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

Game engines selection framework for high-fidelity serious applications

Serious games represent the state-of-the-art in the convergence of electronic gaming technologies with instructional design principles and pedagogies. Despite the value of high-fidelity content in engaging learners and providing realistic training environments, building games which deliver high levels of visual and functional realism is a complex, time consuming and expensive process. Therefore, commercial game engines, which provide a development environment and resources to more rapidly create high-fidelity virtual worlds, are increasingly used for serious as well as for entertainment applications. Towards this intention, the authors propose a new framework for the selection of game engines for serious applications and sets out five elements for analysis of engines in order to create a benchmarking approach to the validation of game engine selection. Selection criteria for game engines and the choice of platform for Serious Games are substantially different from entertainment games, as Serious Games have very different objectives, emphases and technical requirements. In particular, the convergence of training simulators with serious games, made possible by increasing hardware rendering capacity is enabling the creation of high-fidelity serious games, which challenge existing instructional approaches. This paper overviews several game engines that are suitable for high-fidelity serious games, using the proposed framework

VIOLA: concept of a new cognitive framework to enhance the capabilities of interactive service robots using virtual worlds

This paper proposes formative plans for the concept of a framework called VIOLA (Virbots for Independent Online Living Applications) with the potential to integrate an artificial cognitive system (ACS) with real and virtual worlds. The aim is to endow a robot with advanced perception, action and social interaction capabilities, achieved through translating learning and social interaction techniques currently utilised only in virtual worlds, to real world systems. The framework would aspire to enhance human-robotic interaction through the application of accelerated virtual learning outcomes to real-world social interactions and scenarios. A home-based implementation of this framework may demonstrate the capabilities of the concept to illustrate a socially aware cognitive system simultaneously driving and learning from multiple virtual robots (Virbots), and robots, on both functional and social levels

Levels of interaction: a user-guided experience in large-scale virtual environments

This paper investigates a range of challenges faced in the design of a serious game, teaching history to a player immersed in an 'open' virtual environment. In the context of this paper, such an environment is described as an exploratory, expansive virtual world within which a user may interact in a non-linear, situated fashion with both the environment and virtual characters. The main contribution of this paper consists in the introduction of the levels of interaction (LoI), a novel framework designed to assist in the creation of interactions between the player and characters. The LoI approach also addresses the necessity for balancing computational efficiency with the need to provide believable and interactive virtual characters, by allowing varying degrees of animation, display and, ultimately, interaction detail. This paper demonstrates the challenges faced when implementing such a technique, as well as the potential benefits it brings

Repurposing serious games in health care education

Serious games are one of the most content-rich forms of educational media, often combining high fidelity visual and audio content, novel interaction paradigms, and diverse pedagogic approaches. This article describes exploratory work towards identifying the key issues faced when repurposing serious games in order to enable their use and reuse in the same or different educational contexts. To address these issues, we propose a theoretical framework for the repurposing of serious games in medical education and in education in general. Two case studies based on the Climate Health Impact serious game are presented. These case studies demonstrate the ability to repurpose a serious game into new learning objects, covering two different paradigms of content repurposing - language and pedagogy

The Cortexionist architecture: behavioural intelligence of artificial creatures

Traditionally, producing intelligent behaviours for artificial creatures involves modelling their cognitive abilities. This approach raises two problems. On the one hand, defining manually the agent's knowledge is a heavy and error-prone task that implies the intervention of the animator. On the other hand, the relationship between cognition and intelligence has not been theoretically nor experimentally proven so far. The ecological approaches provide a solution for these problems, by exploring the links between the creature, its body and its environment. Using an artificial life approach, we propose an original model of memory based on the synthesis of several neuroscience theories. The Cortexionist controller integrates cortex-like structure into a connectionist architecture in order to enhance the agent's adaptation in a dynamic environment, ultimately leading to the emergence of intelligent behaviour. Initial experiments presented in this paper prove the validity of the model

Levels of Interaction (LoI): A model for scaffolding learner engagement in an immersive environment

In this paper we present a theoretical framework describing an original method for the design of intelligent tutoring environments, building upon the notion of shared attention. This framework is defined as the Levels of Interaction (LoI) approach. It is applicable to applications where the learner/player is immersed in a 3D virtual environment, interacting and exchanging knowledge with an adaptive crowd of conversational agents

Hybridization of automation practical courses

Part of special issue : 13th IFAC Symposium on Advances in Control Education ACE 2022: Hamburg, Germany, July 24 – 27, 2022Edited by Jose Luis GuzmanInternational audienceSince 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has led universities around the world to hybridize courses (i.e., replacement of classroom time by online activities), most often as a matter of urgency. The difficulty of hybridization depends on the kind of course (lectures, tutorials, practical works) and the type of course (mathematics, chemistry, engineering, informatics…). ET-LIOS is a 2 year project started in November 2020, led by the GIS S.mart (scientific interest French grouping for Industry 4.0) and 14 French universities. The objective is to propose solutions and resources to hybridize higher education courses dedicated to the Industry of the Future. In this paper, firstly, we present the problems to be solved to hybridize practical works. One of the challenges is to carry out solutions which can be used easily and adapted by all partners of the ET-LIOS. Secondly, for combinatorial logic practical work, we propose to use simulation softwares (HOME I/O and CONNECT I/O) installed on the students' computer, conjointly with customizable SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) packages which can be integrated in existing learning platforms of course management (LMS) like Moodle. This SCORM package enables students to test and to get feedback of their proposed solutions. The approach has been tested with Bachelor students in a combinatorial logic practical work. First results are very encouraging

Improving mechanical engineering vocabulary through the use of a game

In the present paper, we shall firstly show how a learning game to teach basic technical vocabulary can help players to improve their language skills. The benefits this new tool can have on teaching methods and on motivation will then be examined