Socially Adaptable Games

In this paper we describe the concept of socially adaptable games, computer games that are intentionally designed to function in and adapt to changing social environments during gameplay. Principles of social adaptability are described as well as how it relates to concepts such as social weight, seamfulness and interruptability. Our ongoing design work for exploring various solutions to support social adaptability is also detailed. The motivation for the work is grounded in the observation that the full potential of mobile and pervasive computer games will not be possible until these games are possible to coexist with complex and changing social environments. Introduction of technology is usually disruptive, at least initially, and especially so in a social environment where not all people use the technology. To gain understanding about how mobile and pervasive computer games can overcome these challenges we have taken the approach of understanding how technology can augment games that are already perceived as socially adaptable without ruining that characteristic. By choosing to look at board games, which arguably are already integrated to function in social environments, we believe that we can learn requirements for using technology to support and maintain socially adaptability. This technology knowledge can then be transferred to mobile and pervasive computer games so that the category of games that can be classified as being socially adaptability can be expanded to include the types of games as well. We also choose to look upon how different social relationships affect each other, extra-game and intra-game, in order to understand how groups form and disperse in and around a game. To support design work for socially adaptable games we have developed a set of principles. Besides describing them in relation to existing concepts we also describe various forms of social adaptability a game can have. We have done so in three ways. The first way is through linking the social adaptability to how a game design can support different types of social interaction and thereby allowing transitions between different activities and different user groups. We have done this by investigating how a game design can explicitly define social roles by linking these to the traditional functional roles. Besides allowing social grouping to form, this can be used to support players who want to take different social roles each time they play the game or let players change their social roles during gameplay. By linking these two types of roles, the issue of social adaptability can be viewed as an integral part of the game design. Also, the game design can be modeled to handle both internal and external events, from a gameplay perspective, that affects the social interaction within the game. The second way is by exploring how a game design can allow for several players to share the social experience of playing a game together but at the same time giving each player an orthogonal, or at least very different, gameplay experience. The gameplay experience could differentiate in many ways, for example through changing difficulty or complexity. This opens the gaming field for players with otherwise incompatible gameplay preferences and thereby gives them a common social playing ground. In this way, the game design can bridge the age and gender gap instead of focusing on a single type of gameplay. The third way is linked to Huizinga’s model of the magic circle. In and around the magic circle we have identified seven different types of change in the social environment from the game design perspective. Through describing the different technical and game design requirements needed for each of the transitions we present a generic way to approach game design for games that are to be socially adaptable. By considering the seven different types of change, a game designer can in a structured fashion decide what aspects of changes in the social environment that the game design should be able to handle and support

Using Video Games to Develop Graduate Attributes: a Pilot Study

It may be argued that most higher education courses are not explicitly designed to teach or develop desirable soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, resourcefulness or adaptability. While such skills – often referred to as ‘graduate attributes’ – are assumed to be developed as a by-product of a university education, there is little empirical evidence to support this assumption. Furthermore, traditional didactic teaching methods do not typically require students to exhibit such skills, while prevalent assessment methods such as examinations are ill-suited to measure them. Many commercial video games, on the other hand, require players to exercise a range of very similar skills and competencies in order to progress. The pilot project described here sought to explore the use of video games to develop graduate attributes and to identify suitable instruments for measuring such elusive conceptions. A small group of undergraduate students were recruited and asked to play selected video games for two hours per week over an eight week period. A range of psychometric tests were administered at the beginning and the end of the experiment period in order to gather empirical data relating to the participants’ graduate attributes. Mean differences in the pre- and post-intervention scores associated with each measure were obtained and 95% confidence intervals calculated to provide an indication of whether results obtained might be indicative of a wider population. Participants were also asked to discuss their experience as a group following each session and to blog about it if they were so inclined. Despite the small scale of the pilot, the results were sufficiently encouraging to warrant a larger study, which is now underway. The challenges involved in obtaining empirical data on the effectiveness of a game-based intervention such as this are addressed and implications for the subsequent study are discussed

Human-centred design methods : developing scenarios for robot assisted play informed by user panels and field trials

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Copyright ElsevierThis article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC1 project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children’s development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human–robot interactions.Peer reviewe

Exploring mischief and mayhem in social computing or: how we learned to stop worrying and love the trolls

In this paper, we explore the role of mischief as borderline socially acceptable behaviour within social computing applications. Mischievous activity pushes the boundaries of the implicit social contract present in all online social systems, and, we argue, is of vital importance understanding online social interactions. Using examples from games and other applications, we explore mischief as an act of appropriation, which reinterprets mechanics defined by developers in unexpected and sometimes upsetting ways. Although frequently interpreted as negative and anti-social behaviour, we argue that mischief serves a vital social role, and find surprising richness in the chaos

Space station group activities habitability module study: A synopsis

Space station habitability was studied by investigating crew activity routines, proximities, ergonomic envelopes, and group volumes. Ten alternative schematic interior designs were proposed. Preliminary conclusions include: (1) in-service interior modifications may be necessary and should be planned for; (2) design complexity will be increased if the module cluster is reduced from five to three; (3) the increased crew circulation attendant upon enhancement of space station activity may produce human traffic bottlenecks and should be planned for; (4) a single- or two-person quiet area may be desirable to provide crew members with needed solitude during waking hours; and (5) the decision to choose a two-shift or three-shift daily cycle will have a significant impact on the design configuration and operational efficiency of the human habitat

Video games can develop graduate skills in higher education students: a randomised trial

This study measured the effects of playing commercial video games on the development of the desirable skills and competences sometimes referred to as ‘graduate attributes’. Undergraduate students in the Arts and Humanities were randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. Previously validated, self-report instruments to measure adaptability, resourcefulness and communication skill were administered to both groups. The intervention group played specified video games under controlled conditions over an eight week period. A large effect size was observed with mean score change 1.1, 1.15, and 0.9 standard deviations more positive in the intervention group than the control on the communication, adaptability, and resourcefulness scales respectively (p = 0.004, p = 0.002, and p = 0.013 for differences in groups by unpaired t-test). The large effect size and statistical significance of these results support the hypothesis that playing video games can improve self-reported graduate skills. The findings suggest that such game-based learning interventions have a role to play in higher education

A fifth grade sociometric study leaders and non-leaders.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Why do gamers buy 'virtual assets'? An insight in to the psychology behind purchase behaviour

The present study investigated the phenomenon of buying 'virtual assets' for game avatars. Virtual Assets are items that are bought with real-world money for an avatar in-game. Weapons, items, pets, mounts and skin customisations are the most popular examples. Using a qualitative methodology - in this case Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) - six gamers that regularly bought in - game assets were interviewed. IPA was chosen because of its emphasis on lived experience, and each participant had subjective experiences of gaming and purchase behaviour. Of particular focus in this study were the superordinate themes of motivations for purchase behaviour, the resulting psychological impact on the gamer, the social benefits of gaming and virtual asset purchasing, emotional attachment, self-expression through the avatar, impulsivity versus thoughtfulness in purchase intention, and the impact of a transaction machinery on the 'game experience'. Motivations that were found to be of particular importance were item exclusivity, function, social appeal, and collectability. It was found that virtual items enable the gamer to express themselves, feel real satisfaction, and build lasting friendships. Essentially, virtual assets and gaming mostly had a very positive impact on the participant’s psychological wellbeing. Implications for gamers and games production companies are considered

Designing a gamified social platform for people living with dementia and their live-in family caregivers

In the current paper, a social gamified platform for people living with dementia and their live-in family caregivers, integrating a broader diagnostic approach and interactive interventions is presented. The CAREGIVERSPRO-MMD (C-MMD) platform constitutes a support tool for the patient and the informal caregiver - also referred to as the dyad - that strengthens self-care, and builds community capacity and engagement at the point of care. The platform is implemented to improve social collaboration, adherence to treatment guidelines through gamification, recognition of progress indicators and measures to guide management of patients with dementia, and strategies and tools to improve treatment interventions and medication adherence. Moreover, particular attention was provided on guidelines, considerations and user requirements for the design of a User-Centered Design (UCD) platform. The design of the platform has been based on a deep understanding of users, tasks and contexts in order to improve platform usability, and provide adaptive and intuitive User Interfaces with high accessibility. In this paper, the architecture and services of the C-MMD platform are presented, and specifically the gamification aspects. © 2018 Association for Computing Machinery.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft