SUPPORTING THERAPY-CENTERED GAME DESIGN FOR BRAIN INJURY REHABILITATION

Brain injuries (BI) are a major public health issue. Many therapists who work with patients who have had a BI include games to ameliorate boredom associated with repetitive rehabilitation. However, designing effective, appropriate, and engaging games for BI therapy is challenging. The challenge is especially manifested when considering how to consolidate the different mindsets and motivations among key stakeholders; i.e., game designers and therapists. In this dissertation, I investigated the ideation, creation, and evaluation of game design patterns and a design tool, GaPBIT (Game Design Patterns for BI Therapy) that leveraged patterns to support ideation of BI therapy game concepts and facilitate communication among designers and therapists. Design patterns, originated from the work of Christopher Alexander, provide a common design language in a specific field by documenting reusable design concepts that have successfully solved recurring problems. This investigation involved four overlapping phases. In Phase One, I interviewed 11 professional game designers focused on games for health (serious games embedded with health-related goals) to explore how they perceived and approached their work. In Phase Two, I identified 25 therapy-centered game design patterns through analyzing data about game use in BI therapy. Based on those patterns, in Phase Three I created and iterated the GaPBIT prototype through user studies. In Phase Four, I conducted quasi-experimental case studies to establish the efficacy and user experience of GaPBIT in game design workshops that involved both game designers and therapists. During the design workshops, the design patterns and GaPBIT supported exploration of game design ideas and effectively facilitated discussion among designers and therapists. The results also indicated that these tools were especially beneficial for novice game designers. This work significantly promotes game design for BI rehabilitation by providing designers and therapists with easier access to the information about requirements in rehabilitation games. Additionally, this work modeled a novel research methodology for investigating domains where balancing the role of designers and other stakeholders is particularly important. Through a “practitioner-centered” process, this work also provides an exemplar of investigating technologies that directly address the information needs of professional practitioners

Pedagogy in Commercial Video Games

Books, film, television, and indeed every other medium that came before them has been used and sometimes studied as media for the delivery of instruction. Outstanding examples of each medium have been applied to educative purposes with enduring results. Digital games are now also receiving attention in this context. A first step to gaining an understanding for just how a particular medium can be used in education is to study the outstanding examples, regardless of their original purpose. This chapter examines numerous well-known and commercially successful games through the lens of several known and accepted learning theories and styles, using the premise that “good” games already embody sound pedagogy in their designs even if the incorporation of those theories was not deliberate

The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Sport Video Gaming Effects on Gamers\u27 Confidence and Desire to Play the Sport

Sport video gamers, as a huge population, have been studied descriptively in terms of the demographic and motivation for playing. Yet most studies paid attention to the relationship between gamers and the video game. A gap remains between sport video gaming and its effects on gamers’ attitude toward the exact sport they are playing in the game. Through the Elaboration Likelihood Model lens, the current study aimed to examine the effects of sport video gaming on gamers’ confidence in the sport as well as desire to play the sport. A pretest-posttest experimental design was conducted to investigate the causality between gaming and confidence and desire change. As the first application of ELM to sport video game, the current study incorporated the classic route shift pattern in persuasion to predict the improvement of gamers’ confidence and desire after game playing. This study proved that sport video gaming is effective in improving gamers’ attitude and behavior toward the specific sport. Specifically, this study justified that the time of playing, the performance in game, and the immersive degree of the game are influential to the improvement of gamers’ confidence in their ability and knowledge in golf as well as their desire to play golf in real life

Online engagement on esports streams

The global esports market is expected to generate 950 million dollars online in 2020, being 18.2 million from streaming with an audience of 495 million and has been growing 10% per year, opening opportunities for brands to connect with their clients (Newzoo, 2020). This dissertation goal is to understand how esports streams viewers experience can influence ultimately impact their reaction on brands advertising on the stream. More specifically, how esports streams viewing experience influences online engagement and how does online engagement influence brand attitude and purchase intention. A questionnaire was elaborated and shared on social media related to gaming and the data collected was analysed using a quantitative analysis using simple linear regression models. Main findings are that experience does have a positive impact on online engagement and online engagement has a positive impact on purchase intention, while there was no evidence of online engagement having impact on brand attitude. The main takeaways from this analysis is that a positive experience watching esports plays a vital role on engagement highlighting the importance of a quality content being produced can make advertising during the stream more effective, thus resulting in better ROI results for brands. Was also found that consumers are more subject to commercial aspects being communicated from advertising than branding aspects. As for further research this dissertation opens questions for how does experience and online engagement influence other variables and if there are different results depending on the type of streams.Espera-se que o mercado global de esports gere 950 milhões de dólares online em 2020, sendo 18,2 milhões de streaming com uma audiência de 495 milhões e tem vindo a crescer 10% ao ano, abrindo oportunidades para as marcas se conectarem com seus clientes (Newzoo, 2020). O objetivo desta dissertação é entender como a experiência dos espectadores de esports streams pode influenciar o impacto de publicidade de presente nas streams. Mais especificamente, como a experiência a ver esports streams influencia o online engagement e como esse influencia a atitude da marca e a intenção de compra. Um questionário foi elaborado e partilhado nas redes sociais relacionadas com jogos e os dados foram analisados por forma quantitativa usando modelos de regressão linear simples. As principais conclusões são que a experiência tem um impacto positivo no online engagement e o online engagement tem um impacto positivo na intenção de compra, porém não existe evidência de que o online engagement tenha impacto na atitude da marca. A principal conclusão é que uma experiência positiva a ver esports streams desempenha um papel vital no online engagement, destacando a importância de um conteúdo de qualidade para tornar a publicidade mais eficaz, resultando em melhores resultados de ROI. Também foi constatado que os consumidores estão mais sujeitos aos aspectos comerciais sendo comunicados pela publicidade do que aos aspectos de branding. Para investigação futura, esta dissertação abre questões sobre como a experiência e o online engagement influenciam outras variáveis e se existem resultados diferentes dependendo do tipo de stream

De-Roling from Experiences and Identities in Virtual Worlds

Within dramatherapy and psychodrama, the term ‘de-roling’ indicates a set of activities that assist the subjects of therapy in ‘disrobing’ themselves from their fictional characters. Starting from the psychological needs and the therapeutic goals that ‘de-roling’ techniques address in dramatherapy and psychodrama, this text provides a broader understanding of procedures and exercises that define and ease transitional experiences across cultural practices such as religious rituals and spatial design. After this introductory section, we propose a tentative answer as to why game studies and virtual world research largely ignored processes of ‘roling’ and ‘de-roling’ that separate the lived experience of role-play from our everyday sense of the self. The concluding sections argue that de-roling techniques are likely to become more relevant, both academically and in terms of their practical applications, with the growing diffusion of virtual technologies in social practices. The relationships we can establish with ourselves and with our surroundings in digital virtual worlds are, we argue, only partially comparable with similar occurrences in pre-digital practices of subjectification. We propose a perspective according to which the accessibility and immersive phenomenological richness of virtual reality technologies are likely to exacerbate the potentially dissociative effects of virtual reality applications. This text constitutes an initial step towards framing specific socio-technical concerns and starting a timely conversation that binds together dramatherapy, psychodrama, game studies, and the design of digital virtual worlds

Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author

The question motivating this review paper is, how can computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn- ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory, and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in- teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that, as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency. Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip- ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in- teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity

Brand logos versus brand names: A comparison of the memory effects of textual and pictorial brand elements placed in computer games

While a plethora of studies on gamification of advertising exists, little is known about how consumers process different types of brand elements (logos and names) placed in computer games, and whether differences in information processing lead to variations in brand memory. This gap is addressed by conducting three rigorous experiments. In Study 2 we find that, in general, brand logos lead to stronger memory than brand names – something known as the picture superiority effect. Study 3 examines the condition where the picture superiority effect is neutralized. We find that when the speed of a computer game is reduced, names and logos develop similar memory. Finally, in Study 4, we examine whether the picture superiority effect can be neutralized also in the context of high-speed games. We find that in fast games if the physical distinctiveness of the brand elements is increased, both logos and names yield in similar memory

Video Game Pedagogy: Good Games = Good Pedagogy

We have always appropriated whatever technologies are available to us for use as technologies for instruction. This practice may well date back as far as human communication itself. The practice of “studying the masters” is also an old and respected one, and using this perspective we can take advantage of the opportunities afforded us in studying outstanding examples of commercial digital games as “educational” objects, even if they weren’t produced by professional educators. By examining successful games through this lens we can progress towards an understanding of the essential elements of ‘good’ games and begin to discuss the implications this holds for the deliberate design of educational games. There is, however, a caveat: knowing why a game is good is not the same as knowing how to make a game good. It is nonetheless an essential step in that process. This chapter examines some ways in which a few “good” games implement some well-known learning and instructional theories. “Good” games in this context are defined as those that have experienced both substantial commercial success and broad critical acclaim: the deliberate implementation of one or another learning or instructional design theory is not a prerequisite. In fact most will not have been consciously influenced by formal educational theory at all. The implications of this study include the notion that learning and instructional design are compatible with good game design and vice versa. Finally, this chapter will present some key distinctions between digital games and other learning technologies and what this might mean for the development of design models and methodologies

What makes you watch it when you can play it?: the evolution of gaming streaming and the motivational factors concerning viewership

Gaming streaming has been increasing vastly throughout this decade, having a total of 1.9 billion hours of video on TwitchTv in August alone, reflecting a 27% year- over-year growth (Gamesindustry, 2021). This dissertation’s primary objective is to quantify the motivational relevance that a Portuguese viewer has concerning gaming streaming content in the online platform denominated TwitchTv, additionally addressing the evolution of streaming and gaming. A questionnaire was created and shared on a multitude of social media platforms in order to gather data to analyze it via a dedicated software. An analysis was used in order to test the validity of the research hypothesis, being it One Sample Student’s T-Test. With this research, the purpose was to identify which of the user needs posed a positive effect regarding the usage of TwitchTv. The main conclusions were that the affective need has a positive effect in TwitchTv usage, while there’s no evidence to support other needs having a positive effect concerning TwitchTv usage. Concerning future research, this dissertation addresses the interest of expanding the scope of research to not only TwitchTv as a streaming platform but to other online networks, due to the suitable approach of User and Gratifications theory.O streaming de jogos tem tido um aumento vasto ao longo desta década, tendo totalizado 1.9 mil milhões de horas de vídeo na TwitchTv apenas em Agosto, refletindo um aumento anual de 27% (Gamesindustry, 2021). Esta dissertação tem como objetivo primário a quantificação da relevância motivacional que um espectador português tem no que diz respeito a conteúdo de streaming gaming na plataforma online denominada de TwitchTv, abordando adicionalmente a evolução de streaming e gaming. Um questionário foi criado e partilhado numa variedade de plataformas online de social media a fim de reunir dados para analisá-los via um software dedicado. Uma análise foi utilizada de modo a testar a validade das hipóteses de pesquisa, sendo esta o Teste-t para uma amostra. Com esta pesquisa, o propósito é identificar qual das necessidades do utilizador propõe um efeito positivo de acordo com o uso da TwitchTv. As conclusões principais foram as de a necessidade afetiva tem um efeito positivo no uso da TwitchTv, enquanto não existe prova para suportar as outras necessidades de terem um efeito positivo em relação ao uso da TwitchTv. No que se refere a pesquisas futuras, esta dissertação aborda o interesse de expandir o alcance da pesquisa para não apenas TwitchTv como uma plataforma de streaming, mas para outras redes online, devido à abordagem adequada da teoria do Utilizador e Gratificações