RealCoins: A Case Study of Enhanced Model Driven Development for Pervasive Games

Model Driven Development (MDD) and Domain Specific Modeling (DSM) have been widely used in information system domains and achieved success in many open or in-house scenarios. But its application in the game domain is seldom and immature. In our research, we identified three issues that should be considered carefully in order to play the strength of MDD in the game development environment to a larger extend: 1) structured domain analysis should be done to assure the size and familiarity of the domain; 2) adapted process should be designed to save cost and support evolution; and 3) proper tools (especially language workbenches) should be evaluated and utilized to ease DSM tasks and accelerate iterations. In this paper, we explain these three issues and illustrate our solutions to them by presenting the development details (both technical and procedural) of one pervasive game case. We evaluate the gains and costs by involving MDD into the game development process. We reflect on the issues we have met, and discuss possible future works as well.an open access journa

Distributed Technology-Sustained Pervasive Applications

Technology-sustained pervasive games, contrary to technology-supported pervasive games, can be understood as computer games interfacing with the physical world. Pervasive games are known to make use of 'non-standard input devices' and with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), pervasive applications can be expected to move beyond games. This dissertation is requirements- and development-focused Design Science research for distributed technology-sustained pervasive applications, incorporating knowledge from the domains of Distributed Computing, Mixed Reality, Context-Aware Computing, Geographical Information Systems and IoT. Computer video games have existed for decades, with a reusable game engine to drive them. If pervasive games can be understood as computer games interfacing with the physical world, can computer game engines be used to stage pervasive games? Considering the use of non-standard input devices in pervasive games and the rise of IoT, how will this affect the architectures supporting the broader set of pervasive applications? The use of a game engine can be found in some existing pervasive game projects, but general research into how the domain of pervasive games overlaps with that of video games is lacking. When an engine is used, a discussion of, what type of engine is most suitable and what properties are being fulfilled by the engine, is often not part of the discourse. This dissertation uses multiple iterations of the method framework for Design Science for the design and development of three software system architectures. In the face of IoT, the problem of extending pervasive games into a fourth software architecture, accommodating a broader set of pervasive applications, is explicated. The requirements, for technology-sustained pervasive games, are verified through the design, development and demonstration of the three software system architectures. The ...Comment: 64 pages, 13 figure

Games for a new climate: experiencing the complexity of future risks

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.This report is a product of the Pardee Center Task Force on Games for a New Climate, which met at Pardee House at Boston University in March 2012. The 12-member Task Force was convened on behalf of the Pardee Center by Visiting Research Fellow Pablo Suarez in collaboration with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre to “explore the potential of participatory, game-based processes for accelerating learning, fostering dialogue, and promoting action through real-world decisions affecting the longer-range future, with an emphasis on humanitarian and development work, particularly involving climate risk management.” Compiled and edited by Janot Mendler de Suarez, Pablo Suarez and Carina Bachofen, the report includes contributions from all of the Task Force members and provides a detailed exploration of the current and potential ways in which games can be used to help a variety of stakeholders – including subsistence farmers, humanitarian workers, scientists, policymakers, and donors – to both understand and experience the difficulty and risks involved related to decision-making in a complex and uncertain future. The dozen Task Force experts who contributed to the report represent academic institutions, humanitarian organization, other non-governmental organizations, and game design firms with backgrounds ranging from climate modeling and anthropology to community-level disaster management and national and global policymaking as well as game design.Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centr

Improved user experience with realistic virtual environments and environmental states

Abstract. Virtual reality has been a topic of keen research for last three decades. Recent advances on display technology and wireless network systems combined with easily maintainable and expandable social networks allow more pervasive experiences and better collaboration than ever before. Still the virtual reality remains as rarely used resource and a niche form of entertainment. Virtual Reality is still far from its Science Fiction epitome. Sci-fi presents virtual reality as a ubiquitous technology that generally provides an immersive experience that transforms the concept of communication and collaboration by taking the user into completely another reality. Thanks to leaps in technology, users can experience previously unseen levels of resolution with minimal network lag on consumer priced products. Despite of this VR technology has not caught on. From users’ perspective, this is affected by user experience. This thesis sets out to discover use cases for realistic virtual environments and states and issues in user experience affecting adoption. It will also take a look on different hindrances and difficulties concerning the mass adaption of virtual reality tools and applications.Realististen virtuaaliympäristöjen ja tilojen käyttö käyttäjäkokemuksen parantamiseen. Tiivistelmä. Virtuaalitodellisuutta on tutkittu vilkkaasti 80-luvulta saakka. Näyttöteknologian ja langattomien verkkojärjestelmien viimeaikainen kehitys yhdessä helposti ylläpidettävien ja laajennettavien sosiaalisten verkostojen kanssa mahdollistavat aiempaa kokonaisvaltaisempia kokemuksia ja yhteistyömahdollisuuksia. Tästä huolimatta virtuaalitodellisuus pysyy edelleen harvoin käytettynä resurssina ja viihteen erikoismuotona. Virtuaalitodellisuus on edelleen kaukana sci-fi visualistien haaveesta: kaikkialla läsnäolevana, ubiikkina teknologiana, joka tarjoaa mukaansatempaavia ja ainutlaatuisia kokemuksia, sekä muuttaa käsitystämme sosiaalisesta kanssakäynnistä. Uusimmat teknologiat tarjoavat käyttäjälle ennennäkemättömän korkearesoluutioista kuvaa ja minimaalista verkkoviivettä kuluttajahintaisilla laitteilla. Tästäkään huolimatta suuri yleisö ei ole lämminnyt VR-teknologialle. Käyttäjän näkökulmasta tähän vaikuttaa suuresti käyttökokemus. Tämä tutkimus käsittelee realististen virtuaaliympäristöjen ja -tilojen vaikutusta käyttäjäkokemukseen, sekä ottaa kantaa erilaisiin esteisiin ja hankaluuksiin virtuaaliteknologian leviämisessä suuren yleisön suosioon

Game design research: an introduction to theory & practice

Design research is an active academic field covering disciplines such as architecture, graphic, product, service, interaction, and systems design. Design research aims to understand not only the designed end products but also how design as an activity unfolds. The book demonstrates different approaches to design research in game design research