Entertainment Computing - ICEC 2016

The transition from the pre-defined and often inflexible tools and practices of institutionalized mass-education towards dynamic and flexible learning contexts remains a challenge. Enabling rich and engaging learning experiences that consider the different progression rates and routes of each student require new approaches in education. This paper analyzes opportunities for employing gamification and digital games to construct navigable dynamic learning channels and enable pathways towards turning users into adaptive learners able to reach learning goals both in structured and unstructured contexts.

Commercial quiz apps show characteristics, which could contribute to a promising game-based learning tool. Among these characteristics are huge popularity, easy accessibility and adaptivity to any content domain. We used the commercial quiz app QuizUp in an explorative study to clarify acceptance and requirements for the usage of these apps for educational purposes. We developed a topic-specific question corpus. Over a period of 12 days four topic affine students used QuizUp regularly and focused on learning. We observed them in three common gaming sessions. Furthermore, three interviews and a questionnaire were conducted. A main observation has been a self-reported decrease of motivation after a phase of curiosity. In general, we conclude that successful usage of such a quiz app requires a purposeful integration in an educational setting to ensure its continuous use. Additionally, we point to a set of further relevant research topics.

In this paper, we propose upper-limb-grasp motion as coordinated movement of five fingers and upper limbs. This coordination skill is important of daily living and we use unconscious. We divide upper-limb-grasp motion into 6 motion elements game system analysis and visualize with upper-limb-grasp motion measurement controller and game contents. We compared elderly and younger people and consider the result. As the result, we research exercise menu and game contents, technique of visualization.

Numerous serious exergames advocate the use of engaging avatars to motivate a consistent exercise regimen. However, the process of specifying the prescribed exercise, implementing it as avatar animation, and developing an accurate feedback-providing mechanism is complex and requires a high level of expertise in game engines, control languages, and hardware devices. Furthermore, in the context of rehabilitation exergames, the requirements for accurate assessment and timely and precise feedback can be quite stringent. At the same time, the Kinect$$^{TM}$$ motion-capture sensor offers a natural interface to game consoles, and its affordability and wide availability represents a huge opportunity for at-home exergames. In this paper, we describe our work towards a system that envisions to simplify the process of developing rehabilitation exergames with Kinect$$^{TM}$$. The system relies on a language for specifying postures and movements between them, and includes an editor that enables rehabilitation therapists to specify the prescribed exercise, by editing a demonstration of the exercise. This exercise-specification grammar is used to drive the animation of an avatar and the provision of quality feedback, by comparing the player’s postures (as captured by the Kinect$$^{TM}$$) against those of the coaching avatar and the grammar.

In light of the rather limited ecological validity of paradigms traditionally used for social stress research, the current paper set out to introduce virtual analogues of the Cyberball-Game (Williams 2007) and the Trier Social Stress Test (Kirschbaum, Pirke, and Hellhammer 1993). Both were tested in samples of healthy adults using salivary cortisol, self-reported stress and presence as dependent measures. Results indicate a significant rise in cortisol levels and subjective stress; presence, however, was not correlated with stress reactivity. In sum, this study clearly supports the use of virtual environments in stress research as they offer both the internal control and ecological validity needed to generalize findings to real-world settings.

Applied games are an increasingly utilized approach to develop applications and concepts of organizational learning. However, which factors support the successful planning and execution of such projects within the organizational landscape remains unclear. This study initiates explorative research towards a success-factor model for applied games. The data is based on nine expert interviews within the DACH-region as well as a thorough literature review. The resulting factors are organized in a two-dimensional model, presenting the process of developing applied game projects and major organizational abstraction layers. The model aims to support the development of research and industry applied games productions in organizational context. Next steps are further validations as well as the development of a maturity model.

In this paper two key venues of investigation in game analytics are combined: behavioral profiling and social network analysis. Both venues of research are well developed but combined they permit pattern evaluation across player performance and networks. Here, competitive networks covering almost 3.5 million players of the hybrid online shooter game Destiny are developed and combined with behavioral profiles based on match performance metrics and defined using archetypal analysis. The profiles are embedded in the networks along with other performance indicators for Destiny players. The social behavior of different archetypes is described. Network visualizations are presented which target the problem of making dense networked results actionable.

Evaluating progression of players in a game can take a variety of forms, but ideally combines playstyle or performance analysis with one or more aspects of progression, e.g. through a level- or mission-based structure. Furthermore, visualization of the results of analysis are essential to ensure that action can be taken on them. In this paper behavioral profiling through Archetype Analysis is combined with progression analysis, expanding on previous work in the area, and extending it into the context of Open-World Games. The proposed methodological framework is applied to the case of the action-adventure title Just Cause 2, focusing on the main storyline. The results show how players navigate the content of the title, and how some playstyles remain constant throughout the game, whereas others emerge or disappear with player progress. Additionally, player performance as a function of progression is evaluated across a number of key metrics.

This paper investigates the effects of a shared gaze approach on social presence in an online cooperative game. We explored how a shared gaze visualization changes how players work together and form collaborative strategies based on different combinations of gaze interaction and verbal communication. Our study findings highlight the positive influence of a shared gaze visualization on team cohesion and involvement towards increased perceived social presence among cooperating team members. With our findings we want to inform game designers with insights on the inclusion of gaze-based interaction in remote gaming settings and whether this can strengthen the social bond between players. Our approach aims at fostering social couplings in remote collaborative gaming and investigates their potential to increase the connectedness between players.

This paper describes the evaluation of three different scenarios in the fully immersive room-based virtual environment DAVE (Definitely Affordable Virtual Environment) and a head-mounted display, the Oculus Rift. The evaluation focuses on comparing the two immersive environments and three different scenarios (observation, emotion in a roller coaster, and interaction) in regards to typical virtual-reality characteristics, such as immersion, engagement, but also on cybersickness and the overall experience. First results indicate the DAVE environment better supports scenarios, which require the user to directly interact with the environment. The roller coaster scenario creates stronger immersion and a higher nausea-level, while the interactive task is more engaging in terms of fun.

The aim of the study is to propose a conceptual model which predicts consumer videogame engagement triggered by the playful-consumption experience of videogame-play. The proposed conceptual model is based on a review of past literature on experience and engagement in videogame studies. Moreover, this study employs the hedonic theory of consumption experience and the concept of consumer engagement in order to conceptualize and operationalize the construct of playful-consumption experience and consumer videogame engagement and accordingly, develops the conceptual model. Based on the conceptual model, this study has drawn related hypothesis. This study is unique in its investigation as it examines the idea of experience from the perspective of hedonic theory of consumption experience and whereas, engagement is studied from the previous work on consumer engagement. Besides, this conceptual model is new in the field of videogame literature that examines consumer videogame engagement and playful consumption experience concurrently and this model also predicts consumer videogame engagement that is provoked by the playful-consumption experience of videogame play.

Scaling the number of supported users for Massive Multi-User Games (MMOGs) allows more users to experience its content together. Supporting this capability needs consider the chain of all components that constitute the system between the client software of any two users.A large body of research has been created over the last decades on the problem of dividing the resultant workload of a MMOG to specific nodes in a cluster of server. Connecting clients to the most appropriate server of this cluster is as important. Clients will place widely varying, dynamically changing requirements on processing, storage and network bandwidth resource on the MMOG.We propose a novel mechanism of assigning clients to servers in a MMOG as part of an load balancing effort. It allows the optimization of resource utilization while being able to handle overload situations in the face of high avatar density and adapt to change over time.

The emerging Cloud Gaming Service provides highly accessible video gaming experience. However, in term of the gaming quality, Cloud Gaming is not competitive to rival with traditional gaming because of network constraints. Especially, 3D game contents streamed as encoded video sequence is suitable in a network environment, but the resulted lower graphic quality may not meet client’s demand. Therefore, we propose a Hybrid-Streaming System that aims at improving graphic quality delivered on Cloud Gaming. By utilizing available rendering power from both Cloud Server and client’s PC, the system distributes rendering operations to both sides to achieve the desired improvement. Quantitative results show the improvement of graphic quality from the proposed method, as well as reducing server’s workload and attaining acceptable network bandwidth consumption.

Making hybrid board games that mix the interactivity of video games with the social impact of board games is challenging. While the design process needs to take into account elements from the digital and analog domains, building prototypes requires dealing with diverse technologies in the field of Tangible Interfaces and Interactive Tabletop and Surfaces. Anyboard provides theoretical tools to map traditional board game interaction to the hybrid medium and lightweight technology tools to facilitate game prototyping. Our platform provides augmented game pieces that work with traditional cardboards, allowing designers to easily build collaborative interactive games without requiring engineering skills.

In this research, we aim to create a heightened and physical musical experience by combining electronic sound and time-lagged multiple vibrations that surround the user’s neck, chest, and back. The purpose of the research is to elevate an immersive and extended experiences of music as though the sound source had a physical presence. We developed a wearable interface of a vibration-motor array with separately controlled multiple vibration motors to simulate both strong bass sounds and movement of the physical presence of the sound source. The control of intensity and the time differences among the motors produce not only the illusion of spatial presence but also the physical penetration of the ongoing sound. The results of the evaluations showed the effects of (1) the combination of vibration and sound in the musical experience and (2) time differences of the starting timings between the front and back vibrations when creating the illusion of physical penetration as though the sound had a physical presence.

Virtual reality has received a lot of attention lately due to a new wave of affordable HMD devices arriving in the consumer market. These new display devices – along with the availability of fast wireless networking, comprehensive wearable technologies, and robust context-aware devices – are enabling the emergence of a new type of mixed-reality system for games and digital entertainment. In this paper we name this new situation as “pervasive virtuality”, which we define as being a virtual environment that is extended by incorporating physical environments, physical objects as “proxy” elements, and context information. This new mixed reality paradigm is not well understood by both industry and academia. Therefore, we propose an extension to the well-known Milgram and Colquhoun’s taxonomy to cope with this new mixed-reality situation. Furthermore, we identify fundamental aspects and features that help designers and developers of this new type of application. We present these features as a two-level map of conceptual characteristics (i.e. quality requirements). This paper also presents a brief case study using these characteristics.

Educational games have started to establish themselves as a fruitful complement to traditional teaching methods since they can enhance motivation and actively engage learners with the subject matter. While educational games targeted toward single players still prevail, recent years have also witnessed a growing interest to incorporate collaborative elements into educational games to take advantage of the positive effects associated with collaborative learning.In this paper we introduce Metry Mouse Missions, an educational game which fosters collaborative problem-solving and engages young people, aged 8–11 years old, in the construction of complex geometric models through the interactive adventures of a daredevil mouse. A central aim of Metry Mouse Missions is to provide an inviting interface that supports exploration and intellectual curiosity about geometric constructions.

We propose the design of an activity game and virtual pet for smart-watches that combines casual game design principles, lessons from fitness trackers, and location-based features. Players take care of a newly hatched dragon that grows and changes depending on their activities, reflecting their general fitness in a playful and encouraging manner. Where most virtual companions are aimed at children, we designed this game with young adults in mind. An early PC prototype was tested by ten members of this target group to gauge interest and inform design iterations. The general design of the game and the virtual dragon were mentioned as strong points, while the emulation on the PC was considered not intuitive. Upcoming prototypes will be tested on smart-watches, with the ultimate goal of exploring the impact of connecting a virtual pet to the physical location of a player on engagement and activity levels.

It has been claimed that wearable devices are useful for healthcare applications by providing functionalities such as idle alerts, pedometer, heart-rate measurement, and calorie calculation. However, these functionalities have the limitations of providing only passive assistance. In order to prompt users to do physical activities, we developed a prototype application for active assistance, which works on smartwatch devices. It guides users to stretch their arms periodically during their daily lives. For effective guidance, we integrated motion recognition and gamification elements. We performed a user study to confirm the usefulness of our approach.

Game Accessibility (GA) has been brought to the front of the video game landscape thanks to a recent but major change in the US law called the Communications and Video Accessibility Act; GA is now a legal obligation for game developers in the US. However, there is a gap between legislation and practice of GA. This study is based upon a previous tentative curriculum framework (TCF) for GA. The questions are: What are the opinions among educators and game developers regarding the TCF? How could the TCF be redesigned? To answer the questions, the TCF was surveyed with practitioners and researchers in the GA community. This paper presents an evaluation and redesign of the TCF, divided into different categories, depending on the students’ profiles, scopes and skills. Furthermore, how the curriculum content can be created and shared is also discussed, as well as future work.

The paper presents the preliminary studies regarding applicable interaction techniques in the field of tablet games for dementia. Serious games in the dementia context are a well-researched topic. However, there is very little knowledge about performing gestures and interactions on tablet computers by users suffering from dementia. Since they already encounter many restrictions, a touch interface might be another obstacle. Tablet games often require a different kind of interaction, such as single tap, swipe, or drag and drop. We developed the Android application Mindtraining for dementia patients, which integrates multiple interaction techniques. The purpose of the tablet game is to facilitate an intuitive and efficient usage of gestures for people with early- and middle-stage dementia aged over 65 years. In our study we will investigate how people with dementia perform different gestures and how much help they need each time they use the application.

We introduce MockAR, a prototyping application for designing user interfaces for mobile handheld Augmented Reality, to be used by non-programming media designers. It has been successfully employed in the project SPIRIT, which develops location-based AR storytelling for outdoor historical sites, including complex interaction and navigation features based on mobile phone sensors and markerless image recognition.

Designing multiplayer virtual reality games is a challenging task since immersion is easily destroyed by real world influences. However, providing fun and social virtual reality experiences is inevitable for establishing virtual reality gaming as a convincing new medium. We propose a design approach to integrate social interactions into the game design while retaining immersion, and present design methods to implement this approach. Furthermore, we describe the game design of a collaborative local multi-player/platform virtual reality game to demonstrate the application and effectiveness of our methods.

The onboarding phase of Free-to-Play mobile games, covering the first few minutes of play, typically sees a substantial retention rate amongst players. It is therefore crucial to the success of these games that the onboarding phase promotes engagement to the widest degree possible. In this paper a set of heuristics for the design of onboarding phases in mobile games is presented. The heuristics are identified by a lab-based mixed-methods experiment, utilizing lightweight psycho-physiological measures together with self-reported player responses, across three titles that cross the genres of puzzle games, base builders and arcade games, and utilize different onboarding phase design approaches. Results showcase how heuristics can be used to design engaging onboarding phases in mobile games.

This research article attempts to conceptualize and operationalize the concept of engagement in videogame-play as consumer videogame engagement that comprises both psychological and behavioral dimensions. Accordingly, this study has developed a scale for measuring consumer videogame engagement through following the steps of scale development. Next, the study has collected data on two samples. Besides, this study has applied SPSS 22.0 version and SEM-PLS approach to analyze the data on two samples and to validate the construct of consumer videogame engagement. Based on the study results, an instrument has proven to be a valid source for measuring engagement in videogames as well as a reflective-formative and multi-dimensional construct. This study contributes to the videogame literature as it considers consumer videogame engagement as a multi-dimensional construct comprising on cognitive, affective and behavioral engagement. It further validates the scale of consumer videogame engagement as reflective-formative model among videogame players.

Subjective time refers to our living experience of time. We develop subjective timescapes i.e., spatial representations for time as experienced by story characters. Each such timescape describes how a character perceives and shapes story time. We show how these spatial constructions are compatible with relevant psychological and phenomenological studies on subjective time. Timescapes allow us to model characters as operating from particular temporal perspectives mediated by memory and anticipation at various points in a story and to provide geometric mappings of these concepts. We apply these ideas in a visualization environment for digital narrative plot structures.

Video games can be appropriated for productive purposes. Commercial games and game engines are often used for video productions, and game development companies provide development kits and modding environments to gaming communities and independent developers. With gamification, game principles are deployed in non-game contexts for benefits beyond pure entertainment. Most approaches are more focused on using games and their design elements rather than the process of playing. We propose a video game category wherein productivity is achieved by playing video games, and present a forthcoming productive game as an example.

A mathematical model of game refinement was proposed based on uncertainty of game outcome. This model has been shown to be useful in measuring the entertainment element in the domains such as boardgames and sport games. However, game refinement theory has not been able to explain the correlation between the popularity of a game and the game refinement value. This paper introduces another aspect in the study of game entertainment, the concept of “attractiveness” to reasonably explain the sophistication-population paradox of game refinement theory.

This demonstration illustrates the possibilities of new 3D technologies in conveying large scale historical photographic databases in interactive 3D virtual environments. We illustrate the visualization of the State Library of Western Australia (SLWA)’s photographic collection containing over 1 million photographs dating back to the 1850s utilizing Curtin’s Hub for Immersive Visualization and eResearch (HIVE). Our application was intended to explore the possibilities in visualizing cultural data sets on the HIVE’s Cylinder, a 3 m high, eight-meter diameter, and 180° cylindrical projection surface. Our demonstration illustrated the potentials of virtual environments in creating interactive information designs for photographic imagery, which can be explored according location, time-period, creator, and subject.

Reading is no more limited to the physicality of the book whether it is screen or paper. Digital media’s potentialities represent an opportunity to leverage a novel reading-experience. We envision that a more joyful and immersive reading-experience can be promoted by interacting with the reading space. Reading can be enriched by controlling digital media infrastructures that contextually react to the reading performance and the narrative. In this paper, we present a prototype and a key scenario, which demonstrate that digital enrichment promises new ways of experiencing a story. Furthermore, we explore the features which characterize this concept and we envision its potential roles.

In this paper we present Vancouver Maneuver, a game for mobile devices using Augmented Reality software to create a cooperative board game experience. Utilizing principles from both digital and analogue board game design, a hybrid game design approach is proposed in order to identify applicable mechanics. By doing so we combine the physical and social aspects of co-located tabletop gaming with the computing power and aesthetics of digital games.