Games 4 VRains: Affective Gaming for Working Memory Training in Virtual Reality

The explosion of Virtual Reality (VR) in the last few years, thanks to the introduction of affordable Head-Mounted Displays (HMD), has increased the interest in this technology for research. One of the main research areas using VR is the field of cognitive and physical rehabilitation or training. Although it is in early stages, many researchers have shown the positive effects of the higher levels of immersion, often reported in VR, on cognitive skills. Video games have also been used for cognitive training due to their capacity to engage and motivate players. Recent findings have demonstrated that by adapting the game to the player’s performance, real cognitive benefits can be achieved as the adaptation offers a personalised cognitive training program. However, this adaptation normally considers just performance metrics and ignores other crucial aspects like the player’s affective states or experience. Arousal and valence have generally been shown to enhance the subjects’ cognitive skills and thus should also be considered when adapting a game for cognitive training. Following these findings, this thesis investigates the effects of affect and performance-based adaptation of a VR video game on player’s working memory (WM) performance. An initial pilot study explores suitable ways of measuring player’s arousal and valence levels through physiological and behavioural cues. In a second study, the effects of immersion, arousal and valence on player’s WM performance in Desktop and VR gaming are examined. The results of this study show that players in an optimal affective state can significantly improve their WM performance, supporting the incorporation of affective metrics in the adaptation engine. Thus, an adaptation engine was developed, implemented and tested to automatically adjust the game’s difficulty level depending on the player’s performance and the detected affective state. Two machine learning algorithms in the adaptation engine recognise and classify player’s arousal and valence levels using physiological and behavioural features for adaptive decision making. Across the three studies presented, this thesis makes the following novel contributions. It shows that, i) VR is a suitable medium for cognitive training since the elicited high levels of immersion have a positive effect on players’ WM performance, ii) positive affective states help subjects to achieve a better WM performance, and ii) difficulty adaptation is more beneficial for subjects with low WM capacity. During this process, it also provides a new methodology for affect recognition in VR gaming and a novel adaptation engine compounded by affect and performance metrics. Therefore, this work proposes that gamebased cognitive training would be improved by VR, especially by the use of affective and performance metrics for dynamic adaption, resulting in a highly personalised and more effective training experience.This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the Doctoral Training Centre in Media and Arts Technology at Queen Mary University of London (ref: EP/G03723X/1)

Effects of Valence and Arousal on Working Memory Performance in Virtual Reality Gaming

The role of affective states in cognitive performance has long been an area of interest in cognitive science. Recent research in game-based cognitive training suggest that cognitive games should incorporate real-time adaptive mechanisms. These adaptive mechanisms would change the game’s difficulty according to the player’s performance in order to provide appropriate challenges and thus, achieve a real cognitive improvement. However, these mechanisms currently ignore the effects of valence and arousal on the player’s cognitive skills. In this paper we investigate how working memory (WM) performance is affected when playing a VR game, and the effects of valence and arousal in this context. To this aim, a custom video game was created for Desktop and VR. Three difficulty levels were designed to evoke different levels of arousal while maintaining the same memory load for each difficulty level. We found an improvement in WM performance when playing in VR compared to Desktop. This effect was particularly pronounced in those with a low WM capacity. Significantly higher levels of valence and arousal were self-reported when playing in VR.We explore the impact that reported affective states could have in the player’s WM performance. We suggest that high levels of arousal and positive valence can lead players to a flow state [1] that may have a positive impact on the player’s WM performance.This work is supported by Queen Mary University of London and EPSRC Media and Arts Technology Doctoral Training Centre (EP/G03723X/1)

The relationship between physical and wellness measures and injury in amateur rugby union players

peer-reviewedObjectives To investigate factors associated with injury in amateur male and female rugby union players. Design A prospective cohort study. Setting Amateur rugby clubs in Ireland. Participants Male (n = 113) and female (n = 24) amateur rugby union players from 5 of the top 58 amateur clubs in Ireland. Main outcome measures Pre-season testing included physical tests assessing hamstring flexibility, dorsiflexion range of movement, adductor muscle strength and foot position. Wellness questionnaires assessed sleep quality (PSQI), coping skills (ACSI-28) and support levels (PASS-Q). Players were monitored throughout the season for injury. Results The time-loss match injury incidence rate was 48.2/1000 player hours for males and 45.2/1000 player hours for females. Two risk profiles emerged involving; ‘age + navicular drop + training pitch surface’ (53%) and ‘age + navicular drop + groin strength’ (16%). An inverse relationship between groin strength and groin injury was found for the ‘backs’ players (−0.307, p < 0.05). Using the PSQI, 61% of players had poor sleep quality, however no relationship between the wellness questionnaires and injury was found. Conclusion Two injury risk profiles emerged, associated with subsequent injury occurrence. Using these risk profiles, individualized prevention strategies may be designed regarding deficits in groin muscle strength and identifying foot alignment.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

A Glimpse Into the Lives of Transferring Private School Students to a State College

Private schools ensure students' future with rigorous academic curricula that incorporate durable skills like pro-activeness, critical thinking, and collaboration. However, due to financial constraints, learners are left with no option but to enroll in a tertiary school that offers free of charge. Hence, this paper aims to inquire into the lives of transferring students from a private school to a state college. The researcher utilized the purposive sampling technique to determine the five participants of the study who were selected using inclusion criteria. Through qualitative research design, the data were gathered from the participants using an in-depth interview. Data were analyzed using a recursive textual analysis aided by Litchman's 3 C's-coding, categorizing, and conceptualizing. The findings reveal that participants shared usual experiences and observations in a state college. Notwithstanding the hardships to accomplish the desired purpose, the students remained focused and motivated. Thus, state college is a conducive avenue for a determined student to earn a degree and become successful in their chosen field

Multidimensional Wellness Promotion in the Health and Fitness Industry

Current trends in the United States indicate an increase in sedentary behaviors, obesity, stress and poor diet, contributing to heightened rates of chronic illness and mortality. These trends illustrate a need for prioritizing prevention and wellness promotion, and conceptualizing health as a multidimensional construct. The exercise and fitness industry is uniquely positioned to support individuals in establishing healthy lifestyle trends that address multiple domains of wellness. This research study utilized health and fitness professional survey data to assess relationships between the frequency of addressing each of the five primary domains of wellness (physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual), and a number of demographic variables. Relationships between the frequency of addressing domains of wellness and all demographic variables (e.g. physical wellness by industry role) were examined using Pearson Chi Square Tests of Independence. Results indicate differences in the frequency that unique dimensions of wellness were addressed with clients, as well as differences based on industry role and gender. Implications are discussed, including challenges associated with a consensus organizational definition of wellness, and variability in training and education requirements of fitness professionals, that may impact the promotion of wellness domains beyond the traditional physical focus

Towards Designing Games for Experimental Protocols Investigating Human-Based Phenomena

Over the past few years scientific research has opened up to the idea of using digital games for human-based studies. Fields such as Neuroscience, Medical and Affective Computing are currently using games to study human-based phenomena. Even though a vast amount of work exists within the field, rarely is the subject of designing such games ever touched upon. In fact a common problem within the field is that the games themselves are often an afterthought, where certain gameplay limitations are never truly acknowledged and tend to be mostly ignored. Thus, this paper intends to provide some game design guidelines to the most common problems found in literature from work specifically using games for human physiological data-collection purposes. Furthermore, a brief description of the most popular physiological recording methods: Skin Conductance (SC), Heart-Rate Variability (HRV), Electromyogram (EMG), Electroencephalogram (EEG) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); are provided as the game-play “limitations” of using such devices are an important factor to take into consideration in the game design process. As such, the objective of this paper is to provide awareness of specific game design limitations found in literature and analyse them from a game design perspective

Facial Electromyography-based Adaptive Virtual Reality Gaming for Cognitive Training.

Cognitive training has shown promising results for delivering improvements in human cognition related to attention, problem solving, reading comprehension and information retrieval. However, two frequently cited problems in cognitive training literature are a lack of user engagement with the training programme, and a failure of developed skills to generalise to daily life. This paper introduces a new cognitive training (CT) paradigm designed to address these two limitations by combining the benefits of gamification, virtual reality (VR), and affective adaptation in the development of an engaging, ecologically valid, CT task. Additionally, it incorporates facial electromyography (EMG) as a means of determining user affect while engaged in the CT task. This information is then utilised to dynamically adjust the game’s difficulty in real-time as users play, with the aim of leading them into a state of flow. Affect recognition rates of 64.1% and 76.2%, for valence and arousal respectively, were achieved by classifying a DWT-Haar approximation of the input signal using kNN. The affect-aware VR cognitive training intervention was then evaluated with a control group of older adults. The results obtained substantiate the notion that adaptation techniques can lead to greater feelings of competence and a more appropriate challenge of the user’s skills

Inside Advertising:The Role of Presence in the Processing of Branded VR Content

Virtual reality (VR) has become a new playground for brands and advertisers. However, empirical evidence for the effectiveness of VR branded content is still scarce. The aim of this study is therefore to examine the effectiveness of branded content in virtual space and the role of presence in the processing of brand information when playing a branded VR game. An experiment (N = 81) was conducted (using HTC Vive hardware) and showed that playing branded VR games can improve (implicit) brand memory. Moreover, the study showed that the increase in immersion experienced from playing a branded VR game strengthens players’ brand memory