An Application of Game Technology to Virtual University Campus Touring and Interior Navigation

Many applications optimistically claim the title of virtual campus tour nowadays with a small minority deserving it. Throughout this paper various virtual campus tours are explored and analysed along with the problems of interior navigation. The technologies that support development of virtual worlds for computer games are studied and a solution to interior navigation and virtual campus tour derived from this technology is proposed

Passive Indoor Positioning System (PIPS) Using Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology

Travel can be an enjoyable experience but it can also be stressful when one is unable to get to the destination in timely manner. Satellite navigation systems (satnav) such as the ubiquitous Global Positioning System (GPS) provide an aid to locating unfamiliar places without hassle. However, the effectiveness of satnav stops at the doorstep of the building due to its requirement for line of sight with orbiting satellites. Within a large complex building, navigation typically relies on building signage, information from kiosks and getting assistance from information desks. The advancement of mobile devices and wireless technology offer an interesting proposition for the development of indoor positioning systems. In this paper, we propose a passive indoor positioning system to provide navigational aid and discuss findings from our pilot experiment using NFC technology

A Platform Independent Game Technology Model for Model Driven Serious Games Development

Game‑based learning (GBL) combines pedagogy and interactive entertainment to create a virtual learning environment in an effort to motivate and regain the interest of a new generation of ‘digital native’ learners. However, this approach is impeded by the limited availability of suitable ‘serious’ games and high‑level design tools to enable domain experts to develop or customise serious games. Model Driven Engineering (MDE) goes some way to provide the techniques required to generate a wide variety of interoperable serious games software solutions whilst encapsulating and shielding the technicality of the full software development process. In this paper, we present our Game Technology Model (GTM) which models serious game software in a manner independent of any hardware or operating platform specifications for use in our Model Driven Serious Game Development Framework

A Model-Driven Framework to Support Games Development: An Application to Serious Games

Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is a software development approach which focuses on the creation of models to represent a domain with the aim of automatically generating software artefact using a set of software tools. This approach enables practitioners to produce a variation of software in by reusing the concepts in the domain model without worrying about the technical intricacies of software development. Therefore, this approach can help to increases productivity and it makes software design easier for the practitioners. The application of this approach into games development domain presents an interesting proposition and could help to simplify production of computer games.Computer games are interactive entertainment software designed and developed to engage users to participate in goal-directed play. Many find computer gaming to be persuasive and engaging, and they believe that through the application of game design and game technology in non-entertainment domains can create a positive impact. Computer games designed primarily for non-entertainment purpose are generally known as serious games. The development of games software, in no relation to the intended purpose of it, is technically complex and it requires specialist skills and knowledge. This is the major barrier that hinders domain experts who intend to apply computer gaming into their respective domains. Much research is already underway to address this challenge, whereby many of which have chosen to use readily available commercial-off-the-shelf games while others have attempted to develop serious games in-house or collaboratively with industry expertise. However, these approaches present issues including appropriateness of the serious game content and its activities, reliability of serious games developed and the financial cost involved. The MDE approach promises new hopes to the domain experts, especially to those with little or no technical knowledge who intend produce their own computer games. Using this approach, the technical aspects of games development can be hidden from the domain experts through the automated generation of software artefact. This simplifies the production of computer games and could provide the necessary support to help non-technical domain experts to realise their vision on serious gaming.This thesis investigates the development of a model-driven approach and technologies to aid non-technical domain experts in computer games production. It presents a novel model-driven games development framework designed to aid non-technical domain experts in producing computer games. A prototype based on the model-driven games development framework has been implemented to demonstrate the applicability of this solution. The framework has been validated through the prototypical implementations and these have been evaluated. A case study has been conducted to present a use-case scenario and to examine if this approach can help non-technical domain experts in producing computer games and also to find out if it would lower the barrier towards adoption of game-based learning as an alternative teaching and learning approach.The work in this thesis contributes to the area of software engineering in games. The contributions made in this research includes (1) a blueprint for model-driven engineering for games development, (2) a reusable formalised approach to document computer game design and (3) a model of game software that is independent of implementation platform

Multiple Density Maps Information Fusion for Effectively Assessing Intensity Pattern of Lifelogging Physical Activity

Physical activity (PA) measurement is a crucial task in healthcare technology aimed at monitoring the progression and treatment of many chronic diseases. Traditional lifelogging PA measures require relatively high cost and can only be conducted in controlled or semi-controlled environments, though they exhibit remarkable precision of PA monitoring outcomes. Recent advancement of commercial wearable devices and smartphones for recording one’s lifelogging PA has popularized data capture in uncontrolled environments. However, due to diverse life patterns and heterogeneity of connected devices as well as the PA recognition accuracy, lifelogging PA data measured by wearable devices and mobile phones contains much uncertainty thereby limiting their adoption for healthcare studies. To improve the feasibility of PA tracking datasets from commercial wearable/mobile devices, this paper proposes a lifelogging PA intensity pattern decision making approach for lifelong PA measures. The method is to firstly remove some irregular uncertainties (IU) via an Ellipse fitting model, and then construct a series of monthly based hour-day density map images for representing PA intensity patterns with regular uncertainties (RU) on each month. Finally it explores Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence fusing information from these density map images for generating a decision making model of a final personal lifelogging PA intensity pattern. The approach has significantly reduced the uncertainties and incompleteness of datasets from third party devices. Two case studies on a mobile personalized healthcare platform MHA [1] connecting the mobile app Moves are carried out. The results indicate that the proposed approach can improve effectiveness of PA tracking devices or apps for various types of people who frequently use them as a healthcare indicator

VICTour 1.1: Introducing virtual learning environments and gamification

Game engines are one of the few solutions to providing a true virtual campus tour experience. In this paper, we explore the evolution of the virtual campus tour and thereby the current and future work of game technology within virtual touring. An investigation is conducted into the application of objective-based gamification and its ability to encourage exploration of a virtual world. We also examine virtual campus tours as an alternate form of taught content via virtual learning environments (VLEs). An investigation into the use of head mounted displays to improve immersion is also explored

Development of A “PharmaComm” Serious Game for Teaching Pharmacist Communication and Drug Administration in a Virtual Hospital Setting

Practical experience is crucial in pharmacy education, but it can be difficult to provide pharmacy students with a sufficient level of experience during their education due to a number of challenges. Video games might provide a platform where students can gain positive learning experience in a virtual environment. Serious games have been used successfully across many industries, which suggest that a well-designed serious game can have positive learning outcomes. Increased engagement and motivation are mentioned by experts as some of the main benefits of serious games. Being able to practise skills before utilising them in real-world scenarios is another advantage identified. In this paper, we present a virtual patient simulator which is designed specifically teaching pharmacy students patient communication and administration of drugs. A pilot study and an expert review were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the application and its findings are presented

Using Serious Games to Create Awareness on Visual Impairments

Visual impairments define a wide spectrum of disabilities that vary in severity, from the need to wear glasses, to permanent loss of vision or blindness. This paper discusses the process undertaken in creating two simulators, one which emulates partially-sighted visual impairment and another focused on full -blindness. In order to create the simulators, extensive research was conducted surrounding the effects of partially-sightedness and blindness, highlighting existing software and games that promote awareness for visual impairments. This paper underlines the necessity of raising awareness for visual impairments and the effectiveness of applying serious games for this very goal. After developing the simulators, experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of it. Findings from the experiments were analysed and documented

State-of-the-Art Model Driven Game Development: A Survey of Technological Solutions for Game-Based Learning

Game-based learning harnesses the advantages of computer games technology to create a fun, motivating and interactive virtual learning environment that promotes problem-based experiential learning. Such an approach is advocated by many commentators to provide an enhanced learning experience than those based on traditional didactic methods. However, the adoption of such a seductive learning method engenders a range of technical, educational and pedagogical challenges, including: (i) how to enable domain experts - with little computer games development skills – to plan, develop and update their teaching material without going through endless and laborious iterative cycles of software and content development and/or adaptation; (ii) how to choose the right mix of entertainment and game playing to deliver the required educational and pedagogical lesson/teaching material; and (iii) how to reuse existing games software frameworks and associated editing environments for game-based learning. Much research is already underway at addressing the stated challenges; however, these approaches do not address the key challenge of facilitating the planning and development of teaching material with the right mix of pedagogical elements, educational components and fun. Thus, this study aims to investigate the use of model-driven software engineering approaches to facilitate non-technical domain experts (teachers) to plan, develop and maintain game-based learning resources regardless of the intricacies of the game engine/environment (platform) used. This article investigates the state-of-the-art in model-driven game development to provide a summary of developments in game design languages, game software modelling languages, game models, game software models, model-driven game frameworks, game software frameworks, model-driven engineering tools and assistive user interfaces. The findings from this survey will prove a useful guide for future development of high-level educational game creation tools for game-based learning