Towards a socially adaptive digital playground

We are working towards a socially adaptive digital playground for children. To this end, we are looking into nonverbal synchrony and other social signals as a measure of social behaviour and into ways to alter game dynamics to trigger and inhibit certain social behaviours. Our first results indicate that we can indeed influence social behaviours in a digital playground by changing game dynamics. Furthermore, our first results show that we will be able to sense some of these social behaviours using only computer vision techniques. I propose an iterative method for working towards a socially adaptive digital playground

Meaning in life as a source of entertainment

In this paper we mean to introduce into the field of entertainment computing an overview of insights concerning fundamental human needs. Researchers such as Hassenzahl and Desmet, discuss design approaches based on psychological insights from various and varied sources. We collect these and expand them with a focus on meaning in life as seen in humanistic philosophy. We summarise the various roles that these insights can play in our research on new technology, and illustrate the discussion with examples from the field of computer entertainment

From Metrics to Experiences: Investigating How Sport Data Shapes the Social Context, Self-Determination and Motivation of Athletes

In this paper, we use Self-Determination Theory and its related mini-theories to investigate the influence of sport data on sports experience and motivation in sports. First, we reflect on the use of technology in sports and show how sport data thwarts and promotes motivation in sports. Second, we argue that Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has been too narrowly focused on the ‘performance’ aspect of sport data. We argue for a more liberal take on sport data, showing that it also relates to motivation in sports through basic human needs. By bridging SportsHCI studies with the insights we gain from Self-Determination Theory, we uncover the interwoven relations between the objective measures that sports technology provides and their motivational aspects for athletes. Our paper ends with five emerging points for attention for SportsHCI that we think can pave the way towards a more holistic approach to considering sport data for motivation in sports