A Comparison Between an Individual and a Collaborative Versions of a Serious Game to Learn About Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is a major infectious disease caused by arbovirus and there is no vaccine yet; prevention is the action which raises the importance of an educational approach. The use of games to help in the educational process can be motivating and effective but it is not clear which interaction approach is the best: individual or collaborative. A comparative study on a between subject (n=73) experiment using a single player and a pair based version of a serious game that teaches about Dengue fever has been performed. Both versions performed well but presented different advantages: single player version can be used for consulting more easily, and the pair-based game seems to be slightly more motivating to the point that players would be more willing to suggest it to someone else. Data suggest that each interaction approach has its role in the educational process and should be carefully evaluated against educator’s intents

WHY PEOPLE STICK TO PLAY SOCIAL NETWORK SITE BASED ENTERTAINMENT APPLICATIONS: DESIGN FACTORS AND FLOW THEORY PERSPECTIVE

Abstract Benefiting from the popularity of Social Network Site (SNS), the Social Network Site based Entertainment Applications (SNSEAs) have been reaching a wide range of users. However, research on design factors in the SNSEAs and the outcomes of incorporating these factors into SNSEAs is still scant, especially for the phenomenon of user stickiness in this context. Studies on SNSEAs are believed to have a significant contribution to both the Social Network Site researchers and practitioners. This study is developed to investigate the design factors of SNSEAs and antecedent of user's stickiness through an empirical study. Based on flow theory, perceived playfulness of SNSEAs is identified as the direct antecedent, which is found to be affected by four design factors

A Reflection on Virtual Reality Design for Psychological, Cognitive & Behavioral Interventions: Design Needs, Opportunities & Challenges

Despite the substantial research interest in using Virtual Reality (VR) in healthcare in general and in Psychological, Cognitive, and Behavioral (PC&B) interventions in specific, as well as emerging research supporting the efficacy of VR in healthcare, the design process of translating therapies into VR to meet the needs of critical stakeholders such as users and clinicians is rarely addressed. In this paper, we aim to shed light onto the design needs, opportunities and challenges in designing efficient and effective PC&B-VR interventions. Through analyzing the co-design processes of four user-centered PC&B-VR interventions, we examined how therapies were adapted into VR to meet stakeholders’ requirements, explored design elements for meaningful experiences, and investigated how the understanding of healthcare contexts contribute to the VR intervention design. This paper presents the HCI research community with design opportunities and challenges as well as future directions for PC&B-VR intervention design

Measuring the capacity of active video games for social interaction: The Social Interaction Potential Assessment tool

Active Video Games (AVGs) have been designed and promoted for family centred leisure in the home. However, few studies have investigated their capacity to facilitate psychosocial outcomes. This study aimed to establish a reliable system to rate the potential of AVGs to facilitate social interaction among players. A conceptual framework was developed to establish the core elements of the Social Interaction Potential Assessment Tool (SIPA). Four raters implemented the SIPA across five AVGs. ANOVAs were conducted to establish the ability of the SIPA to differentiate between AVGs and inter- and intra-rater reliability was tested. The overall SIPA could differentiate between AVGs social features. A significant difference was found for Social Facilitators and Pro-social Features, but not for Anti-social Features (p < 0.05). The overall SIPA exhibited excellent inter-rater (ICC = 0.92) and intra-rater (ICCs = 0.95 - 0.99) reliability. This study identified the core elements of AVGs that enable social interaction. The SIPA tool can assess AVGs’ potential to facilitate social interaction among players. Subsequently, the SIPA rating can provide consumers with valuable information on which to base AVG purchasing decisions

Right Game, Wrong Place? A Case Study: Using a Gamified AR Application in a Heritage Context to Promote Engagement and Learning

This chapter describes an experiment in the use of gamified processes within a downloadable smartphone augmented reality (AR) application situated in a heritage context of national (UK) significance. The AR project incorporated two distinct game modes, both of which were designed to simultaneously provide users with information and motivate continued engagement. The learning gained from the AR project pertains specifically to three core threads; the first, being of fundamental importance to gamification, is that of challenge and how this links to user motivation, audience ability and prior knowledge. The second considers methodology, specifically the observation of ‘representative’ and ‘expert users’ and how a comparison of these can provide insight. The final, and most significant, thread reflects upon gamified content in relation to context, user expectation and environmental influences. The conclusion may assist others who seek to use gamification in any context by its exploration of the mistakes made and successes encountered in this case study

Right Game, Wrong Place? A Case Study: Using a Gamified AR Application in a Heritage Context to Promote Engagement and Learning

This chapter describes an experiment in the use of gamified processes within a downloadable smartphone augmented reality (AR) application situated in a heritage context of national (UK) significance. The AR project incorporated two distinct game modes, both of which were designed to simultaneously provide users with information and motivate continued engagement. The learning gained from the AR project pertains specifically to three core threads; the first, being of fundamental importance to gamification, is that of challenge and how this links to user motivation, audience ability and prior knowledge. The second considers methodology, specifically the observation of ‘representative’ and ‘expert users’ and how a comparison of these can provide insight. The final, and most significant, thread reflects upon gamified content in relation to context, user expectation and environmental influences. The conclusion may assist others who seek to use gamification in any context by its exploration of the mistakes made and successes encountered in this case study

Choice-based Games and Resilience Building of Gender Non-conforming Individuals: An Exploratory Study

Research on gaming and user experience of the general population has been abundant, but gender non-conforming (GNC) individuals’ experiences had been largely overlooked until recent years. Using a phenomenological approach, the goal of this study is to find deeper understanding of this phenomenon by exploring what gaming experiences shape the identity of the participants. The exploration of gaming and gender non-conforming experiences through interviews can fill a gap in the current literature on gaming culture regarding this specific population. By taking a closer look at this topic, patterns and themes within games may provide insight to potential resilience building activities for GNC people

Busy doing nothing? What do players do in idle games?

Idle games – games where waiting for extended periods is an important dynamic – are increasing in popularity. The game Neko Atsume, a mobile game about collecting cats, is an extreme example of this genre where progress can only be achieved when the game is switched off (so-called "progress while gone"). Do such waiting games engage players? To answer this, we conducted a large survey (N=1972) to understand what players are doing when they play Neko Atsume. Players are highly “engaged” in Neko Atsume as they interact with and around the game in four distinct ways: Time spent playing, Direct sociability; Social media sociability and Checking frequency. However, these characteristics of engagement in Neko Atsume do not fit well with existing models of engagement. We propose that, in future studies, game engagement in idle games could be considered as a habit which players acquire and maintain