A survey of haptics in serious gaming

Serious gaming often requires high level of realism for training and learning purposes. Haptic technology has been proved to be useful in many applications with an additional perception modality complementary to the audio and the vision. It provides novel user experience to enhance the immersion of virtual reality with a physical control-layer. This survey focuses on the haptic technology and its applications in serious gaming. Several categories of related applications are listed and discussed in details, primarily on haptics acts as cognitive aux and main component in serious games design. We categorize haptic devices into tactile, force feedback and hybrid ones to suit different haptic interfaces, followed by description of common haptic gadgets in gaming. Haptic modeling methods, in particular, available SDKs or libraries either for commercial or academic usage, are summarized. We also analyze the existing research difficulties and technology bottleneck with haptics and foresee the future research directions

The serious games ecosystem: Interdisciplinary and intercontextual praxis

This chapter will situate academia in relation to serious games commercial production and contextual adoption, and vice-versa. As a researcher it is critical to recognize that academic research of serious games does not occur in a vaccum. Direct partnerships between universities and commercial organizations are increasingly common, as well as between research institutes and the contexts that their serious games are deployed in. Commercial production of serious games and their increased adoption in non-commercial contexts will influence academic research through emerging impact pathways and funding opportunities. Adding further complexity is the emergence of commercial organizations that undertake their own research, and research institutes that have inhouse commercial arms. To conclude, we explore how these issues affect the individual researcher, and offer considerations for future academic and industry serious games projects

Designing Serious Games for Education: From Pedagogical Principles to Game Mechanisms

International audienceSGs represent an important opportunity for improving education thanks to their ability to compel players and to present realistic simulations of real-life situations. The scientific community is aware that we are just at the beginning of a proper use of gaming technologies for education and training and, in particular, there is a need for scientific and engineering methods for building games not only as more realistic simulations of the physical world, but as means that provide effective learning experiences. This requires an ever closer cooperation among the various actors involved in the overall SG life- chain, putting pedagogy in a central role, given the educational target of the SGs. This paper addresses the till-now inadequate integration of educational and game design principles and proposes techniques, methods and mechanisms that allow designers with different background to dialogue among each other and to define games that are able to integrate - by design - entertainment and educational features. In particular, the paper follows a design path that starts from the definition of reference frameworks and then analyses the typical categories of design patterns, before focusing on the user-interaction modalities - seen from a pedagogical point of view - given their relevance for the end-users. In the end, we discuss the sandbox serious game model, that looks suited to implement - by design - joint pedagogical and entertainment features. We believe that the indications provided in this paper can be useful for researchers and stakeholders to understand the typical issues in SG design and to get inspiration about possible solutions that take into account the need to implement tools that are effective both as an entertainment medium and as an education tool

A review of artificial intelligence in serious game for public health

Serious games used in public health for purposes including training, learning, prediction, coaching, diagnostic, rehabilitation and supporting. However, the serious game focuses mainly on user experience and graphical application, but less attention on applying artificial intelligence (AI). By enhancing artificial intelligence, it will have the capability to solve issues, especially in the field of public health. This article discussed a review of the use of artificial intelligence in a serious game for public health. The main idea of this paper is to gather all the related articles and create a trend analysis of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a serious game for public health. The related articles were applied to Artificial intelligence (AI) in the area of decision-making. The final section discussed the new trend and the future of Artificial intelligence using current AI techniques

Serious Games for the Surgical Environment: Addressing Multisensory Communication Modes for Improved Patient Safety

Preventable adverse errors in the operating room account for the third leading cause of death in North America. While process improvements have been made, the larger system of communications and information exchanges amongst surgical team members requires further development. Communication within the operating room must be clearly and efficiently delivered in order to prevent medical errors, mortality or future health complications for the patient. As technical skills are prioritized within the surgical environment, communication is considered a non-technical skill that requires minimal training. Current forms of communication are generally invisible and ambiguous during high-stress situations and can be easily misinterpreted. In order to decrease adverse errors and improve patient safety, the complexities between speech, gaze, touch, gesture and movement must be understood amongst team members must be considered. The design of serious games provides team members with tangible tools for learning and developing strategy for multisensory team communication. These tools ensure the affordances of multisensory communication and information amongst team members can be effectively exchanged during safety-critical events

A Comprehensive Review of Serious Games in Health Professions

Education of healthcare professionals is of primary importance for patient safety. In some health related professions, education and training have to be practiced during the entire working period and not only limited to school years. The use of new technology such as virtual reality and e-learning brings new possibilities with significant improvement in learning outcomes. Serious gaming describes a technology that can educate and train while entertaining users. This type of training can be very useful for health professions because it improves learning outcomes creating a learner oriented approach and providing a stealth mode of teaching. In some fields it represents an ideal instrument for continuous health professions education also in terms of costs because it is cheaper than traditional training methods that use cadavers or mannequins. In this paper we make a scoping review of serious games developed for health professions and health related fields in order to understand if they are useful tools for health related fields training. Many papers confirmed that serious gaming is a useful technology that improves learning and skills development for health professionals

Vantagens e limitações do Serious Games no ensino da enfermagem: potencial no contexto pós-COVID-19

The aim was to discuss the advantages and limitations of the Serious Game (SG) in nursing education and its potential in the post-COVID-19 context. It is a theoretical reflection. SGs are games designed to entertain, educate, train and change behavior. As advantages, SGs present the possibility of replication at different and countless times, inserting the student in unusual situations, feedback directed at the student's performance, reduced cost compared to other simulators; use in various devices, entertainment and the practice of clinical reasoning and decision making in a safe and controlled environment. Limitations: lack of knowledge about the method can lead to disinterest; the number of cases students are exposed to; lack of long-term monitoring; the design itself limits the user to the touch or look of the actual experience. In the post-COVID-19 context, new technologies and virtual reality are likely to be essential components of health education. Although there are limitations, when associated with other strategies already disseminated in the classroom, GS has proven to be useful for nursing education. It is essential to disseminate this strategy, so that students arrive more prepared for the real clinical environment.Objetivou-se discorrer sobre as vantagens e limitações do Serious Game (SG) no ensino da enfermagem e seu potencial no contexto pós-COVID-19. Trata-se de uma reflexão teórica. Os SG são jogos desenvolvidos para entreter, educar, treinar e mudar o comportamento. Como vantagens os SG apresentam a possibilidade de replicação em diferentes e incontáveis momentos, inserir o estudante em situações incomuns, feedbacks direcionados à atuação do estudante, custo reduzido se comparados a outros simuladores; utilização em diversos dispositivos, entretenimento e a prática do raciocínio clínico e tomada de decisão em ambiente seguro e controlado. Limitações: o desconhecimento sobre o método pode culminar em desinteresse; o número de casos a que os alunos são expostos; falta de monitoramento a longo prazo; o próprio design limita o usuário quanto ao toque ou olhar da experiência real. No contexto pós-COVID-19, novas tecnologias e a realidade virtual têm grande probabilidade de serem componentes essenciais da formação em saúde. Embora existam limitações, quando associado às demais estratégias já difundidas da sala de aula o SG tem se mostrado útil para o ensino da enfermagem. É fundamental difundir essa estratégia, para que os estudantes cheguem mais preparados ao ambiente clínico real

Vantagens e limitações do Serious Games no ensino da enfermagem: potencial no contexto pós-COVID-19

The aim was to discuss the advantages and limitations of the Serious Game (SG) in nursing education and its potential in the post-COVID-19 context. It is a theoretical reflection. SGs are games designed to entertain, educate, train and change behavior. As advantages, SGs present the possibility of replication at different and countless times, inserting the student in unusual situations, feedback directed at the student's performance, reduced cost compared to other simulators; use in various devices, entertainment and the practice of clinical reasoning and decision making in a safe and controlled environment. Limitations: lack of knowledge about the method can lead to disinterest; the number of cases students are exposed to; lack of long-term monitoring; the design itself limits the user to the touch or look of the actual experience. In the post-COVID-19 context, new technologies and virtual reality are likely to be essential components of health education. Although there are limitations, when associated with other strategies already disseminated in the classroom, GS has proven to be useful for nursing education. It is essential to disseminate this strategy, so that students arrive more prepared for the real clinical environment.Objetivou-se discorrer sobre as vantagens e limitações do Serious Game (SG) no ensino da enfermagem e seu potencial no contexto pós-COVID-19. Trata-se de uma reflexão teórica. Os SG são jogos desenvolvidos para entreter, educar, treinar e mudar o comportamento. Como vantagens os SG apresentam a possibilidade de replicação em diferentes e incontáveis momentos, inserir o estudante em situações incomuns, feedbacks direcionados à atuação do estudante, custo reduzido se comparados a outros simuladores; utilização em diversos dispositivos, entretenimento e a prática do raciocínio clínico e tomada de decisão em ambiente seguro e controlado. Limitações: o desconhecimento sobre o método pode culminar em desinteresse; o número de casos a que os alunos são expostos; falta de monitoramento a longo prazo; o próprio design limita o usuário quanto ao toque ou olhar da experiência real. No contexto pós-COVID-19, novas tecnologias e a realidade virtual têm grande probabilidade de serem componentes essenciais da formação em saúde. Embora existam limitações, quando associado às demais estratégias já difundidas da sala de aula o SG tem se mostrado útil para o ensino da enfermagem. É fundamental difundir essa estratégia, para que os estudantes cheguem mais preparados ao ambiente clínico real

Multimodality with Eye tracking and Haptics: A New Horizon for Serious Games?

The goal of this review is to illustrate the emerging use of multimodal virtual reality that can benefit learning-based games. The review begins with an introduction to multimodal virtual reality in serious games and we provide a brief discussion of why cognitive processes involved in learning and training are enhanced under immersive virtual environments. We initially outline studies that have used eye tracking and haptic feedback independently in serious games, and then review some innovative applications that have already combined eye tracking and haptic devices in order to provide applicable multimodal frameworks for learning-based games. Finally, some general conclusions are identified and clarified in order to advance current understanding in multimodal serious game production as well as exploring possible areas for new applications