How to effectively design and create a concept mobile application to aid in the management of type 1 diabetes in adolescents

Diabetes is one of the eight most prevalent chronic health conditions in the World; therefore there is a wide range of diabetes-related mobile applications available to the public to aid in glycaemic control and self-management. Statistically, adherence to medication is extremely low in adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM), therefore it is crucial that adolescents adhere to their medication from a young age and adopt good medication regimes. This paper focuses on the research and design of an interactive and educational concept mobile application aimed at adolescents, aged 11 to 16 years old, to aid in their understanding of T1DM. As visual elements are an essential part to the design of a mobile application, this research outlines how the visual components of the application were designed specifically for the target audience of adolescents with T1DM

Merging the virtual and the real: A collaborative cross-reality game

In this paper, we present a collaborative cross-reality game for two players, Lab2, which blends tangible board game and immersive virtual reality playing spaces in a gameplay that aims to promote and train collaborative behaviour. As collaborative learning has been stressed as an effective teaching method for many years, Lab2 could assist learners in exploring and further developing their collaborative skills in a playful manner. One player controls a physical game board showing a moveable maze of “pathway” tiles, while the second uses a spatially tracked HMD to find himself inside a virtual-reality version of the game-board’s maze. The goal of the game is to collect a set of tokens hidden inside the maze. Reaching these tokens requires the players to collaborate via their complementary roles. We will first outline the game design concept and then detail the user-testing based evaluation of our game prototype

The Impacts of Design Elements in Interactive Storytelling in VR on Emotion, Mood, and Self-reflection

Storytelling entertains, educates, and inspires people of all ages and a compelling story has the power to motivate, elicit emotions, behavioural change, and inspire self-reflection. Interactive Digital Narratives (IDN) offer, arguably, a greater potential for impact on their audience due to the participative nature of interaction whilst storytelling in Virtual Reality (VR), benefits from high levels of immersion. This work focuses on the design and development of compelling narrative elements towards a non-narrated and unguided VR experience aimed at portraying and evoking emotions, moods, and self-reflection. We explore how the combined elements of light, colour, shape and music can play a role in creating compelling stories and influence users within an immersive VR experience. Finally, this article presents an extensive study of relevant literature, the design of an impactful immersive VR narrative experience and an exploratory practice-based study

Rheumatosphere AR: Public Engagement and Education with Interactive Print Posters

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects around 1% of the UK population, places a heavy burden on society and has severe consequences for the individuals affected. Early diagnosis and treatment significantly increase the chance of long-term sustained remission. Raising awareness of RA amongst the general public is important to help decrease the time of diagnosis of the disease. In this poster and demo we explore the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in the creation of interactive print posters for public engagement. Previous studies have shown that AR can be effective in a teaching and learning context, where the coexistence of real and virtual objects aids learners in understanding abstract ideas and complicated spatial relationships. It has also been suggested that it raises motivation in users through interactivity and novelty. We explore the use of AR in public engagement, and outline the design, devel-opment and evaluation of an engagement experience utilising AR. For this, a set of informative printed posters was produced and these enhanced by an accompa-nying interactive AR application. Evaluation involved participants at a science outreach event at the Glasgow Science Centre. The poster includes a demo of the public engagement application: Rheumatosphere AR

Metadata matters: access to image data in the real world

Data sharing is important in the biological sciences to prevent duplication of effort, to promote scientific integrity, and to facilitate and disseminate scientific discovery. Sharing requires centralized repositories, and submission to and utility of these resources require common data formats. This is particularly challenging for multidimensional microscopy image data, which are acquired from a variety of platforms with a myriad of proprietary file formats (PFFs). In this paper, we describe an open standard format that we have developed for microscopy image data. We call on the community to use open image data standards and to insist that all imaging platforms support these file formats. This will build the foundation for an open image data repository

Adopting Game Technology for Heritage Information Modelling

Contemporary Building Information Modelling (BIM) has had a huge impact on the design, construction and management of modern buildings – enabling improvements across a wide range of areas, with information on item costs, materials, vendors and a whole host of other details accessible directly within a 3D model of a building. BIM principles may also offer advantages for the management of heritage sites, but using existing BIM solutions may not be straight-forward. A purpose-built alternative, the Heritage Information Model (HIM), built using a current game-engine, is detailed and discussed here

Collect the Bones, Avoid the Cones: A game-based app for public engagement

Game-based applications (apps) and serious games enable educationalists to teach complex life sciences topics. Gamification principles (i.e. challenges, problem solving, critical thinking) improve learners’ motivation and can also help science communicators discuss important scientific subjects and their real-world context in an effective, enjoyable manner. The aim of this study was to design, develop and evaluate a science communication game-based app, entitled Collect the Bones, Avoid the Cones, on human skull anatomy for use in public engagement activities with younger audiences. Specifically, the app contextualised three-dimensional (3D) skull anatomy within a narrative about cycling and helmet safety. The app was tested at the Glasgow Science Centre, with ethical approval from the Glasgow School of Art, to assess its potential pedagogical value, in terms of pre- and post-app knowledge and confidence, and general user evaluation. In total, 50 participants were recruited (mean age 15.6 ± 1.647, range 7–64) with 62% of participants aged 7–12. Usability and educational value were rated highly with 70% of participants agreeing they could use the app without any external instructions and 90% agreeing they understand the anatomy of the skull better after app use. The enjoyability of the game was also positively perceived with 94% of participants agreeing they enjoyed the game. Although there was no statistical significance in pre- and post-app knowledge scores, there was a statistically significant increase in players’ confidence relating to skull anatomy (pre-app: 3.00 ± 1.265, post-app: 4.00 ± 1.00, Z = −5.111, p < 0.001). These results provide promising insight into the potential of game-based apps for public engagement in anatomical sciences. Future research on how the app influences attitudes towards helmet use in different demographic groups would be valuable in identifying its full pedagogical potential

How to Effectively Design a Concept Mobile Application to Aid in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Adolescents

With diabetes being one of the eight most prevalent chronic health conditions in the World, there is a wide range of diabetes-related mobile applications available to the public to aid in glycaemic control and self-management. Statistically adherence to medication is extremely low in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus, therefore it is crucial that adolescents adhere to their medication from a young age and adopt good medication regimens. This presentation focuses on the research and design of an interactive and educational concept mobile application aimed at adolescents, aged 11 to 16 years old, to aid in their understanding of Type 1 diabetes mellitus. As the visual elements are an essential part to the design of a mobile application, this research will outline how the visual components of the application were designed specifically for the target audience of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus

How to Effectively Design a Concept Mobile Application to Aid in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Adolescents

With diabetes being one of the eight most prevalent chronic health conditions in the World, there is a wide range of diabetes-related mobile applications available to the public to aid in glycaemic control and self-management. Statistically adherence to medication is extremely low in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus, therefore it is crucial that adolescents adhere to their medication from a young age and adopt good medication regimens. This presentation focuses on the research and design of an interactive and educational concept mobile application aimed at adolescents, aged 11 to 16 years old, to aid in their understanding of Type 1 diabetes mellitus. As the visual elements are an essential part to the design of a mobile application, this research will outline how the visual components of the application were designed specifically for the target audience of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus