Gamification, Geolocation and Sensors for Employee Motivation Towards Energy Conservation at the Workplace

In an era of significant technological advancements, as well as dramatic changes in the business environment, the state of the workforce seems to remain problematic, with regards to motivation. Albeit prevailing societal clichés, that often seem to promote the idea that ‘the modern workplace provides for a far better experience than in the past’; the truth remains that modern employees bear a significant resemblance to their ancestors – regarding the emotional burden their jobs instil on them – and remain, in their majority, unmotivated. Gamification, a relatively new instrument in the “orchestra of motivation”, offers a promising alternative to the strict corporate rules and policies that usually dictate the employees’ conduct, by adhering to their intrinsic motivation. Simultaneously, two promising technological giants have risen, to invisibly, as well as ubiquitously accompany us in our every move. On one hand, the advancement of geolocation technologies has led to the introduction of location-based services and custom content delivery. On the other hand, sensors of all types and flavours, installed to measure countless parameters of our surroundings, the workplace included. Through our study, we aim to investigate the effect of the application of these three technologies – Gamification, Geolocation and Sensors – isolated, or in concert, on employee motivation towards a common goal – energy conservation at the workplace

VR Exergames for ocular diseases diagnosis

According to the World Health Organization, in 2011 there were about 314 million people with impaired vision, due either to ocular diseases or uncorrected ocular errors. Around 45 million people, of these 314 million, are blind. About 75% of all blindness and visual impairment cases caused by these diseases are avoidable. There are already some practical and relatively cheap tools to make this diagnosis, but all of them are intrusive, which doesn’t make them too attractive. To solve this issue, we thought of a non-intrusive way to diagnose eye problems. So we created a Virtual Reality exergame, EyeCare, that tests users’ vision, while they are having fun playing it. This exergame is meant to be played by teenagers and young adults, using only a smartphone and Virtual Reality visor. EyeCare consists in a game where users have to complete several puzzles to escape the forest. The users play the puzzles to assess their astigmatism, contrast sensitivity, color blindness, and peripheral vision. In the end, the results are given to the users as problems that they may have. With this solution, our goal is to diagnose diseases early enough, so they can be monitored, and thus reducing the number of people with impaired vision and blindness

Adoção de sistemas cloud computing

Hoje em dia, quer as empresas quer os indivíduos cada vez mais utilizam cloud computing. Neste contexto é relevante perceber quais os fatores que contribuem para a adoção e sucesso dos sistemas de cloud computing. Deste problema de partida resultam os seguintes objetivos: perceber o contexto dos serviços em cloud; determinar os fatores de adoção e os fatores de sucesso dos mesmos serviços; propor e validar um modelo de adoção e sucesso nos serviços cloud. De forma a atingir os objetivos propostos foi realizada a revisão de literatura do cloud computing, modelos de adoção e sucesso. Em seguida foi proposto um modelo. Este modelo foi validado com recurso a questionários a utilização de PLS.Today, companies and individuals use cloud computing services at an increasing rate. In this context, it is important to understand the factors, behind the adoption and success of cloud computing services. This thesis has four objectives. First, to understand the context of cloud services. Second to determine the factors of adoption and success of such services. Third, propose an adoption model of cloud computing. Fourth, validate he proposed model of adoption and success in cloud services. In order to achieve the proposed goals, a literature review of cloud computing adoption models and success was accomplished. Then a model has been proposed. This model was validated by a survey and using PLS

Gamifikacija i konkurentnost poduzeća: analiza komercijalnih banaka

Purpose – This study investigates the influence of gamification on the competitiveness of financial sector companies. The dimensions of gamification related to financial services are premised on product development, marketing and sales activities, and customer services. Design/Methodology/Approach – Employing the survey research design, 662 bank employees of Nigerian banks forming the sample took part in the research by filling out structured questionnaires. The partial least square structural equations model was utilised in the analysis of data in the study. Findings and Implications – The result reveals that gamification dimensions positively affect competitiveness. The findings further indicate that product development, marketing and sales activities, and customer service positively and significantly affect the firm’s competitiveness. The practical implication of this is that deposit money banks should pay attention to gamification to maintain competitiveness. More attention should also be paid to credit sourcing, referrals and lead generation, and selfhelp application in order for firms to achieve and maintain competitiveness. Limitations – This study examined the gamification impact on competitiveness using the banking sector as a theatre of the study. The study employed non-financial measures of competitiveness in arriving at conclusions. Originality – The study provides an insight into how gamification can be significantly put into practice in real- life scenarios and businesses to achieve competitiveness.Svrha – Rad istražuje utjecaj gamifikacije na konkurentnost poduzeća u financijskom sektoru. Dimenzije gamifikacije povezane s financijskim uslugama temelje se na razvoju proizvoda, marketinškim i prodajnim aktivnostima te uslugama korisniku. Metodološki pristup – U anketnome istraživanju sudjelovalo je 662 zaposlenika nigerijskih banaka, a korišten je strukturirani anketni upitnik. U analizi podataka prikupljenih istraživanjem primijenjeno je PLS modeliranje strukturnih jednadžbi metodom parcijalnih najmanjih kvadrata (PLS). Rezultati i implikacije – Rezultati pokazuju da dimenzije gamifikacije pozitivno utječu na konkurentnost poduzeća. Nadalje, rezultati naznačuju da razvoj proizvoda, marketinške i prodajne aktivnosti te usluge korisnicima pozitivno i značajno utječu na konkurentnost poduzeća. Praktična implikacija rada jest da komercijalne banke za održavanje konkurentnosti trebaju obratiti pozornost na gamifikaciju. Isto je tako potrebno posvetiti više pozornosti izvorima kredita, preporukama i generiranju potencijalnih korisnika te samopomoći radi postizanja i održavanja konkurentnosti poduzeća. Ograničenja – Rad je istraživao utjecaj gamifikacije na kurentnost poduzeća koristeći bankarski sektor kao kontekst. Pri donošenju zaključaka primijenjene su nefinancijske mjere konkurentnosti. Doprinos – Rad pruža uvid u to kako se gamifikacija može značajno primijeniti u praksi u stvarnim situacijama i poduzećima radi postizanja konkurentnosti

How gamification can influence the webdesign and the customer to use the e-banking systems

The gamification is growing in e-business and the banks are looking for new ways to get more customers on their websites. Therefore, it is important to study what are the most appreciated features of the website that could influence the behaviour of the customer to use an electronic banking system with game features. The gamified e-banking suggests that rich elements/features associated with the games could influence other variables and therefore increasing the client loyalty, to spend more time and increasing the transactions on the website. The aim of this study is to look into the influence of gamification in the e-banking system. Based on the research of 180 publications and 210 variables that could influence the intention to use a certain technology this study develops a theoretical model representing the gamification influence on ease of use, information, web pages characteristics, web design and on the intention to use an e-banking with game features. The results from an online survey of 219 e-banking customers show that the gamification had a positive impact on all variables; special has a medium positive influence in web design and information and a large positive influence on customer intentions to use. Further analysis shows that the website ease of use plays has also a medium positive influence on the intention to use an e-banking gamified. Our findings also show that the clients give more importance to an attractive graphical and architecture website design, and less to web pages with so much information or having pleasure in using an e-banking system.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Gamification at Work: Employee Motivations to Participate and Preference for Energy Conservation

Energy wastage, especially in public buildings, is one of the widely acknowledged issues that have to be addressed towards protecting the environment. Furthermore, affecting the occupants’ behaviour has been identified in the literature as an under-investigated means of conserving energy. In this research paper we report on the results from an investigation we conducted in three different workplaces, situated in different EU countries. In a survey of N=119 employees, we explore Employee Motivations to Participate in Gamification at work (EMPG) and identify the needs for (i)Self- Actualisation, (ii)Self-Regulation, (iii)Rewards & Recognition and (iv)Affiliation as most prominent. Additionally we examine the employees’ profiles, specific needs and preferences in game elements, towards participating in gamification aimed at conserving energy at the workplace. Correlations of the four types of EMPG with basic game elements and energy-saving actions at work are consequently explored and discussed. Ultimately, taking into consideration employees’ motivations and preferences, we derive and propose design guidelines for gamified applications providing personalised feedback towards saving energy at work

When Students Are Players: Toward a Theory of Student-Centric Edu-Gamification Systems

The idea that games impact learning is not new to pedagogy. Within the last decade, there has been an increased use of games for higher education, social engagement, marketing, and business training. When used within a higher education setting, a gamification system does not operate within a vacuum, but rather is imbued with and embedded in the learning content of the course. So, to thoroughly understand the system’s impact on learning outcomes, we must consider how the learning content within the system and the instructor’s behaviors might impact student motivation to use the system and thus the outcomes of use. A gap in knowledge exists regarding how to include these aspects in the examination of the phenomenon. This gap is addressed through the presentation of a Theoretical Model of Student-Centric Edu-Gamification Systems. Additionally, references are provided for established empirical instruments that can be adapted to operationalize the proposed model. Taken together, these contributions set the stage for both practitioners and academics to engage in research toward the development of student-centric educational gamification systems

Gamificação: Framework Concetual para Cursos Online de Aprendizagem da Programação

Trabalho apresentado na CISTI'2017 - 12ª Conferência Ibérica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informação, 21-24 de junho, Lisboa, PortugalA gamificação tem atraído a atenção de investigadores das mais diversas áreas, como marketing, saúde, desporto e educação. A gamificação integra elementos de desenho de jogos em contexto de não jogo com a finalidade de envolver o indivíduo numa determinada atividade. Essa integração deverá seguir um processo de desenho formal e claro. Contudo, esses processos de desenho da gamificação para contextos específicos não estão ainda definidos. Nesse sentido, este artigo apresenta uma proposta de framework de gamificação para cursos online à distância, de aprendizagem da programação. Esta framework é composta pelas dimensões: público-alvo, objetivos gerais, resultados da aprendizagem, tópicos, conteúdos, gamificação, absorção cognitiva, fluxo e personalidade. O artigo apresenta ainda uma revisão da literatura existente sobre estas dimensões. A framework teórica é uma contribuição para guiar os professores na gamificação dos cursos online de aprendizagem de programação.N/

Gameful civic engagement: A review of the literature on gamification of e-participation

With increased digitalization, governments and public institutes became potentially better able to practice fuller and wider ranges of democratic governance through e.g., e-participation. E-participation, as any means of engagement with the common good, is, however, a difficult area of human motivation as it can be seen to exist outside the common hurdles of the everyday life and where the effects of participation are often invisible or take a long time to materialize. Recent trends of digitalization, such as gamification; a popular approach for stimulating motivation, have been proposed as remedies to foster e-participation. A plethora of applications and research has emerged related to gamified e-participation. However, there is currently a dearth in our knowledge of how gamification is being applied, researched or what its possible positive and negative outcomes can be. This study employed a systematic literature review approach in order to summarize research and findings on gamified e-participation. 66 papers were reviewed, the majority of which indicated that gamified e-participation is linked to increased engagement, motivation, civic learning and enjoyment amongst other outcomes. Nonetheless, question remains as to ethical and inclusive gamification, for which, this research provides directions for future research.</p