyn Bartram; Bardia Aghabeigi; Perry Tan | |||
| Games are a popular form of digital entertainment and one elusive question
is how complex visual designs affect the player experience. We address one
aspect of this topic in terms of similarity of visual features, explored both
as an organizing principle in Gestalt psychology and as a theory in visual
attention. To address this issue, we developed a 3D railed shooter game with
adjustable visual features of size, speed, and density of targets and
non-targets. Based on these features we evaluate 105 player's performance in 4
visual conditions. In addition, we employ a cognitive workload assessment as a
means to understand the perceived demands on players. Results show effects of
expertise on performance and cognitive workload, per visual condition. Our
methods and implications on game design are discussed. Keywords: Game Design; Visual Design; Cognitive Load; User Research | |||
| A Hybrid GPU Rasterized and Ray Traced Rendering Pipeline for Real Time Rendering of Per Pixel Effects | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 292-305 | |
| Thales Luis Sabino; Paulo Andrade; Esteban Walter Gonzales Clua; Anselmo Montenegro; Paulo Pagliosa | |||
| Rendering in 3D games typically uses rasterization approaches in order to
guarantee interactive frame rates, since ray tracing, a superior method for
rendering photorealistic images, has greater computational cost. With the
advent of massively parallel processors in the form of GPUs, parallelized ray
tracing have been investigated as an alternative to rasterization techniques.
While many works present parallelization methods for the classical ray tracing
algorithm, in order to achieve interactive, or even real time ray tracing
rendering, we present a rasterized and ray traced hybrid technique, completely
done in GPU. While a deferred render model determines the colors of primary
rays, a ray tracing phase compute other effects such as specular reflection and
transparency, in order to achieve effects that are not easily obtained with
rasterization. We also present a heuristic approach that select a subset of
relevant objects to be ray traced, avoiding traversing rays for objects that
might not have a significant contribution to the real time experience. This
selection is capable of maintaining the real time requirement of games, while
offering superior visual effects. Keywords: ray tracing; rasterization; OptiX; CUDA; GPU; hybrid rendering; OpenGL;
GLSL; real-time; global illumination effects; deferred shading | |||
| A Parallel Fipa Architecture Based on GPU for Games and Real Time Simulations | | BIBA | Full-Text | 306-317 | |
| Luiz Guilherme Oliveira dos Santos; Esteban Walter Gonzales Clua; Flávia Cristina Bernardini | |||
| The dynamic nature and common use of agents and agent paradigm motives the investigation on standardization of multi-agent systems (MAS). The main property of a MAS is to allow the sub-problems related to a constraint satisfaction issues to be subcontracted to different problem solving agents with their own interests and goals, being FIPA one of the most commonly collection of standards used nowadays. When dealing with a huge set of agents for real time applications, such as games and virtual reality solutions, it is hard to compute a massive crowd of agents due the computational restrictions in CPU. With the advent of parallel GPU architectures and the possibility to run general algorithms inside it, it became possible to model such massive applications. In this work we propose a novel standardization of agent applications based on FIPA using GPU architectures, making possible the modelling of more complex crowd behaviours. The obtained results in our simulations were very promising and show that GPUs may be a choice for massively agents applications. We also present restrictions and cases where GPU based agents may not be a good choice. | |||
| Cognitive Agents for Microscopic Traffic Simulations in Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 318-325 | |
| Sven Seele; Rainer Herpers; Christian Bauckhage | |||
| Traffic simulations in current open world video games and driving simulators
are still limited with respect to the complexity of the behavior of simulated
agents. These limitations are typically due to scarce computational resources,
but also to the applied methodologies. We suggest adding cognitive components
to traffic agents in order to achieve more realistic behavior, such as opting
for risky actions or occasionally breaking traffic rules. To achieve this goal,
we start by adding a personality profile to each agent, which is based on the
"Five Factor Model" from psychology. We test our enhancement on a specific
traffic scenario where simplistic behaviors would lead to a complete standstill
of traffic. Our results show that the approach resolves critical situations and
keeps traffic flowing. Keywords: virtual environments; multi-agent systems; cognitive agents; traffic
simulation | |||
| Out of Context Augmented Navfields: Designing Crowd Choreographies | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 326-332 | |
| Guillaume Levieux; Stéphane Natkin; Alexandre Topol | |||
| This paper presents a way to dynamically influence the shape and movements
of a simulated crowd. We propose a tool and system that allows to modify a
crowd's dynamics in an intuitive, semantically rich and out of context fashion,
while being independent from the global path finding architecture and having a
low computational cost. We follow a mixed approach where user-specified
navigation fields are combined with steering and global A* pathfinding. Keywords: crowd; choreography; navfield; simulation | |||
| Priority Level Planning in Kriegspiel | | BIBA | Full-Text | 333-340 | |
| Paolo Ciancarini; Andrea Gasparro | |||
| Back in 1950, Shannon introduced planning in board games like Chess as a selective approach, where the main idea is to select specific branches of the game tree that satisfy certain conditions. He contrasted this approach with brute force Minimax-like methods, based on an exhaustive search of the game tree, that aims to select the best path inside a given search horizon. Historically, the brute force approach won hands down against planning in complex games such as Chess, as the strongest Chess programs nowadays all exploit brute force algorithms. However, planning is still interesting and even necessary in some game-playing domains, for instance based on incomplete information, where there is no way to evaluate precisely or even build the game tree. In this paper we describe a technique that produced positive results in Kriegspiel, a variant of Chess played as an incomplete information game. Our main result is the definition of an algorithm for combining MonteCarlo search with planning; we tested the algorithm on a strong Kriegspiel program based on MonteCarlo search, and obtained a clear improvement. | |||
| Writing Real-Time .Net Games in Casanova | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 341-348 | |
| Giuseppe Maggiore; Pieter Spronck; Renzo Orsini; Michele Bugliesi; Enrico Steffinlongo; Mohamed Abbadi | |||
| In this paper we show the Casanova language (and its accompanying design
pattern, Rule-Script-Draw) in action by building a series of games with it. In
particular we discuss how Casanova is suitable for making games regardless of
their genre: the Game of Life, a shooter game, an adventure game and a strategy
game. We also discuss the difference between Casanova and existing frameworks. Keywords: Game development; Casanova; databases; languages; functional programming; F# | |||
| An Analysis of Player Strategies and Performance in Audio Puzzles | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 349-362 | |
| Jaime Carvalho; Luís Duarte; Luís Carriço | |||
| This paper presents the design of a puzzle game for the Android platform
also shows a study on puzzle solving strategies across different interaction
modalities and showcases a player performance analysis in each identified
strategy. Solving puzzles is among the oldest challenges and entertainment
activities available to us. However, despite major technological advances, the
design of such games has never provided individuals with challenges beyond
visual puzzles. We capitalized on this opportunity to tackle the design of
puzzles which go beyond visual cues, utilizing sound and vibration feedback as
well to offer a fresh challenge to players. Along with the design of this game,
our research focused on analyzing puzzle solving strategies applied by users.
In particular, this paper details a study in which we analyzed if players apply
the same strategy to solve a visual and a audio puzzle. Complementing the
strategies analysis on the audio mode, we also present a comparative analysis
regarding performance metrics such as completion time, number of moves for
completion and the attained score. Results point that players often opt to
solve prominent areas first, leaving more abstract zones to the end,
independently from the interaction modality involved. Performance analysis
tells us that there are suitable strategies to maximize different performance
metrics. Keywords: Audio Puzzles; Puzzle Games; Play Strategy | |||
| Cell Phone Puppets: Turning Mobile Phones into Performing Objects | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 363-372 | |
| Michael Nitsche; Sanjeev Nayak | |||
| We introduce Puppettime, a digital puppetry project that uses mobile phones
as interfaces to control virtual puppetry via motion gestures. The goal of the
project is to explore cell phones as performative objects in novel interaction
designs. Combining the evolution of mobile devices into tangible interfaces
with traditional puppetry, the paper discusses the connections between these
domains. It describes the design rationale behind the Puppettime project as
well as its implementation and first feedback, focusing on the core thesis that
puppetry provides a valuable and underused metaphor for interface design that
supports digital entertainment between co-present players. Keywords: Puppet; tangible user interface; virtual character | |||
| Brain-Computer Interface Games: Towards a Framework | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 373-380 | |
| Hayrettin Gürkök; Anton Nijholt; Mannes Poel | |||
| The brain-computer interface (BCI) community started to consider games as
potential applications while the games community started to consider BCI as a
game controller. However, there is a discrepancy between the BCI games
developed by the two communities. In this paper, we propose a preliminary BCI
games framework that we constructed with respect to the research conducted in
both the BCI and the games communities. Developers can situate their BCI games
within this framework and benefit from the guidelines we provide and also
extend the framework further. Keywords: Brain-computer interface; games; flow; presence; challenge; fantasy;
sociality; concentration | |||
| Semiautomatic and User-Centered Orientation of Digital Artifacts on Multi-touch Tabletops | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 381-388 | |
| Lorenz Barnkow; Kai von Luck | |||
| The orientation of objects on tables is of fundamental importance for the
coordination, communication and proper understanding of content in group work.
Similarly, the roles of orientation have to be taken into account when
implementing software for multi-touch tabletops. This paper describes a
combined approach to help with the orientation of artifacts, composed of both
automatic and manual orientation methods. Using a custom test application, this
study investigates the effects of automatic orientation of artifacts towards
users. Keywords: Multi-touch tabletops; Orientation of artifacts; territoriality; group work | |||
| Towards a Brewery Educational Game: Would Existence of a Game Goal Improve Learning? | | BIBA | Full-Text | 389-392 | |
| Cyril Brom; Edita Bromová; Martin Pergel | |||
| One useful but neglected approach to investigating instructional effectiveness of digital games is to manipulate presence of a game element and compare how the game with and without the element promote learning. In this work-in-progress paper, we introduce a comparative study we are preparing on investigating whether presence of a motivating game goal has a positive effect on learning gains. We also present a brewery simulation/game, which we have developed for the study's purpose. The simulation is the same as the game and contains the same educational materials, but it lacks an explicit game goal: the learners acquire a mental model of the beer production in both applications, but the learning process is "gamified" in the game. We believe that this research approach could help to identify useful features of educational applications. | |||
| Player Control in a Real-Time Mobile Augmented Reality Game | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 393-396 | |
| Mareike Picklum; Georg Modzelewski; Susanne Knoop; Toke Lichtenberg; Philipp Dittmann; Tammo Böhme; Volker Fehn; Christian John; Johannes Kenkel; Philipp Krieter; Patrick Niethen; Nicole Pampuch; Marcel Schnelle; Yvonne Schwarte; Sanja Stark; Alexander Steenbergen; Malte Stehr; Henning Wielenberg; Merve Yildirim; Can Yüzüncü; Frederic Pollmann; Dirk Wenig; Rainer Malaka | |||
| Controlling virtual characters in AR games for modern smartphones is even
more challenging than controls for 'pure' VR games because the player has to
keep the AR world in view. We propose six interaction concepts based on
combinations of both physical and virtual buttons and sensor input and suggest
an evaluation according to game experience criteria. Keywords: mobile gaming; augmented reality; AR; user interaction; gestures | |||
| Evolution of GameBots Project | | BIBA | Full-Text | 397-400 | |
| Michal Bída; Martin Cerný; Jakub Gemrot; Cyril Brom | |||
| GameBots is a project started in early 2000s by A. N. Marshall and G. A. Kaminka. The project aims at providing researchers a real-time virtual environment testbed for their agents. GameBots utilized environment of Unreal Tournament first-person shooter game providing several scenarios for the agents. GameBots project was continued by several research groups resulting in many interesting applications. In this paper we summarize evolution of the GameBots project and contributions made since the first appearance. We focus on Pogamut GameBots branch which has been steadily developed for six years with many improvements and optimizations. | |||
| A Framework for Usability Evaluation of Mobile Mixed Reality Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 401-404 | |
| Charley Gielkens; Richard Wetzel | |||
| This research presents a framework that supports usability experts in
determining which method to use when evaluating Mobile Mixed Reality Games
(MMRGs). These are games that combine the real and virtual world by means of
e.g. a smartphone and require the player to change their geographical location.
As some different styles of MMRGs exist, e.g. running versus cunning or
multiplayer versus single player, not every method is suitable for each style.
The results of the methods are benchmarked against a heuristic evaluation and
it is shown that using Instant Data Analysis (IDA), Diary, interaction logs
combined with audio diary and retrospective think aloud combined with IDA
perform statistically comparable, but that the latter is not favorable based on
qualitative merits. Keywords: mixed reality; augmented reality; games; usability evaluation | |||
| Therapeutic Presence -- Virtual Illusions for Neurorehabilitation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 405-408 | |
| Thomas Schüler | |||
| The poster presents a project in which a computer game for
neuro-rehabilitation is developed and its application explored. The development
is based on the principles of mirror therapy and draws on recent findings in
research on the concept of presence. Specifically, it is assumed that artistic
virtual environments (VE) induce high presence experiences and thus enhance the
treatment of neurologic diseases. Keywords: virtual rehabilitation; neuro-rehabilitation; presence | |||
| Integrated System for Automatic Platform Game Level Creation with Difficulty and Content Adaptation | | BIBA | Full-Text | 409-412 | |
| Fausto Mourato; Manuel Próspero dos Santos; Fernando Birra | |||
| This article presents an overview over our system for the creation of platform game levels. It consists of a framework with a generic and flexible approach that integrates most of the concepts that can be found in this type of games. In addition, some procedural techniques are employed allowing automatic level generation, dynamic difficulty adjustment, optional content creation and item gathering or triggering related challenges. The system can be extended by adding new plugins to support other games or generation algorithms. | |||
| Web-Based Graphic Environment to Support Programming in the Beginning Learning Process | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 413-416 | |
| Carlos J. Costa; Manuela Aparicio; Carlos Cordeiro | |||
| The present paper focus on the computer programming for a beginning level of
learning. Students' learning challenges were identified through literature
review. We propose a solution that enables students to interact with an editor
that gives an output as a response. We also analyze the impact of the use of
this framework and identify that some support tools. Preliminary evaluation
shows that some of the support tools are more effective than others. Keywords: Computer science education; engineering education; computer programming
education | |||
| Interactive Music Recommendation System for Adapting Personal Affection: IMRAPA | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 417-420 | |
| Keigo Tada; Ryosuke Yamanishi; Shohei Kato | |||
| We have so various types of entertainment, and music is one of the most
popular one. In this paper, we proposed music recommendation system that
interactively adapts a user's personal affection with only a simple operation,
in which both acoustic and meta features are used. The more a user uses the
proposed system, the better the system adapts the user's personal affection and
recommends the suitable songs. Through the evaluational experiment, we
confirmed that the proposed system could recommend songs adapting user's
personal affection even if the personal affection variated. Keywords: Music retrieval system; Interactive system; Affection; Personalization | |||
| Value-Based Design for Gamifying Daily Activities | | BIBA | Full-Text | 421-424 | |
| Mizuki Sakamoto; Tatsuo Nakajima; Todorka Alexandrova | |||
| Computing technologies allow us to gamify our daily activities by embedding computers in our environments. In this paper, we propose a value-based gamification framework for increasing intrinsic motivation in our daily life. We introduce five values and a conceptual framework based on these values. Then, as an example we show how the values are used in Augmented Trading Card Game during its design. | |||
| Real Story Interaction: The Role of Global Agency in Interactive Storytelling | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 425-428 | |
| Christian Roth; Ivar Vermeulen | |||
| Interactive Storytelling (IS) is a promising new entertainment technology
synthesizing pre-authored narrative with dynamic user interaction. Research on
user experiences in IS is sparse. The current experiment tested whether
different player expectations regarding the impact of their actions yield
different user experiences by framing user agency as "local" vs. "global" in
the introduction to the story. Local agency influences character behavior and
story events, whereas global agency influences story development and outcomes.
A between-subject design involved N=46 participants playing the interactive
story "Dinner Date". Findings suggest that experiential qualities (autonomy,
flow, curiosity) reached higher levels when players believed to have an impact
on the story outcome (global agency). Enjoyment did not differ between
conditions. Systematic gender differences in user experiences are discussed. Keywords: Interactive Storytelling; User Experience; Global Agency | |||
| Adaptive Difficulty with Dynamic Range of Motion Adjustments in Exergames for Parkinson's Disease Patients | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 429-432 | |
| Sandra Siegel; Jan Smeddinck | |||
| Motion-based video games offer great promise in the support of traditional
physiotherapy and are currently explored in a growing number of research
projects. With a focus on Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, their therapeutic
needs and strong individual differences in capabilities, this work describes an
approach to dynamic difficulty adjustments in an exergame tailored for PD
patients. The automated ongoing adjustment of the required range of motion, the
amplitude parameter, is introduced as an important aspect of such adaptations.
Results from a first case study suggest that the approach is viable and
appreciated by therapists, yet could benefit from increased flexibility. Keywords: serious games; Parkinson's disease; motion-based games; exergames;
difficulty adaptation; elderly entertainment | |||
| The Influence of Music on Player Performance in Exergames for Parkinson's Patients | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 433-436 | |
| Damian Lilla; Marc Herrlich; Rainer Malaka; Dennis Krannich | |||
| Music therapy and music and rhythm in general can support standard
physiotherapy for people suffering from Parkinson's disease to improve the
motion performance and quality, sometimes even helping to overcome motion
blocks. With the availability of cheap motion-tracking devices, exergames have
become an interesting option to complement traditional physiotherapy. However,
the role of music and rhythm in the context of games for this special audience
is still largely unexplored. Based on a prototype exergame we developed, a user
study was conducted to compare the effects of different auditory clues and
their absence in exergames for this target group. The results show significant
performance differences with music versus without music, but surprisingly no
differences were found between music synchronized with the interaction and
unsynchronized background music. Keywords: exergames; auditory cues; kinect; Parkinson's disease | |||
| The Soundtrack Of Your Life | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 437-440 | |
| Oliver Kierepka; Constantin Brosda; Christian Geiger | |||
| The rush of nowadays life turned travelling into a means to an end.
Commuting people follow the same routes over and over and know less about the
places they pass by. In this paper we present our approach of an interactive
location-based audio application that invites users to explore alternative
routes by sharing location-based song playlists. Therefore a prototypical
smartphone application is developed that guides users through existing
soundtracks and enables them to share their own playlists, their own Soundtrack
Of Your Life. Keywords: Location-based audio; mobile application; interactive multimedia | |||
| Mobile Gaming with Indirect Sensor Control | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 441-444 | |
| Daniel Böhrs; Dirk Wenig; Rainer Malaka | |||
| The rapid growth of the mobile gaming market and the steadily improved
hardware of mobile phones enable developers to create complex and extensive 3D
games on mobile phones. While most current casual games have simple interfaces
with few buttons, 3D games require new control interfaces to providing
sufficient control options without limiting the field of view on the screen.
This is important to improve the user experience. Within this work new ideas
based on the use of the accelerometer as indirect control mechanism are
presented. The accelerometer is used to switch between different interaction
layers, which are also different game views for the player. Combined with this
concept a buttonless touch area interface is used. We are planning to evaluate
the ideas with a 3D game prototype running on Android devices. Keywords: mobile gaming; sensors; mobile devices; labyrinth game | |||
| Heuristics for Social Games with a Purpose | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 445-448 | |
| Aneta Takhtamysheva; Tim Decker | |||
| Current project introduces a prototype of a game with a purpose constructed
using heuristics of social game genre to attract long-term player involvement,
and user content generation, to meet the constrains of time and budget. Keywords: social gaming; playful applications; games with purpose; human computation;
image tagging | |||
| Serious Questions in Playful Questionnaires | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 449-452 | |
| Aneta Takhtamysheva; Jan Smeddinck | |||
| Conducting surveys is a time consuming and often expensive process. One of
the main hurdles is motivating people to participate. The project presented
herein proposes a playful approach, distributed via social network
environments, where participants are intrinsically motivated to participate. A
first evaluation showed an increased incentive to recommend friends to
participate in the survey, as well as a preference of the playful approach to
conducting surveys in general. Keywords: Social networks; social gaming; social media; playful applications;
opinion-mining; survey | |||
| Interactive Installation Design to Enhance Audience Immersion and Informational Behaviour | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 453-456 | |
| Michaela Buchtová | |||
| The paper presents a technical and dramaturgical concept of two interactive
installations proposing a complex dramaturgic approach to physically and
emotionally immerse an audience. The concept was firstly presented as "Memorial
for survivors and victims of holocaust" in 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic. The
first installation is based on a technique of life illusion applied on a
life-size statue, while using a combination of video portrait and video mapping
techniques. The second installation offers an interactive presentation of
historical photos and videos. By physical movement, an audience enters a visual
3D space with multimedia gallery arranged in historical order. The dramaturgy
of both installations depends on presence and active movement of an audience,
and aims to create an immersive space and personal relationship to presented
story. The human-computer interaction (HCI) system was developed to propose
alternative forms for active and/or passive informational behaviour of public
museum exhibits and educational projects. Keywords: Interactive museum; Immersive installation; Video mapping; Kinect | |||
| Emotional Interaction with Surfaces -- Works of Design and Computing | | BIBA | Full-Text | 457-460 | |
| Larissa Müller; Svenja Keune; Arne Bernin; Florian Vogt | |||
| Here we present three interactive artworks that showcase the abilities of active textured surfaces to enable new qualities of surface interactions. Giving the surfaces different sensing abilities, ways to act and behaviors, then allows us to explore emotional attributes and character perceived by an observer. The three designs reflect artworks emotional perception of the observer and the resulting effects on behavior. The surfaces sense it's surrounding in terms of physical presence by proximity and emotional state based on facial expression. The surface can express its emotion with a change in movement and sound. The three surface designs explore further combinations of textile surfaces, sensors and reactive actuation to draw on the emotion of observers. | |||
| The Empathy Machine | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 461-464 | |
| David Kadish; Nikolai Kummer; Aleksandra Dulic; Homayoun Najjaran | |||
| The Empathy Machine is an interactive installation that augments a visitor's
empathic sense during a social conversation. Empathy is a key component of
interpersonal interactions that is often neglected by modern communication
technologies. This system uses facial expression recognition to identify the
emotional state of a user's conversation partner. It algorithmically generates
emotional music to match the expressive state of the partner and plays the
music to the user in a non-disruptive manner. The result is an augmentation of
the user's emotional response to the emotional expression of their partner. Keywords: emotional music synthesis; facial expression recognition; empathic
interaction | |||
| Blending Real and Virtual Worlds Using Self-reflection and Fiducials | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 465-468 | |
| Martin Fischbach; Dennis Wiebusch; Marc Erich Latoschik; Gerd Bruder; Frank Steinicke | |||
| This paper presents an enhanced version of a portable out-of-the-box
platform for semi-immersive interactive applications. The enhanced version
combines stereoscopic visualization, marker-less user tracking, and multi-touch
with self-reflection of users and tangible object interaction. A virtual fish
tank simulation demonstrates how real and virtual worlds are seamlessly blended
by providing a multi-modal interaction experience that utilizes a user-centric
projection, body, and object tracking, as well as a consistent integration of
physical and virtual properties like appearance and causality into a mixed
real/virtual world. Keywords: Mixed Reality; Self-Reflection; Fiducials; Fish Tank Virtual Reality;
Interactive Virtual Art; Multi-Touch | |||
| The Animation Loop Station: Near Real-Time Animation Production | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 469-472 | |
| Benjamin Walther-Franks; Florian Biermann; Nikolaas Steenbergen; Rainer Malaka | |||
| We present the animation loop station, a near real-time animation production
system. It brings the concept of loop stations or loopers commonly used for
live music performances to the animation domain. Our system allows a single
animator to build an animation layer by layer by capturing his own movement and
building up complex motion through several passes or takes. In order not to
interfere with capture and not break the performer's flow, control commands are
handled by a speech interface. Keywords: computer animation; computer puppetry; performance animation; layered
animation; loop stations; performing arts | |||
| Exploring User Input Metaphors for Jump and Run Games on Mobile Devices | | BIBA | Full-Text | 473-475 | |
| Kolja Lubitz; Markus Krause | |||
| Mobile devices are already an important platform for digital games. These devices need specialized input metaphors as they have various restrictions such as their own hardware capabilities and the lack of external input devices. Especially challenging are fast paced interactions as in Jump and Run games. This paper explores three user inputs for Jump and Run games on mobile devices along the game Somyeol. | |||
| The Social Maze: A Collaborative Game to Motivate MS Patients for Upper Limb Training | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 476-479 | |
| Tom De Weyer; Karel Robert; Johanna Renny Octavia Hariandja; Geert Alders; Karin Coninx | |||
| Serious gaming is often used in the context of rehabilitation to increase
the motivation of the patient to continue the rehabilitation program for a
longer period. We investigate serious gaming in the context of rehabilitation
programs for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Force feedback in combination
with a virtual environment is used to establish a training environment
supporting basic exercises and more advanced training games for the upper limb,
in order to provide patients with an individual training program according to
their capabilities. Based on our positive experiences with the use of
individual games in this context, we explore "Social Gaming". More
specifically, we designed and developed a "Social Maze", allowing patients to
train together and to interact with the therapist. In this paper we clarify the
game concept, setup and context in which the game is used, and report about the
player experiences of patients and therapist. Keywords: Rehabilitation; Serious Gaming; Social Gaming; Haptics | |||
| HTML5 -- Chances and Pitfalls | | BIBA | Full-Text | 480-481 | |
| Steffen Hees; Felix Faber | |||
| HTML5 is set to become the next standard in web applications, a key
technology for the years to come. With its ability to handle multimedia and
graphical content without the use of external plugins or APIs, it will play a
crucial role in creating cross-platform content for both desktop- and mobile
devices. Creating browser games using HTML5 is the logical next step on the
evolutionary ladder of game development.
Realizing this potential, Hamburg-based game developer Bytro Labs has shifted all its resources toward developing their games in HTML5, incorporating the improved performance for complex graphics and the real-time aspect of communication between the player and the game. In the development of their newest game, they are not only creating a game fit for the future but they have been putting the new technology to the test. | |||
| A Framework Concept for Emotion Enriched Interfaces | | BIBA | Full-Text | 482-485 | |
| Arne Bernin | |||
| The work presented outlines my doctoral research in emotion and action based human computer interfaces, with the approach to create an open source framework. The idea is to find the suitable abstractions and interfaces to integrate different approaches to process input data to interpret user's emotions and actions. Fusing and comparing alternatives for processing will help to find the appropriate solution for a particular need for the next generation of interactive systems. Widening the sensing abilities of computers has the potential to add new degrees of freedom to the design of human computer interaction and ubiquitous entertainment computing. | |||
| Expanding the Magic Circle in Pervasive Casual Play | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 486-489 | |
| Sofia Reis | |||
| Typically, in digital entertainment, the screen is the center of the
player's attention. If the real world was part of the gameplay, the player
would also pay attention to what is happening around her. That is the case of
pervasive games. Our objective is to find ways of making pervasive play
available for a large casual audience, but in a way that casual games are not
deprived of their intrinsic characteristics. Casual games are easy to play,
have simple rules and easy to understand interfaces and the introduction of
real world elements must thus not deprive them of these characteristics. Keywords: pervasive games; casual games; interaction | |||
| Time Simulator in Virtual Reality for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 490-493 | |
| Pongpanote Gongsook | |||
| This project aims at investigating how effective virtual reality is in
manipulating and eventually training time perception for children with learning
and/or behavior disorders. The interconnectivity of multiple brain regions is
needed for time perception. Small dysfunctions in these brain regions may cause
time perceiving problems. Likewise, children with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear to have comparable dysfunction in time
orientation. However, the time perception can be trained in their early ages.
In addition, research confirms the effectiveness of virtual reality in
improving the sequential time perception of children with mental retardation.
This paper presents the theoretical and empirical framework that uses a virtual
reality time simulation game for training time perception of children with
ADHD. Keywords: Time Perception; Virtual Reality; Game; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder; Learning Disorders | |||
| SGDA2012 | | BIBA | Full-Text | 494-495 | |
| Jannicke Madeleine Baalsrud Hauge; Heiko Duin; Minhua Ma; Manuel Oliveira | |||
| The Third International Conference on Serious Games Development and Applications is this year organised as a satellite conference to IFIP-ICEC2012 in Bremen. SGDA 2012 appears in the sequence of the successes of the First International Workshop on Serious Games Development and Application held in Derby in 2010 and Second International Conference on Serious Games Development and Applications, held in Lisbon in 2011. The aim of SGDA is to collect and disseminate knowledge on serious games technologies, design and development; to provide practitioners and interdisciplinary communities with a peer-reviewed forum to discuss the state-of-the-art in serious games research, their ideas and theories, and innovative applications of serious games; to explain cultural, social and scientific phenomena by means of serious games; to concentrate on the interaction between theory and application; to share best practice and lessons learnt; to develop new methodologies in various application domains using games technologies; and to explore perspectives of future developments and innovative applications relevant to serious games and related areas. | |||
| GCI 2012 Harnessing Collective Intelligence with Games | | BIBA | Full-Text | 496-499 | |
| Markus Krause; Roberta Cuel; Maja Vukovic | |||
| With recent advances in harnessing the knowledge and skill of large groups of (unknown) network-connected humans, researchers and practitioners have been designing systems that make contributions of users entertaining and more engaging. Game mechanics are being applied to the traditional human computation tasks, such as transcription, classification and labeling. Seminal examples of such applications include ESP game and FoldIt. At the same time, companies seek strategies to include elements of gaming into business processes to increase productivity and engagement of employees. Framing a business goal in the form of a game is also a promising method for motivating newer generations in the workforce. | |||
| 2nd Workshop on Game Development and Model-Driven Software Development | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 500-503 | |
| Robert Walter; Maic Masuch; Mathias Funk | |||
| Succeeding the 1st Workshop on GD&MDSD at last year's ICEC, this event
continues the exchange of both novices and experts in the fields of game
development and model-driven software development (MDSD). The overall goal is
to further consolidate a platform for researchers and professionals who are
interested in the topics of modeling, domain-driven design, and domain-specific
languages in the context of game development. This year, we want to focus on
future requirements in game design and development and how they can be
addressed by MDSD techniques. The workshop covers questions like "how can game
design benefit from the language engineering process?", "what are the pros and
cons of visual and textual modeling languages?", and "how can model-to-model
and model-to-text transformations be used to streamline game development
workflows?". Keywords: Game Development; Model-Driven Software Development; Domain-Specific
Languages; Game Modeling; Game Authoring; Tooling; Prototyping | |||
| PULP Scription: A DSL for Mobile HTML5 Game Applications | | BIBA | Full-Text | 504-510 | |
| Mathias Funk; Matthias Rauterberg | |||
| As applications and especially games are moving to the web and mobile environments, different tools are needed to design these applications and their behavior. HTML5 in combination with JavaScript is a promising basis for such applications on a wide range of platforms. Content producers and designers often lack the tools for such developments, or the expertise to operate existing, but too complex tools. This paper presents work in progress about a novel domain-specific language (DSL) PULP that aims at closing this gap. The language allows tying content such as images and media files together by modeling the dynamic behavior, movements, and control flow. The DSL helps abstracting from asynchronous JavaScript, state machines, and access to cross-platform media playback, which is generated in a final model-to-text transformation. The DSL and tooling were created and evaluated in close cooperation with content authors. | |||
| MDSD for Games with Eclipse Modeling Technologies | | BIBA | Full-Text | 511-517 | |
| Steve A. Robenalt | |||
| This paper describes an approach to be used to apply Model Driven Software Development (MDSD) techniques to the development of software for 3D games on multiple platforms, with additional usage in Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Animation applications. Specific areas of applicability for MDSD techniques include development tooling and artifact creation. The MDSD support for this functionality can be implemented as extensions to the Eclipse Platform augmented by a subset of the modeling projects that are available with Eclipse. | |||
| A Feature-Based Environment for Digital Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 518-523 | |
| Victor T. Sarinho; Antônio L., Jr. Apolinário; Eduardo S. Almeida | |||
| Digital games can be considered as an important software development area in
our society. This paper proposes the Object Oriented Feature Modeling (OOFM)
usage in the digital game domain. It aims to represent and manipulate distinct
game features, defined by NESI and GDS models, in a parameterized and
hierarchical way. As a result, a Feature-based Environment for Digital Games
(FEnDiGa) is provided, a product line platform able to integrate and adapt
represented game features in different types of available game engines. Keywords: Digital game domain; game features; OOFM; FEnDiGa | |||
| Automating the Implementation of Games Based on Model-Driven Authoring Environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 524-529 | |
| Christos Karamanos; Nikitas M. Sgouros | |||
| In recent years the emergence of multiple game platforms (e.g., mobile,
specialized consoles, PC) along with the rising interest in game creation by
users with limited technical background calls for the development of high level
authoring environments that base the creation process on abstract game models
and automate their implementation. This paper describes our research towards
the creation of such a development and execution environment that incorporates
a graphical authoring environment based on an abstract model of common action
RPG games along with a 3-D rendering client that automatically translates the
resulting game into an OpenGL ES implementation. Keywords: Authoring & Content Creation; Domain Modeling & Software Generation | |||
| Game Developers Need Lua AiR | | BIBA | Full-Text | 530-535 | |
| Paul Klint; Loren Roosendaal; Riemer van Rozen | |||
| Game development businesses often choose Lua for separating scripted game logic from reusable engine code. Lua can easily be embedded, has simple interfaces, and offers a powerful and extensible scripting language. Using Lua, developers can create prototypes and scripts at early development stages. However, when larger quantities of engine code and script are available, developers encounter maintainability and quality problems. First, the available automated solutions for interoperability do not take domain-specific optimizations into account. Maintaining a coupling by hand between the Lua interpreter and the engine code, usually in C++, is labour intensive and error-prone. Second, assessing the quality of Lua scripts is hard due to a lack of tools that support static analysis. Lua scripts for dynamic analysis only report warnings and errors at run-time and are limited to code coverage. A common solution to the first problem is developing an Interface Definition Language (IDL) from which "glue code", interoperability code between interfaces, is generated automatically. We address quality problems by proposing a method to complement techniques for Lua analysis. We introduce Lua AiR (Lua Analysis in Rascal), a framework for static analysis of Lua script in its embedded context, using IDL models and Rascal. | |||
| Future Trends in Game Authoring Tools | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 536-541 | |
| Florian Mehm; Christian Reuter; Stefan Göbel; Ralf Steinmetz | |||
| Authoring Tools for digital games are used to create games from scratch,
integrate content and game mechanics easily and can assist in a multitude of
ways in the production chain of a game. For example, they can allow
non-programmers to work on the game logic by means of domain-specific or visual
programming languages, increase the collaboration between team members by
integrating computer-supported collaborative work techniques, assist in
catching errors in the game by model checking and offer publishing to multiple
platforms by saving games in an intermediate format which can be run on various
systems. This already interesting and viable approach can be extended in a
number of ways which we exemplify in this position paper to indicate possible
future directions for game authoring tools. Keywords: Authoring Tool; Procedural Content Generation; Domain-Specific Language;
Multiplayer; In-Game Editing | |||
| The Effectiveness and Efficiency of Model Driven Game Design | | BIBA | Full-Text | 542-548 | |
| Joris Dormans | |||
| In order for techniques from Model Driven Engineering to be accepted at large by the game industry, it is critical that the effectiveness and efficiency of these techniques are proven for game development. There is no lack of game design models, but there is no model that has surfaced as an industry standard. Game designers are often reluctant to work with models: they argue these models do not help them design games and actually restrict their creativity. At the same time, the flexibility that model driven engineering allows seems a good fit for the fluidity of the game design process, while clearly defined, generic models can be used to develop automated design tools that increase the development's efficiency. | |||
| Proposal for the 4th Workshop on Mobile Gaming, Mobile Life -- Interweaving the Virtual and the Real | | BIBA | Full-Text | 549-552 | |
| Barbara Grüter; Holger Mügge; Leif Oppermann; Mark Billinghurst | |||
| Over the last few years we have witnessed the smartphone dominating the market, the rapid growth of mobile apps, a surge in mobile augmented reality and location-based apps, and burgeoning mobile communities. While mobile topics continue to provide rich research challenges, people and companies outside academia already use these apps regularly. This is due to the increased availability of affordable devices, applications and technologies that support the creation of mixed reality experiences. Thus a core theme of our workshop at ICEC 2012 is authoring mixed realities, designing mobile games and creating mobile experiences. We would like to assess how professional designers and developers, as well as academics and end users, are using the technology to connect the digital and the real in a mobile context. | |||
| "Do Not Touch the Paintings!" The Benefits of Interactivity on Learning and Future Visits in a Museum | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 553-561 | |
| Konstantinos Mikalef; Michail N. Giannakos; Konstantinos Chorianopoulos; Letizia Jaccheri | |||
| Educators and museum curators have recognized the value of interactivity,
but it remains unclear what is the right level of interactivity in informal
learning settings, such as museums. In this study, we explore the effect of
increasing levels of interactivity on learning performance and students'
intention for future museum visits. We developed an educational mobile
application based on QR codes and quiz software, in order to augment visual
arts comprehension during a visit to an art gallery. In addition to the
mobile-based version of the game, a paper-based version was also employed
followed by a controlled experiment. A total of 60 lyceum students (between 15
and 16 years old) participated in a between-groups evaluation that compared the
performance of three levels of interactivity (passive guided tour, paper-based,
mobile-based), as well as the perceptions among the groups. The results
indicate that the mobile-based student group had higher performance in the
post-assessment when compared with the paper-based one. Notably, perceived
interest for the game affects students' perceptions for a future museum visit.
Further research should consider the effects of higher-fidelity types of mobile
applications, such as 3D graphics, as well as augmented-reality games. Keywords: Mobile learning; informal learning; performance; perceptions; mobile
devices; museums | |||
| Mobile Application for Noise Pollution Monitoring through Gamification Techniques | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 562-571 | |
| Irene Garcia Martí; Luis E. Rodríguez; Mauricia Benedito; Sergi Trilles; Arturo Beltrán; Laura Díaz; Joaquín Huerta | |||
| Full data coverage of urban environments is crucial to monitor the status of
the area to detect, for instance, trends and detrimental environmental changes.
Collecting observations related to environmental factors such as noise
pollution in urban environments through classical approaches implies the
deployment of Sensor Networks. The cost of deployment and maintenance of such
infrastructure might be relatively high for local and regional governments. On
the other hand recent mass-market mobile devices such as smartphones are full
of sensors. For instance, it is possible to perform measurements of noise
through its microphone. Therefore they become low-cost measuring devices that
many citizens have in their pocket. In this paper we present an approach for
gathering noise pollution data by using mobile applications. The applications
are designed following gamification techniques to encourage users to
participate using their personal smartphones. In this way the users are
involved in taking and sharing noise pollution measurements in their cities
that other stakeholders can use in their analysis and decision making
processes. Keywords: Gamification; mobile applications; environmental monitoring; noise
pollution; PPGIS; VGI | |||
| AtomicOrchid: A Mixed Reality Game to Investigate Coordination in Disaster Response | | BIBA | Full-Text | 572-577 | |
| Joel E. Fischer; Wenchao Jiang; Stuart Moran | |||
| In this paper, we draw on serious mixed reality games as an approach to explore and design for coordination in disaster response scenarios. We introduce AtomicOrchid, a real-time location-based game to explore coordination and agile teaming under temporal and spatial constraints according to our approach. We outline the research plan to study the various interactional arrangements in which human responders can be supported by agents in disaster response scenarios in the future. | |||
| A Ubiquitous Solution for Location-Aware Games | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 578-583 | |
| André Pinto; António Coelho; Hugo da Silva | |||
| Even though we now witness a popular use of location-based mobile games, the
player experience in these applications is always limited by the errors of
common location technologies, especially in indoor scenarios. This paper
describes the way we minimize this problem in our game development platform, by
levering the potential behind smartphone sensors to estimate players'
trajectories. Our approach is based on a Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR)
algorithm that combines methods to determine orientation, detect steps and
estimate their length. Other typical multiplayer mobile games problems, like
network latency, are also briefly addressed. Keywords: location-based games; mobile games; location-based services; ubiquitous;
indoor; pedestrian dead reckoning | |||
| Workshop on: Exploring the Challenges of Ethics, Privacy and Trust in Serious Gaming | | BIBA | Full-Text | 584-585 | |
| Rod McCall; Lynne Baillie; Franziska Boehm; Mike Just | |||
| The workshop will explore the core challenges associated with the increasing use of serious gaming in particular those systems that seek to persuade users to alter their behavior. The workshop will focus on three main areas: data privacy, trustworthiness and usability. The workshop particularly welcomes submissions from people who seek to bridge the divide between these topics. | |||
| Pervasive Gaming as a Potential Solution to Traffic Congestion: New Challenges Regarding Ethics, Privacy and Trust | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 586-593 | |
| Vincent Koenig; Franziska Boehm; Rod McCall | |||
| The following paper presents a review of the ethical, privacy and trust
aspects relating to pervasive gaming in particular within the domain of traffic
congestion. The paper deals explicitly with the challenges involved that fall
between the gaps standard ethical practice and scientific research when studies
comprise of those in the lab (where collection and use is heavily controlled)
and those which take place in the wild where there is the requirement to share
data possibly with external parties. Also where the nature of such work is at
the borders of the concept of traditional study and a commercial running
prototype. Keywords: ethics; privacy; trust; game; car; traffic | |||
| Conducting Ethical Research with a Game-Based Intervention for Groups at Risk of Social Exclusion | | BIBA | Full-Text | 594-599 | |
| Ian Dunwell | |||
| With developers of entertainment games increasingly exploiting the potential the platform affords for capturing rich data on user behaviour, adopting similar paradigms for "serious" purposes such as positive social change or public health intervention is a tempting prospect. However, exploitation of this potential must be tempered by a careful consideration of how ethical principles can be adhered to and applied to foster and sustain trust amongst end-users. This is particularly the case for at-risk groups, who may be particularly vulnerable to misunderstanding or misinterpreting requests to participate in research activities. In this paper, several key areas in which serious games present unique ethical considerations are presented and discussed: the unique nature of play as a source of data for analysis, the motivating role of the game and its use as an incentive for participation, and the impact of the entertainment gaming industry and its conventions user expectations. A case is presented based on preliminary work in developing a serious game for European migrants, and a number of key areas for consideration described. Through discussion of the emergence of methods and techniques for the analysis of data arising through play, the technological urgency for development of mechanisms to support ethical capture and processing of data from game-based learning environments is noted. To conclude the paper, future ethical dilemmas brought by success in achieving technological platforms capable of stimulating and managing behavioural changes are discussed. | |||
| Cyber Security Games: A New Line of Risk | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 600-603 | |
| John M. Blythe; Lynne Coventry | |||
| Behaviour change is difficult to achieve and there are many models
identifying the factors to affect such change but few have been applied in the
security domain. This paper discusses the use of serious games to improve the
security behaviour of end-users. A new framework, based upon literature
findings, is proposed for future game design. The trust and privacy issues
related to using serious games for improving security awareness and behaviour
are highlighted. Keywords: Information security; Behaviour change; Security games | |||
| Open Source Software for Entertainment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 604-607 | |
| Letizia Jaccheri; Michail N. Giannakos | |||
| In this tutorial, we explore open source software practices and tools that
are suitable for a growing number of creators of interactive and playful
systems. The introduction of open source tools such as Processing and Arduino
has motivated a broader participation of technical and non-technical users in
the creative production of interactive systems. Maker communities meet
regularly and they share resources and knowledge for creative hacking, fun, and
networking. In this context there are two main issues: on the one hand,
software creation practices, based on collaboration and sharing, on the other
hand, the respective end-user programming tools for artists, hobbyists or
children. This tutorial presents a coherent overview of related work and our
own experiences in the organization and running of maker workshops. It
encompasses creative sessions whose final goal is to inspire the participants
to experience open software practices and tools. This goal can divided into
three sub-goals: 1) Technical (Interactivity, multimedia) 2) Artistic (poetic
message, playful, experimental) 3) Open (sharing, reuse and participation). As
a side effect of the study, the participants will cooperate and get to know
each other and learn examples of new media prototyping tools and sharing
platforms. The tutorial proposes a set of initial research questions which will
challenge the participants to explore the relationship between Open Source
Software and Entertainment. Keywords: Open Source Software; Art; Creative processes; Arduino; Scratch; Processing;
Maker communities | |||