Affective level design for a role-playing videogame evaluated by a brain\u2013computer interface and machine learning methods

Game science has become a research field, which attracts industry attention due to a worldwide rich sell-market. To understand the player experience, concepts like flow or boredom mental states require formalization and empirical investigation, taking advantage of the objective data that psychophysiological methods like electroencephalography (EEG) can provide. This work studies the affective ludology and shows two different game levels for Neverwinter Nights 2 developed with the aim to manipulate emotions; two sets of affective design guidelines are presented, with a rigorous formalization that considers the characteristics of role-playing genre and its specific gameplay. An empirical investigation with a brain\u2013computer interface headset has been conducted: by extracting numerical data features, machine learning techniques classify the different activities of the gaming sessions (task and events) to verify if their design differentiation coincides with the affective one. The observed results, also supported by subjective questionnaires data, confirm the goodness of the proposed guidelines, suggesting that this evaluation methodology could be extended to other evaluation tasks

Videogame-based learning: a comparison of direct and indirect effects across outcomes

2017 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Recent years have shown a rise in the application of serious games used by organizations to help trainees learn and practice job related skills (Muntean, 2011). Some sources have projected a continued growth in the development and application of video games for novel purposes (Sanders, 2015). Despite the increasing use of video games for workplace training, there is limited research evidence to justify the use of video games for learning. Additionally, this research has generated mixed results on the utility of serious games (Guillen-Nieto & Aleson-Carbonell, 2012). One contribution of this study is a review of the research literature to understand why videogame-based learning research is producing inconsistent results. From this review, I present several current challenges in the research literature that may be contributing to these inconsistencies; distinguishing videogames from similar training media, identifying game characteristics, exploring the possible mechanisms in the training experience, differentiating training outcomes, and making accurate implications for research. The purpose of this study is to design and test a new approach to game-based learning research that would explore the context in which games are effective learning tools. This study tested and expanded the model from Garris et al.'s (2002) game-based learning I-P-O model to determine the extent to which one game characteristic (i.e., human interaction) influences two training outcomes (i.e., declarative knowledge and affective states), as well as the possible mechanisms through which this occurs. The present study found that active learning is a mechanism through which human interaction influences both declarative knowledge and affective states. Although the effect size was large for affective states, it was small for declarative knowledge. The mediating effect of active learning was greater for the relationship between human interaction and affective states than for the relationship between human interaction and declarative knowledge. I also found that perceived value mediates the relationship between human interaction and affective states

S3: Social-network Simulation System with Large Language Model-Empowered Agents

Social network simulation plays a crucial role in addressing various challenges within social science. It offers extensive applications such as state prediction, phenomena explanation, and policy-making support, among others. In this work, we harness the formidable human-like capabilities exhibited by large language models (LLMs) in sensing, reasoning, and behaving, and utilize these qualities to construct the S$^3$ system (short for $\textbf{S}$ocial network $\textbf{S}$imulation $\textbf{S}$ystem). Adhering to the widely employed agent-based simulation paradigm, we employ prompt engineering and prompt tuning techniques to ensure that the agent's behavior closely emulates that of a genuine human within the social network. Specifically, we simulate three pivotal aspects: emotion, attitude, and interaction behaviors. By endowing the agent in the system with the ability to perceive the informational environment and emulate human actions, we observe the emergence of population-level phenomena, including the propagation of information, attitudes, and emotions. We conduct an evaluation encompassing two levels of simulation, employing real-world social network data. Encouragingly, the results demonstrate promising accuracy. This work represents an initial step in the realm of social network simulation empowered by LLM-based agents. We anticipate that our endeavors will serve as a source of inspiration for the development of simulation systems within, but not limited to, social science

A study about the use of Musicomovigrams in musical education

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, information and communication technology (ICT) have definitely changed the way people express learning and interact with each other in the activities of science and arts, with a particular impact in musical education. In this article, the authors treat the concept of musicomovigrams, an interactive audiovisual resource, similar to video games that can work as software tools for the development of sound perception and musical structure. This concept is based on the previous concept of musicogram, created by the musical pedagogue Jos Wuytack along with his concept of Active Listening (Wuytack and Boal Palheiros, 2009). The authors consider an important element of learning the concepts of Musical Forms defined by the musical educator Keith Swanwick (Swanwick, 2003). This work presents the development of the musicomovigram concept, a videogame created through the free software eAdventure. We also intend to investigate how music teachers and students, who work and interact in musical education classrooms, are actually accepting and using ICT in their classes

The time loss effect in gaming: an exploration of gamers' time perception from a dual-process perspective

Gaming Disorder has been included in the 11th revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases as a recurrent gaming behaviour with a lack of control from the gamer. One important aspect of gaming disorder, and gaming in general, is the time loss effect which can be defined as the underestimation of the time spent on an activity (i.e., gaming in this case). Since this process may lead the gamers to experience multiple negative consequences (e.g., conflicts with education and occupation, relationship problems, etc.) due to the increased time spent on videogames, the main objective of this thesis was to explore a potential underlying mechanism of time loss: time perception. This thesis contributed to knowledge by (i) systematically reviewing the variables commonly associated with both gaming (i.e., healthy and disordered) and time perception, allowing a deeper understanding of these two variables’ interaction; (ii) testing the Dual-Process Contingency Model of time perception within durations above one minute; (iii) testing both the prospective and retrospective time perception of the gamers in comparison to non-gamers in a neutral setting; and (iv) testing how emotion and cognition affect the gamers’ retrospective time perception. The new primary data from this thesis were collected using quantitative approaches, utilizing both experimental (i.e., computer tasks) and psychometric (i.e., online survey) data collection. These data from three experimental studies and one psychometric study were analysed through multiple types of analysis such as ANOVAs, regressions, or general linear models. The results first indicated that the Dual-Process Contingency Model of time perception, unifying RTP and PTP, was not valid for longer time durations. Second, the results showed that the gamers exhibited a better PTP (but a similar RTP) than non-gamers when estimating time in a neutral setting. However, the gamers underestimated time when processing gaming pictures, this effect being stronger when the task to complete was more complicated. In conclusion, it appears from the studies carried out that the reason underlying the observed time loss effect experienced by gamers was impaired retrospective time perception occurring when aroused by gaming stimuli

Toward an Agent-Agnostic Transmission Model: Synthesizing Anthropocentric and Technocentric Paradigms in Communication

Technological and social evolutions have prompted operational, phenomenological, and ontological shifts in communication processes. These shifts, we argue, trigger the need to regard human and machine roles in communication processes in a more egalitarian fashion. Integrating anthropocentric and technocentric perspectives on communication, we propose an agent-agnostic framework for human-machine communication. This framework rejects exclusive assignment of communicative roles (sender, message, channel, receiver) to traditionally held agents and instead focuses on evaluating agents according to their functions as a means for considering what roles are held in communication processes. As a first step in advancing this agent-agnostic perspective, this theoretical paper offers three potential criteria that both humans and machines could satisfy: agency, interactivity, and influence. Future research should extend our agent-agnostic framework to ensure that communication theory will be prepared to deal with an ostensibly machine-inclusive future

Socio-Cultural Games for Training and Analysis

This paper presents a theory for role playing simulation games intended to support analysts (and trainees) with generating and testing alternative competing hypotheses on how to influence world conflict situations. Simulated leaders and followers capable of playing these games are implemented in a cognitive modeling framework, called PMFserv, which covers value systems, personality and cultural factors, emotions, relationships, perception, stress/coping style and decision making. Of direct interest, as Section 1.1 explains, is codification and synthesis of best-of-breed social science models within PMFserv to improve the internal validity of the agent implementations. Sections 2 and 3 present this for leader profiling instruments and group membership decision-making, respectively. Section 4 then offers two real world case studies (The Third Crusade and SE Asia today) where the agent models are subjected to Turing and correspondence tests under each case study. In sum, substantial effort on game realism, best-of-breed social science models, and agent validation efforts is essential if analysis and training tools are to help explore cultural issues and alternative ways to influence outcomes. Such exercises, in turn, are likely to improve the state of the science as well

Agents for educational games and simulations

This book consists mainly of revised papers that were presented at the Agents for Educational Games and Simulation (AEGS) workshop held on May 2, 2011, as part of the Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference in Taipei, Taiwan. The 12 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers are organized topical sections on middleware applications, dialogues and learning, adaption and convergence, and agent applications