Evaluating a Tangible Game Video Console for Kids

Abstract. Tangible and tabletop interaction can be suitable for kindergarten children as educational material, expressive tool, or merely for fun. But only playfully interactive experiences will happen if technologies include aspects that are relevant to the child's development, incorporating social experiences and easy control. Observation of children using these technologies is an important feedback to improve designs but an appropriated method has to be used in the evaluations. The Structured Expert Evaluation Method (SEEM) not only assesses technologies' usability but also fun aspects. This paper presents our research about the design and evaluation of a tabletop prototype oriented to children between 3 and 6 years, and the analysis of observations of children using our games

Evaluating a Tangible Game Video Console for Kids

Abstract. Tangible and tabletop interaction can be suitable for kindergarten children as educational material, expressive tool, or merely for fun. But only playfully interactive experiences will happen if technologies include aspects that are relevant to the child's development, incorporating social experiences and easy control. Observation of children using these technologies is an important feedback to improve designs but an appropriated method has to be used in the evaluations. The Structured Expert Evaluation Method (SEEM) not only assesses technologies' usability but also fun aspects. This paper presents our research about the design and evaluation of a tabletop prototype oriented to children between 3 and 6 years, and the analysis of observations of children using our games

Interactive technologies for preschool game-based instruction: Experiences and future challenges

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Entertainment Computing. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Entertainment Computing, vol. 17 (2016). DOI 10.1016/j.entcom.2016.07.001.[EN] According to current kindergarten curricula, game play is an important basis for children development and it is the main driving force when designing educational activities during early childhood. This paper presents a review of the current state of the art of game technologies that support pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children development. Moreover, the most emergent technologies for developing educational games for preschool children are identified and a set of future challenges are discussed. The main goal of this work is to review the state of the art in interactive technologies which will help educators, game designers and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) experts in the area of game-based kindergarten instruction. 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work received financial support from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and funded by the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) with the project TIN2014-60077-R (SUPEREMOS). This work is also supported by a predoctoral fellowship within the FPU program from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to V. Nacher (FPU14/00136) and from GVA (ACIF/2014/214) to F. Garcia-Sanjuan.Nácher-Soler, VE.; García Sanjuan, F.; Jaén Martínez, FJ. (2016). Interactive technologies for preschool game-based instruction: Experiences and future challenges. Entertainment Computing. 17:19-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2016.07.001S19291

Personalization in cultural heritage: the road travelled and the one ahead

Over the last 20 years, cultural heritage has been a favored domain for personalization research. For years, researchers have experimented with the cutting edge technology of the day; now, with the convergence of internet and wireless technology, and the increasing adoption of the Web as a platform for the publication of information, the visitor is able to exploit cultural heritage material before, during and after the visit, having different goals and requirements in each phase. However, cultural heritage sites have a huge amount of information to present, which must be filtered and personalized in order to enable the individual user to easily access it. Personalization of cultural heritage information requires a system that is able to model the user (e.g., interest, knowledge and other personal characteristics), as well as contextual aspects, select the most appropriate content, and deliver it in the most suitable way. It should be noted that achieving this result is extremely challenging in the case of first-time users, such as tourists who visit a cultural heritage site for the first time (and maybe the only time in their life). In addition, as tourism is a social activity, adapting to the individual is not enough because groups and communities have to be modeled and supported as well, taking into account their mutual interests, previous mutual experience, and requirements. How to model and represent the user(s) and the context of the visit and how to reason with regard to the information that is available are the challenges faced by researchers in personalization of cultural heritage. Notwithstanding the effort invested so far, a definite solution is far from being reached, mainly because new technology and new aspects of personalization are constantly being introduced. This article surveys the research in this area. Starting from the earlier systems, which presented cultural heritage information in kiosks, it summarizes the evolution of personalization techniques in museum web sites, virtual collections and mobile guides, until recent extension of cultural heritage toward the semantic and social web. The paper concludes with current challenges and points out areas where future research is needed

A systematic review of game technologies for pediatric patients

[EN] Children in hospital are subjected to multiple negative stimuli that may hinder their development and social interactions. Although game technologies are thought to improve children's experience in hospital, there is a lack of information on how they can be used effectively. This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on the existing approaches in this context to identify gaps for future research. A total of 1305 studies were identified, of which 75 were thoroughly analyzed according to our review protocol. The results show that the most common approach is to design mono-user games with traditional computers or monitor-based video consoles, which serve as a distractor or a motivator for physical rehabilitation for primary school children undergoing fearful procedures such as venipuncture, or those suffering chronic, neurological, or traumatic diseases/injures. We conclude that, on the one hand, game technologies seem to present physical and psychological benefits to pediatric patients, but more research is needed on this. On the other hand, future designers of games for pediatric hospitalization should consider: 1. The development for kindergarten patients and adolescents, 2. Address the psychological impact caused by long-term hospitalization, 3. Use collaboration as an effective game strategy to reduce patient isolation, 4. Have purposes other than distraction, such as socialization, coping with emotions, or fostering physical mobility, 5. Include parents/caregivers and hospital staff in the game activities; and 6. Exploit new technological artifacts such as robots and tangible interactive elements to encourage intrinsic motivation.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) with Project TIN2014-60077-R.El Jurdi, S.; Montaner-Marco, J.; García Sanjuan, F.; Jaén Martínez, FJ.; Nácher-Soler, VE. (2018). A systematic review of game technologies for pediatric patients. Computers in Biology and Medicine. 97:89-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.04.019S891129

Player–video game interaction: A systematic review of current concepts

International audienceVideo game design requires a user-centered approach to ensure that the experience enjoyed by players is as good as possible. However, the nature of player-video game interactions has not as yet been clearly defined in the scientific literature. The purpose of the present study was to provide a systematic review of empirical evidences of the current concepts of player-video game interactions in entertainment situations. A total of 72 articles published in scientific journals that deal with human-computer interaction met the criteria for inclusion in the present review. Major findings of these articles were presented in a narrative synthesis. Results showed that player-video game interactions could be defined with multiple concepts that are closely linked and intertwined. These concepts concern player aspects of player-video game interactions, namely engagement and enjoyment, and video game aspects, namely information input/output techniques, game contents and multiplayer games. Global approaches, such as playability, also exist to qualify player-video game interactions. Limitations of these findings are discussed to help researchers to plan future advances of the field and provide supplementary effort to better know the role of less-studied aspects. Practical implications are also discussed to help game designers to optimize the design of player-video game interactions

Exploring social gambling: scoping, classification and evidence review

The aim of this report is to speculate on the level of concern we might have regarding consumer risk in relation to ‘social gambling.’ In doing so, this report is intended to help form the basis to initiate debate around a new and under-researched social issue; assist in setting a scientific research agenda; and, where appropriate, highlight concerns about any potential areas that need to be considered in terms of precautionary regulation. This report does not present a set of empirical research findings regarding ‘social gambling’ but rather gathers information to improve stakeholder understanding