Inferring player experiences using facial expressions analysis

© 2014 ACM. Understanding player experiences is central to game design. Video captures of players is a common practice for obtaining rich reviewable data for analysing these experiences. However, not enough has been done in investigating ways of preprocessing the video for a more efficient analysis process. This paper consolidates and extends prior work on validating the feasibility of using automated facial expressions analysis as a natural quantitative method for evaluating player experiences. A study was performed on participants playing a first-person puzzle shooter game (Portal 2) and a social drawing trivia game (Draw My Thing), and results were shown to exhibit rich details for inferring player experiences from facial expressions. Significant correlations were also observed between facial expression intensities and self reports from the Game Experience Questionnaire. In particular, the challenge dimension consistently showed positive correlations with anger and joy. This paper eventually presents a case for increasing the application of computer vision in video analyses of gameplay

High Prevalence of Chronic Pituitary and Target-Organ Hormone Abnormalities after Blast-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Studies of traumatic brain injury from all causes have found evidence of chronic hypopituitarism, defined by deficient production of one or more pituitary hormones at least 1 year after injury, in 25–50% of cases. Most studies found the occurrence of posttraumatic hypopituitarism (PTHP) to be unrelated to injury severity. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and hypogonadism were reported most frequently. Hypopituitarism, and in particular adult GHD, is associated with symptoms that resemble those of PTSD, including fatigue, anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, cognitive deficiencies, and decreased quality of life. However, the prevalence of PTHP after blast-related mild TBI (mTBI), an extremely common injury in modern military operations, has not been characterized. We measured concentrations of 12 pituitary and target-organ hormones in two groups of male US Veterans of combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. One group consisted of participants with blast-related mTBI whose last blast exposure was at least 1 year prior to the study. The other consisted of Veterans with similar military deployment histories but without blast exposure. Eleven of 26, or 42% of participants with blast concussions were found to have abnormal hormone levels in one or more pituitary axes, a prevalence similar to that found in other forms of TBI. Five members of the mTBI group were found with markedly low age-adjusted insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels indicative of probable GHD, and three had testosterone and gonadotropin concentrations consistent with hypogonadism. If symptoms characteristic of both PTHP and PTSD can be linked to pituitary dysfunction, they may be amenable to treatment with hormone replacement. Routine screening for chronic hypopituitarism after blast concussion shows promise for appropriately directing diagnostic and therapeutic decisions that otherwise may remain unconsidered and for markedly facilitating recovery and rehabilitation

A game-based corpus for analysing the interplay between game context and player experience

Recognizing players’ affective state while playing video games has been the focus of many recent research studies. In this paper we describe the process that has been followed to build a corpus based on game events and recorded video sessions from human players while playing Super Mario Bros. We present different types of information that have been extracted from game context, player preferences and perception of the game, as well as user features, automatically extracted from video recordings. We run a number of initial experiments to analyse players’ behavior while playing video games as a case study of the possible use of the corpus.peer-reviewe

Does spatial locative comprehension predict landmark-based navigation?

In the present study we investigated the role of spatial locative comprehension in learning and retrieving pathways when landmarks were available and when they were absent in a sample of typically developing 6- to 11-year-old children. Our results show that the more proficient children are in understanding spatial locatives the more they are able to learn pathways, retrieve them after a delay and represent them on a map when landmarks are present in the environment. These findings suggest that spatial language is crucial when individuals rely on sequences of landmarks to drive their navigation towards a given goal but that it is not involved when navigational representations based on the geometrical shape of the environment or the coding of body movements are sufficient for memorizing and recalling short pathways

Stand Out in Class: restructuring theclassroom environment to reducesedentary behaviour in 9–10-year-olds—study protocol for a pilot clusterrandomised controlled trial

Background: Sedentary behaviour (sitting) is a highly prevalent negative health behaviour, with individuals of allages exposed to environments that promote prolonged sitting. Excessive sedentary behaviour adversely affects health inchildren and adults. As sedentary behaviour tracks from childhood into adulthood, the reduction of sedentary time inyoung people is key for the prevention of chronic diseases that result from excessive sitting in later life. The sedentaryschool classroom represents an ideal setting for environmentalchange, through the provision of sit-stand desks. Whilstthe use of sit-stand desks in classrooms demonstrates positiveeffects in some key outcomes, evidence is currently limitedby small samples and/or short intervention durations, withfewstudiesadoptingrandomisedcontrolledtrial(RCT)designs. This paper describes the protocol of a pilot cluster RCT of a sit-stand desk interventioninprimaryschoolclassrooms.Methods/Design:A two-arm pilot cluster RCT will be conducted in eight primary schools (four intervention, four control)with at least 120 year 5 children (aged 9–10 years). Sit-stand desks will replace six standard desks in the interventionclassrooms. Teachers will be encouraged to ensure all pupils are exposed to the sit-stand desks for at least 1 h/dayon average using a rotation system. Schools assigned to the control arm will continue with their usual practice, noenvironmental changes will be made to their classrooms. Measurements will be taken at baseline, beforerandomisation, and at the end of the schools’academic year. In this study, the primary outcomes of interest will beschool and participant recruitment and attrition, acceptability of the intervention, and acceptability and complianceto the proposed outcome measures (including activPAL-measured school-time and school-day sitting, accelerometer-measured physical activity, adiposity, blood pressure, cognitive function, academic progress, engagement, andbehaviour) for inclusion in a definitive trial. A full process evaluation and an exploratory economic evaluation willalso be conducted to further inform a definitive tria

Impact assessment of cage culture in Lake Taal, Philippines

Abstract only.The environmental impact of cage culture on water quality of Lake Taal was assessed from March 1996 through February 1997. Three stations were considered namely: Balas, which serves as station 1 (non-cage area) and Sampaloc and Laurel, stations 2 and 3 (cage areas), respectively. Monthly water samples with two replicates were collected using a van Dorn sampler at 0, 5, 10 and 15-m depths in all stations. Below surface water from the inside of the cages was also collected. Water temperature, water transparency, pH, and conductivity were determined in situ. Dissolved oxygen, chloride, NO3, NH3, PO4, and total P were analyzed in the laboratory. Phytoplankton density and algal biomass (through cholorophyll a) and primary productivity indices were determined with the light-and-dark bottle method. Of the water quality parameters, conductivity and DO had significant differences between non-cage and cage areas. Conductivity gave significant difference (P<0.01) between control and cage area during the wet season. Highest conductivity value (2100 µ S/cm) was observed in station 3. Mean values of DO gave significant differences (P<0.05) in the different stations throughout the study period. A decrease of DO to 2.5 mg/1 was observed below 10-m depth around the cage areas. Analysis indicates that cage culture leads to oxygen depletion in the water column. The presence of cage structures decreased the flow rate resulting to weak circulation. The reduced water circulation in effect decreased the supply of oxygen and removal of toxic waste metabolites from the vicinity of the fish farm, and reduced the supply of plankton. These results suggest that the impact of cage culture in Lake Taal is minor but can alter the lake ecosystem if not properly managed. Zoning and continuous water quality monitoring are needed

Lake Taal's freshwater sardines Sardinella tawilis (Herre): Evolutionary insights based on morphological, molecular, and geological data

Sardines (family Clupeidae or herrings) are mostly marine species. In the Philippines, Lake Taal is the habitat of Sardinella tawilis (local name tawilis ), the only local endemic sardine species known to be fully adapted to a freshwater environment. Its evolutionary history is thus of great interest. So far, analyses of morphometric, meristic, isozyme, and mtDNA data point to the marine species Sardinella albella as the closest marine relative. Furthermore, mitochondrial DNA data revealed restricted substitution that may indicate either the beginning of a genetic differentiation of two tawilis sub-populations or the ghost of polymorphism past strengthened by genetic drift. Sardinella tawilis is believed to have emigrated from Balayan Bay to Lake Taal when it was formed in the course of volcanic eruptions some 240 years ago. The data do not, so far, support this contention. An alternative explanation on the speciation of this species is presented here

Combining think-aloud and physiological data to understand video game experiences

Think-aloud protocols are commonly used to evaluate player experiences of video games but suffer from a lack of objectivity and timeliness. On the other hand, quantitative captures of physiological data are effective; providing detailed, unbiased and continuous responses of players, but lack contexts for interpretation. This paper documents how both approaches could be used together in practice by comparing video-cued retrospective think-aloud data and physiological data collected during a video gameplay experiment. We observed that many interesting physiological responses did not feature in participants' think-aloud data, and conversely, reports of interesting experiences were sometimes not observed in the collected physiological data. Through learnings from our experiment, we present some of the challenges when combining these approaches and offer some guidelines as to how qualitative and quantitative data can be used together to gain deeper insights into player experiences

Multivariate analyses of the biometric features from Philippine sardines - Implications for the phylogenetic relationships of the freshwater Sardinella tawilis (Teleostei, Clupeomorpha)

Philippine sardines are members of the commercially important Sardinella genus (Family Clupeidae). Sardines are mostly marine species with a very few exception like the Philippine freshwater sardine, Sardinella tawilis, of Lake Taal. This species is believed to have immigrated from Balayan Bay some 250 years ago. To determine the relationship of freshwater S. tawilis to the marine forms, 35 biometric features were investigated. The variables were subjected to univariate (mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variance) and multivariate analyses [Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis]. Results from univariate tests revealed that the number of ventral fin ray can discriminate Sardinella lemuru from the rest of the sardines. Multivariate PCA, on the other hand, showed discrete separation of the marine sardines. Sardinella tawilis, however, cannot be clearly separated from the marine species, Sardinella albella. The same clustering was recovered in HCA, thus providing evidence that S. albella is the closest marine relative of the freshwater S. tawilis. © 2009 Blackwell Verlag GmbH