Creativity in the cane fields: motivating and engaging IT students through games

In this paper we discuss the influence of the unique local environment and culture on students and teaching styles in the IT degree at James Cook University Cairns Campus. In this degree program games are used to motivate self-directed study and increase student engagement in first and second year programming subjects, and also to generate interest in learning new technologies such as programming for mobile devices. We discuss the use of a mixed reality location based game to improve attitude to teamwork by integrating students in a games subject and a general IT software engineering subject. Students learn the value of community engagement through links to a local primary school for design and evaluation of games, to ensure a balanced approach to user requirements, game design and implementation. Students have explored niche applications of games through the development of a game for children with disabilities

Visual analytics and team strategies in online games

Tese de Mestrado em Informática, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 2022The eSports (electronic sports) phenomenon has been growing and so does the interest in online video games, from players and spectators. With technological advancements it has become easier to use techniques to retrieve data about the events occurring during a game, generating big volumes of data that can be used for a performance analysis. Casual players are looking for methods to better themselves overall or with specific characters, whereas, in a professional context, the focus is to study other teams and how to defeat them. For efficiency, it is imperative to explore data analysis mechanisms combined with visualisation techniques (visual analytics) applied to spatiotemporal data and to various relevant events during a match such as a player’s position (space) in a given instant (time) or, for example, the position where the player died. The goal of this project is the study of previous work and the development and ap plication of the acquired knowledge in analytic visualisation techniques to League of Legends[31] (LoL) spatiotemporal datasets. The developed tool used Tableau Desktop[24] to create a series of dashboards depicting the behaviour of multiple LoL matches, using the Riot API (Application Programming Interface) provided dataset, and clustering algorithms. The tool was evaluated by a team of semi-professional players in order to understand if the visualisation techniques and data used was adequate, useful or innovative compared to already existing tools for game analysis and the players’ needs. The results were mostly positive, with the participants pointing out the interactivity of the visualisations and ability of analysing multiple games as an advantage compared to existing tools. To conclude, even though spatiotemporal data is not yet implemented in MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) videogame analysis tools, it is still relevant for the players’ personal goals and overall an interesting approach

Agile Game Development : A Systematic Literature Review

A systematic literature review was conducted to examine the usage of agile methods in game development. A total of 23 articles were found which were analysed with the help of concept matrices. The results indicate that agile methods are used to varying degrees in game development. Agile methods lead to improved quality of games through a prototyping, playtesting, and feedback loop. Communication and ability of the team to take responsibility are also enhanced. Challenges arise from multidisciplinary teams, management issues, lack of training in agile methods, and quality of code

Hapto-Visual Game Design through Mid-Air Haptics and Virtual Reality

This master thesis covers the design stages of Hapto-Dot, A Haptic - Visual Game, an application that explores the future of new media interactive gaming through mid-air haptic and virtual reality, Game design as a process and game elements as variety of motivating tools are applied in the design process. The purpose of this thesis is to find out how to implement game design process and game elements in multi-sensory immersive new media environments. The study has been conducted within the frames of design research and it consists of two main stages: concept and elaboration. Before conducting the design stages an overview about approaches of game design process and game elements is presented. Concept of Hapto-Dot was evaluated via interviewing sessions with representatives of target group. Results of interviews gave the input for refining the concept and defining game elements in the next elaboration stage. During elaboration stage two iterations were conducted: the first with simulated prototype and the second with functional prototype. Prototypes were play-tested for getting feedback to the design in realistic conditions and for evaluating whether the mobile application is found playful and engaging enough for being popular among target group. As the result of research it could be stated that implementing game design process and game elements in Hapto-Dot was successful and the development of the application

Design, Design Thinking and Innovation: The Electrolux Professional Practices Assessment

The design thinking label assumed a plurality of minings since its first adoption in the design discipline and its subsequent developments in the management realm. Over its long journey, its different interpretations polarised the academic and practitioner audience eliciting appreciation and critiques. Today, the term coexists in different meanings. Still, both parties seem to agree on the positive impact of design thinking practices on organisations. Electrolux Professional is not an exception. Since the first adoption of the concept, the design department started to expand its influence, arriving to play a strategic role in the organisation’s innovation dynamics. The literature suggests a correlation between design thinking practices and innovation, but what are their real implications and impacts on the company’s innovation infrastructure? This research exploited the Electrolux Professional collaboration to investigate the design thinking practices in context. Firstly, it proposes a historical transdisciplinary interpretation of design thinking. Secondly, it focuses on the Electrolux Professional case, inquiring about its innovation ecosystem, the design department and the implication design thinking had. Thirdly, it describes the development of a multi-level framework and a correlated tool to explore the practices and perceived impacts. Finally, the framework was used to assess the design thinking practices in Electrolux Professional and develop three models summarising the primary characteristic of the design thinking practices. The last part aims to evaluate the design thinking impact on Electrolux Professional’s innovation system. Still, it is not concluded yet. The strategy is defined, and the monitoring system is being implemented, but data have not been collected yet. On the academic side, this study strived to reconnect design thinking with the design discipline, giving the designers and managers new evidence of its impact on innovation. On the practice side, the framework and the evaluation strategy aim to offer practitioners valuable tools to manage and leverage design and design thinking in the organisational innovation discussion.The design thinking label assumed a plurality of minings since its first adoption in the design discipline and its subsequent developments in the management realm. Over its long journey, its different interpretations polarised the academic and practitioner audience eliciting appreciation and critiques. Today, the term coexists in different meanings. Still, both parties seem to agree on the positive impact of design thinking practices on organisations. Electrolux Professional is not an exception. Since the first adoption of the concept, the design department started to expand its influence, arriving to play a strategic role in the organisation’s innovation dynamics. The literature suggests a correlation between design thinking practices and innovation, but what are their real implications and impacts on the company’s innovation infrastructure? This research exploited the Electrolux Professional collaboration to investigate the design thinking practices in context. Firstly, it proposes a historical transdisciplinary interpretation of design thinking. Secondly, it focuses on the Electrolux Professional case, inquiring about its innovation ecosystem, the design department and the implication design thinking had. Thirdly, it describes the development of a multi-level framework and a correlated tool to explore the practices and perceived impacts. Finally, the framework was used to assess the design thinking practices in Electrolux Professional and develop three models summarising the primary characteristic of the design thinking practices. The last part aims to evaluate the design thinking impact on Electrolux Professional’s innovation system. Still, it is not concluded yet. The strategy is defined, and the monitoring system is being implemented, but data have not been collected yet. On the academic side, this study strived to reconnect design thinking with the design discipline, giving the designers and managers new evidence of its impact on innovation. On the practice side, the framework and the evaluation strategy aim to offer practitioners valuable tools to manage and leverage design and design thinking in the organisational innovation discussion

The Collapsed Space

‘The Collapsed Space’ is an open-ended and multidisciplinary research-creation piece exploring the complexities of diasporic identity through investigating my own personal lived experiences of being a Chinese Canadian American. Through virtual reality (VR) development as research-creation, this arts-based research uses auto-ethnographic practices to document generational narratives and personal memories into a VR experience, primarily through a process known as deep mapping used from the digital humanities. This thesis engages with the diasporic identity using methods including digital storytelling, deep mapping, expanding upon 2D images into 3D and 4D, and documenting responses and reflections on the research creation process through self-reflexive blog posts including feedback from my family members. Using the immersive power of virtual reality, this thesis seeks to also explore the ways in which the embodied experience can be used as a form of digital storytelling

From Chess and Atari to StarCraft and Beyond: How Game AI is Driving the World of AI

This paper reviews the field of Game AI, which not only deals with creating agents that can play a certain game, but also with areas as diverse as creating game content automatically, game analytics, or player modelling. While Game AI was for a long time not very well recognized by the larger scientific community, it has established itself as a research area for developing and testing the most advanced forms of AI algorithms and articles covering advances in mastering video games such as StarCraft 2 and Quake III appear in the most prestigious journals. Because of the growth of the field, a single review cannot cover it completely. Therefore, we put a focus on important recent developments, including that advances in Game AI are starting to be extended to areas outside of games, such as robotics or the synthesis of chemicals. In this article, we review the algorithms and methods that have paved the way for these breakthroughs, report on the other important areas of Game AI research, and also point out exciting directions for the future of Game AI