“This beer is off!”:building a dialogue game for servitization

Purpose: Development and evaluation of a prototype dialogue game for servitization is reported. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports the design of the iServe game, from user centered design, through implementation using the Unity games engine to evaluation, a process which took 270 researcher hours. Findings: No relationship was found between either age or gaming experience and usability. Participants who identified themselves as non-experts in servitization recognized the potential of the game to teach servitization concepts to other novice learners. Originality/value: The potential of business games for education and executive development has been recognized but factors, including high development cost, inhibit their uptake. Games engines offer a potential solution

Developing a serious game for PSS

Purpose: This paper presents the system architecture of a serious game, which is going to be run in parallel to Rolls Royce tra ining on product-service systems (PSS). Design/methodology/approach: The original game is outlined, requirements for an onl ine version are defined, and the architecture is proposed. Findings: The games approach has proven its value in design for service tra ining but an online version is needed to improve the opportunit ies to deliver the game. Originality/value: Such a system presents opportunities for the acquisition and development of specific professional knowledge, skills, and competencie

An engine selection methodology for high fidelity serious games

Serious games represent the state-of-the-art in the convergence of electronic gaming technologies with instructional design principles and pedagogies. Whilst the selection criteria for entertainment game engines are often transparent, due to the range of available platforms and engines an emerging challenge is the choice of platform for serious games, whose selection often has substantially different objectives and technical requirements depending upon context and usage. Additionally, the convergence of training simulations with serious gaming, made possible by increasing hardware rendering capacity, is enabling the creation of high-fidelity serious games which challenge existing design and instructional approaches. This paper highlights some of the differences between the technical requisites of high-fidelity serious and leisure games, and proposes a selection methodology based upon these emergent characteristics. The case study of part of a high-fidelity model of Ancient Rome is used to compare aspects of the four different game engines according to elements defined in the proposed methodology

Touching artefacts in an ancient world on a browser-based platform

Title: Touching artefacts in an ancient world on a browser-based platform Article & version: Published version Original citation & hyperlink: Arnab, S., Petridis, P., Dunwell, I. and de Freitas, S. (2010). Touching artefacts in an ancient world on a browser-based platform. In Y. Xiao, T. Amon & R. Muffolett

Gamification:using gaming mechanics to promote a business

The use of digital games and gamification has demonstrable potential to improve many aspects of how businesses provide training to staff, operate, and communicate with consumers. However, a need still exists for the benefits and potential of adopting games and gamification be effectively communicated to decision-makers across sectors. This article provides a structured review of existing literature on the use of games in the business sector, seeking to consolidate findings to address research questions regarding their perception, proven efficacy, and identify key areas for future work. The findings consolidate evidence showing serious games can have a positive and valuable impact in multiple areas of a business, including training, decision-support, and consumer outreach. They also highlight the challenges and pitfalls of applying serious games and gamification principles within a business context, and discuss the implications of development and evaluation methodologies on the success of a game-based solution

Gamification for servitization

The study described in this paper has set out to explore gamification from a servitization perspective to understand the opportunities and research challenges. A systematic literature review has been conducted to capture key characteristics of differing forms of gamification processes in a servitization context. The findings of our study focus on two area: (1) structural, organization’s physical bricksand-mortar attribute and (2) infrastructural, policies and practices in how structural aspects of servitization are to be managed. Six key findings are presented and collectively these contribute to our understanding of the broader gamification technologies that can help to transform servitization. The contribution of our research is twofold. First it captures a set of theoretical framework for analysing gamification in servitization context. Second, it provide an in-depth roadmap in how gamification can be applied to target major challenges in servitization

Fostering science teachers' design for inquiry-based learning by using a serious game

There is wide consensus internationally amongst scientific communities that Inquiry-Based Learning can be employed to foster acquisition of clearly defined, 'certain' knowledge such as the conceptual foundations of a scientific discipline. Alternatively, it can be used to engage students with uncertainty, multiple perspectives and contestation through exploration of scientific problems. In order to enact inquiry-based learning effectively, science teachers need to be aware of how to design inquiry-based learning activities and the most effective ways of facilitating inquiry-based learning in the classroom. This paper, presents Sim AULA, a serious game for helping science teachers to create engaging activities for involving students in inquiry-based quests. The paper proposes a cyclical model comprising seven inquiry steps or phases and translates these steps into practical inquiry-based activities performed in the serious game. Sim AULA's overarching architecture is presented in the context of the in-game inquiry-based learning activities, which will be implemented and evaluated in a number of schools across Europe