Advancing sCool - Game Type Research and Development

The proposed project, sCool, is an adaptive game-based learning experience designed for STEM education. In this work, we present a new iteration of sCool in efforts to further examine contributing factors of engagement, usability, and comprehension. The newly developed game experience for acquiring object-oriented programming skills is divided into two parts: concept learning and practical challenge. The concept learning part teaches students theoretical lessons of programming through fun gameplay. The practical challenge part allows students to practice programming by completing tasks. This project presents several new game types for both the concept learning and practical challenge parts. The development of these game types spreads across two phases. The first phase introduces two new game types and focuses on extending sCool to support learning object-oriented programming and improve student’s learning comprehension. The second phase builds off of the first phase, introducing another new game type to improve the object-oriented programming learning experience and the game’s overall usability and engagement. During the first phase, three experiments were conducted in a classroom setting with a computer science teacher. Conducting a study involving a total of 39 school students and three teachers, we are able to successfully display an enhanced understanding of different programming concepts. During the second phase, a single experiment was held remotely among a wide group of people, and the participants were self-guided by an instruction document and the sCool application. Conducting a study with 25 participants, we are able to show a significant improvement in the game’s usability and engagement. For future works, further evaluations in-classroom and over a longer course will be useful in assessing the new game type’s effectiveness in teaching object oriented programming. Furthermore, the game should be expanded to support learning more complex concepts in object oriented programming

Adaptivity in Single Player Video Games

Um dos principais objetivos dos jogos é poder obter satisfação e a diversão, fazendo com que o tempo gasto valha a pena. A versão digital de um jogo é um videojogo, onde o usuário interage com um computador. No entanto, cada jogador gosta de jogar à sua maneira e no seu ritmo. Esta diversidade cria diferentes níveis de perícia entre diferentes jogadores dentro do jogo, tornando a mesma dificuldade não compatível com todos. Se o jogador não se enquadra no estilo de jogo, é provável que ele não continue a jogá-lo no futuro. Uma das maneiras mais comuns de ajustar um jogo para capturar o máximo de utilizadores possível e criar uma experiência positiva é através de níveis de dificuldade. Contudo, este é um processo manual e não é uma garantia de que funcionará, já que os desenvolvedores criam diferentes dificuldades sobre o que acham que é o melhor para a maioria dos jogadores. Uma solução para este problema é automatizar o processo, utilizando algoritmos de aprendizagem de máquina que irão descobrir, associar e implementar os parâmetros de jogo que melhor se adaptam a cada tipo de jogador. A solução proposta é criar uma versão adaptada de um jogo que possa mudar seu conteúdo para se adaptar ao tipo de personalidade de cada jogador. Para isso, devemos primeiro criar um sistema que irá determinar a personalidade de um jogador dependendo do que ele sente, age e como se comporta durante o jogo. Usando estas informações, medimos a diversão e a frustração do jogador e criamos uma associação com o conteúdo alterável do jogo. Em seguida, alteramos os diferentes parâmetros de jogo para se adaptarem a um utilizador específico, fornecendo um fluxo de jogo positivo e uma experiência de jogo ideal. O resultado esperado do jogo adaptado é que os utilizadores tenham uma melhor experiência e fluidez do jogo. Este resultado pode ser observado por questionários ou pelas ações do jogador, por exemplo, tempos de jogo mais longos ou mais frequentes. A adaptatividade pode também ajudar a criar uma base de jogadores mais estável e melhorar a longevidade do jogo. Assim, esta solução proposta é relevante para qualquer videojogo que queira ampliar sua quantidade de jogadores.One of the main objectives of playing games is to achieve satisfaction and fun, making the time spent worth it. A digital version is a video game where the user interacts with a computer. However, each player likes to play the game the way they want and at a pace they prefer. This diversity creates different skills levels between different player within the game, making the same difficult not compatible with everyone. If the user cannot identify its playstyle during gameplay, it is likely he will not continue playing the same game in the future. One of the most popular ways to adjust a game to capture the most audience possible and create a positive experience is by creating difficulty levels. Furthermore, this is a manual process and is not a guarantee that it will work since the developers create different difficulties on what they think is the best for most players. A solution to this problem is to automate the process, using state of the art machine learning algorithms that will discover, associate and implement the game parameters that best fit each type of player. The solution proposed is to create an adapted version of a game that can change its content to fit each player personality type. For this, we must first create a profiling system that will determine a player's personality depending on what he feels, acts and behaves during gameplay. Using the information relative to the player and the gameplay, we measure the player's fun and frustration and create an association with the game alterable content. We then alter different game parameters to fit a specific user, ultimately delivering a positive game flow and an optimal game experience. The expected result of the adapted game is that the users have a better experience and game flow. This result can be observed by questionnaires or by the player's actions, for example, longer or more frequent playtimes. Also, adaptivity can help create a more stable player base and improve the game's longevity. Thus, this proposed solution is relevant for any video game that wants to broaden its player base

Exploring complex rhythmic devices in new music composition through software design

This thesis examines the role that complex rhythms perform in my music. I will demonstrate how the software I have created is unique and necessary for this type of rhythmic exploration in music composition and how it differs from existing softwares. I will investigate the practice of hearing one’s environment as music and how the development of my software and compositions are integrally linked to this phenomenon and make clear the importance of advanced rhythmic study within this practice. I am particularly interested in extending my own and others’ perceptual capabilities to hear more and more complex rhythms accurately and congruently with what they would normally consider ‘groove’. To this end, my project involves the development of softwares that: mathematically model the naturally occurring rhythms of specific species of frogs; allow the simultaneous occurrence of ninety-six different tempos; explore Miles Okazaki’s Rhythm Matrix; enable the creation of new and complex grooves from simple beginnings via performance means; allow for infinitely complex variable mapping of musical parameters and rhythms via simple gestural controls; are completely modular and dynamic in design, thereby freeing the user from normal software design limitations. I will demonstrate the use of these softwares in my music compositions and analyse the compositions from within the context of rhythmic exploration and discovery. KEYWORDS: composition, computer music, software, polyrhythm, algorithmic, experimental, groove, tempo, beat, poly-tempi, nature, frog

Synthesis of Spatially Extended Sources in Virtual Reality Audio

This thesis details a real-time implementation of spatial extent synthesis for virtual sound source objects made from mono sound signals and source object geometries. Techniques for distributing components of sound across basic and mesh-like geometry surfaces are discussed. A virtual-world audio environment supporting a listener avatar and various spatially extensive sound sources is described, and forms of source-to-listener distance attenuation are outlined with their roles in sound localization of spatially extensive sound sources. The implementation described herein takes form as an audio plug-in, of which the behavior, usage details, and compatible host applications are mentioned

Agent-Based Graphic Sound Synthesis and Acousmatic Composition

For almost a century composers and engineers have been attempting to create systems that allow drawings and imagery to behave as intuitive and efficient musical scores. Despite the intuitive interactions that these systems afford, they are somewhat underutilised by contemporary composers. The research presented here explores the concept of agency and artificial ecosystems as a means of creating and exploring new graphic sound synthesis algorithms. These algorithms are subsequently designed to investigate the creation of organic musical gesture and texture using granular synthesis. The output of this investigation consists of an original software artefact, The Agent Tool, alongside a suite of acousmatic musical works which the former was designed to facilitate. When designing new musical systems for creative exploration with vast parametric controls, careful constraints should be put in place to encourage focused development. In this instance, an evolutionary computing model is utilised as part of an iterative development cycle. Each iteration of the system’s development coincides with a composition presented in this portfolio. The features developed as part of this process subsequently serve the author’s compositional practice and inspiration. As the software package is designed to be flexible and open ended, each composition represents a refinement of features and controls for the creation of musical gesture and texture. This document subsequently discusses the creative inspirations behind each composition alongside the features and agents that were created. This research is contextualised through a review of established literature on graphic sound synthesis, evolutionary musical computing and ecosystemic approaches to sound synthesis and control

Filtered - a tool for editing SVG filters

Vector graphic image files defined in SVG format can contain filters, graphical effects that can be used for modifying the image pixels algorithmically. Filtered is an open source tool for visual edit-ing of these filters. Although the process that eventually led to filtered started over ten years ago, Filtered is still a relevant tool for SVG content development, as no other tool supports visual editing of SVG filters to the same extent. During the past ten years, SVG has also become an integral part of the WWW infrastructure, supported by all major web browsers. However, filters are still used rarely in the SVG content, as tool support for editing filters has been poor. This is a production-based thesis. The written part describes the user interface design process of Filtered. The outcome of the production, Filtered software, is freely available for download from http://filtered.sourceforge.net