Measuring Spatial Presence: Introducing and Validating the Pictorial Presence SAM

The aim of the present study was to develop a pictorial presence scale using selfassessment- manikins (SAM). The instrument assesses presence sub-dimensions (selflocation and possible actions) as well as presence determinants (attention allocation, spatial situation model, higher cognitive involvement, and suspension of disbelief). To qualitatively validate the scale, think-aloud protocols and interviews (n = 12) were conducted. The results reveal that the SAM items are quickly filled out as well as easily, intuitively, and unambiguously understood. Furthermore, the instrument’s validity and sensitivity was quantitatively examined in a two-factorial design (n = 317). Factors were medium (written story, audio book, video, and computer game) and distraction (non-distraction vs. distraction). Factor analyses reveal that the SAM presence dimensions and determinants closely correspond to those of the MEC Spatial Presence Questionnaire, which was used as a comparison measure. The findings of the qualitative and quantitative validation procedures show that the Pictorial Presence SAM successfully assesses spatial presence. In contrast to the verbal questionnaire data (MEC), the significant distraction effect suggests that the new scale is even more sensitive. This points out that the scale can be a useful alternative to existing verbal presence selfreport measures.

Riskmática: Una tecnología educativa desarrollada con Unity

Historically, teachers have always searched for a connection with their students to make education interesting and a vital experience. In the 19th century, pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi taught children how to sum using wood blocks. His successors have followed his legacy and today they use a wide variety of media, including board games, in order to reach out to their students. These methods are denominated educational technologies, which are defined as the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. With the advent of the information technologies, teachers have at their disposal new media with which they can increase the interest of their students. This technologic revolution is changing the present educational model. The objective of this dissertation is to develop an educational videogame in order to help students learn mathematics. To reach this goal, the videogame has been developed with the game engine Unity as the main tool. Additionally, agile software development methodologies as well as other software engineering techniques have also been used. The result is Riskmatica, an educational videogame based on geographical domination in which knowledge is the best weapon. The players must conquer enemy teritories answering correctly a mathecatical question. Moreover the videogame has the functionality required to configure a new game and input new questions. To conclude, this project has created an educational technology which greatly appeals to students and that can be used by the educators to improve their lessons in mathematics.---RESUMEN---A lo largo de la historia, los educadores siempre han buscado conectar con los alumnos para poder captar su interés y hacer que la educación se convierta en una experiencia vital. El pedagogo Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi conseguía esto en el siglo XIX, enseñando a niños a contar con bloques de madera. Sus sucesores han seguido su legado y hoy en día utilizan variedad de medios con los que motivar a sus alumnos, en algunos casos los juegos de mesa. Estos métodos son denominados tecnologías educativas, que se definen como los estudios y prácticas éticas que facilitan y mejoran la enseñanza, mediante la creación, el uso y el empleo de procesos y recursos tecnológicos. Con el advenimiento de las tecnologías de la información, los educadores tienen a su disposición un nuevo medio con el que llegar al alumnado. Esta revolución tecnológica está cambiando el modelo educativo actual. El objetivo de este proyecto es el de crear un videojuego educativo que ayude a los alumnos a estudiar matemáticas. Para lograrlo se ha utilizado el popular motor de videojuego Unity como herramienta principal. También se han empleado metodologías ágiles de desarrollo además de otras técnicas de ingeniería del software. El resultado es Riskmática, un videojuego educativo de dominación geográfica en el que el arma más eficaz es el conocimiento. Los jugadores deberán conquistar territorios a sus adversarios mediante la respuesta de preguntas de carácter matemático. Además el videojuego cuenta con la funcionalidad necesaria para configurar una partida e introducir nuevas preguntas. Como conlusión, este proyecto ha logrado crear una tecnología educativa muy atractiva para los alumnos con la que los profesores pueden mejorar la enseñanza de las matemáticas.

Educational Games for Learning Programming Languages

A concept of educational game for learning programming languages is presented. The idea of learning programming languages and improving programming skills through programming game characters’ behavior is described. The learning course description rules for using in games are suggested. The concept is implemented in a game for learning C# programming language. A common game architecture is modified for using in the educational game. The game engine is built on the base of the graphical engine Ogre3D and extended with game logic. The game has been developed as an industry level commercial product and is planned for sale to educational institutions.

Uma metodologia para geração otimizada de ambientes virtuais baseados em usinas hidrelétricas

Based on the possibility of real-time interaction with three-dimensional environments through an advanced interface, Virtual Reality consist in the main technology of this work, used in the design of virtual environments based on real Hydroelectric Plants. Previous to the process of deploying a Virtual Reality System for operation, three-dimensional modeling and interactive scenes settings are very importante steps. However, due to its magnitude and complexity, power plants virtual environments generation, currently, presents high computing cost. This work aims to present a methodology to optimize the production process of virtual environments associated with real hydroelectric power plants. In partnership with electric utility CEMIG, several HPPs were used in the scope of this work. During the modeling of each one of them, the techiniques within the methodologie were addressed. After the evaluation of the computional techniques presented here, it was possible to confirm a reduction in the time required to deliver each hydroelectrical complex. Thus, this work presents the current scenario about development of virtual hydroelectric power plants and discusses the proposed methodology that seeks to optimize this process in the electricity generation sector.

Embedding sustainability into the new computer science curriculum for English schools

The primary goals of this study are to: embed sustainable concepts of energy consumption into certain part of existing Computer Science curriculum for English schools; investigate how to motivate 7-to-11 years old kids to learn these concepts; promote responsive ICT (Information and Communications Technology) use by these kids in their daily life; raise their awareness of today’s ecological challenges. Sustainability-related ICT lessons developed aim to provoke computational thinking and creativity to foster understanding of environmental impact of ICT and positive environmental impact of small changes in user energy consumption behaviour. The importance of including sustainability into the Computer Science curriculum is due to the fact that ICT is both a solution and one of the causes of current world ecological problems. This research follows Agile software development methodology. In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, sustainability requirements, curriculum requirements and technical requirements are firstly analysed. Secondly, the web-based user interface is designed. In parallel, a set of three online lessons (video, slideshow and game) is created for the website GreenICTKids.com taking into account several green design patterns. Finally, the evaluation phase involves the collection of adults’ and kids’ feedback on the following: user interface; contents; user interaction; impacts on the kids’ sustainability awareness and on the kids’ behaviour with technologies. In conclusion, a list of research outcomes is as follows: 92% of the adults learnt more about energy consumption; 80% of the kids are motivated to learn about energy consumption and found the website easy to use; 100% of the kids understood the contents and liked website’s visual aspect; 100% of the kids will try to apply in their daily life what they learnt through the online lessons.

Project Flappy Crab : an edugame for music learning

This chapter discusses some possibilities of gamification and remixing processes for music education. It also analyzes the concepts of gamification, mashup/remix and presents its possible usage in education—music teaching—through the development of the project/educational game FLAPPY CRAB. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the concepts listed above, trying to consider them in the school context. After that, we will make the summary presentation of the music educational game FLAPPY CRAB, a clone of the GEARS Studios Flappy Bird, developed for mobile devices and other platforms with the UNITY 3D© game engine. In this chapter we’ll talk yet, albeit briefly, about the game engine used in the development of this educational application. This educational game aims to assess the possible impacts that its use has on learning and skill development related to auditory memory, qualitative discrimination of musical sound height (pitch—in the range of an octave with a central point in 440 Hz), visual identification of musical notation symbols and its relative organization according to the grammar rules of traditional music spelling. The game has been tested by a group of approximately 30 teenagers over a period of about 6 months, over which data was collected. In this chapter, we will present a review of the preliminary data collected to date.

Il Design dei Livelli nella produzione videoludica

Level Design, materia necessaria per la creazione dei livelli, degli ambienti e delle architetture presenti nei giochi digitali. Creare un ambiente di gioco ottimale sviluppando spazi efficaci che siano in grado di comunicare al giocatore per far sì che possa provare esperienze significanti. In questa tesi verrà argomentata la disciplina del Level Design e come essa si applica per creare dei livelli di gioco. Verrà spiegato cosa è il Level Design e quali sono i suoi elementi principali e come essi si legano con tutti gli altri elementi ludici.

A real case of a cognitive multiplayer game: design and development of the iOS client in Swift and its cloud architecture

as tecnologías emergentes como el cloud computing y los dispositivos móviles están creando una oportunidad sin precedentes para mejorar el sistema educativo, permitiendo tanto a los educadores personalizar y mejorar la experiencia de aprendizaje, como facilitar a los estudiantes que adquieran conocimientos sin importar dónde estén. Por otra parte, a través de técnicas de gamificacion será posible promover y motivar a los estudiantes a que aprendan materias arduas haciendo que la experiencia sea más motivadora. Los juegos móviles pueden ser el camino correcto para dar soporte a esta experiencia de aprendizaje mejorada. Este proyecto integra el diseño y desarrollo de una arquitectura en la nube altamente escalable y con alto rendimiento, así como el propio cliente de iOS, para dar soporte a una nueva version de Temporis, un juego móvil multijugador orientado a reordenar eventos históricos en una línea temporal (e.j. historia, arte, deportes, entretenimiento y literatura). Temporis actualmente está disponible en Google Play. Esta memoria describe el desarrollo de la nueva versión de Temporis (Temporis v.2.0) proporcionando detalles acerca de la mejora y adaptación basados en el Temporis original. En particular se describe el nuevo backend hecho en Go sobre Google App Engine creado para soportar miles de usuarios, asó como otras características por ejemplo como conseguir enviar noticaciones push desde la propia plataforma. Por último, el cliente de iOS en Temporis v.2.0 se ha desarrollado utilizando las últimas y más relevantes tecnologías, prestando especial atención a Swift (el lenguaje de programación nuevo de Apple, que es seguro y rápido), el Paradigma Funcional Reactivo (que ayuda a construir aplicaciones altamente interactivas además de a minimizar errores) y la arquitectura VIPER (una arquitectura que sigue los principios SOLID, se centra en la separación de asuntos y favorece la reutilización de código en otras plataformas). ABSTRACT Emerging technologies such as cloud computing and mobile devices are creating an unprecedented opportunity for enhancing the educational system, letting both educators customize and improve the learning experience, and students acquire knowledge regardless of where they are. Moreover, through gamification techniques it would be possible to encourage and motivate students to learn arduous subjects by making the experience more motivating. Mobile games can be a perfect vehicle to support this enhanced learning experience. This project integrates the design and development of a highly scalable and performant cloud architecture, as well as the iOS client that uses it, in order to provide support to a new version of Temporis, a mobile multiplayer game focused on ordering time-based (e.g. history, art, sports, entertainment and literature) in a timeline that currently is available on Google Play. This work describes the development of the new Temporis version (Temporis v.2.0), providing details about improvements and details on the adaptation of the original Temporis. In particular, the new Google App Engine backend is described, which was created to support thousand of users developed in Go language are provided, in addition to other features like how to achieve push notications in this platform. Finally, the mobile iOS client developed using the latest and more relevant technologies is explained paying special attention to Swift (Apple's new programming language, that is safe and fast), the Functional Reactive Paradigm (that helps building highly interactive apps while minimizing bugs) and the VIPER architecture (a SOLID architecture that enforces separation of concerns and makes it easy to reuse code for other platforms).

Studio e Sperimentazione di Algoritmi di Reinforcement Learning Applicati a Video Game

Nella prima parte del mio lavoro viene presentato uno studio di una prima soluzione "from scratch" sviluppata da Andrew Karpathy. Seguono due miei miglioramenti: il primo modificando direttamente il codice della precedente soluzione e introducendo, come obbiettivo aggiuntivo per la rete nelle prime fasi di gioco, l'intercettazione della pallina da parte della racchetta, migliorando l'addestramento iniziale; il secondo é una mia personale implementazione utilizzando algoritmi più complessi, che sono allo stato dell'arte su giochi dell'Atari, e che portano un addestramento molto più veloce della rete.

Adaptive Game Design Study of a fully adaptive framework

Adventure! The Paladin Order foi um projecto ambicioso que começou por ser desenvolvido como um video jogo completo. Tinha como objéctivo implementar uma ferramenta diferente que permitisse tornar o jogo completamente adaptativo às decisões do jogador tanto nas interacções e no diálogo com outras personagens, assim como no combate contra os variados inímigos do jogo. Devido à inexperiência do autor uma grande parte do tempo foi passado a estudar e a pesquisar várias possíveis soluções que permitissem criar um ambiente que fosse adaptativo de uma forma simples e interessante, não só para os programadores mas também para qualquer pessoa que fosse responsável por editar o diálogo e a história do jogo. Os resultados foram bastante interessantes, revelando um sistema que depende simultaneamente dos ficheiros de onde é retirado o diálogo, e de um sistema de personalidades que permite definir qual será o comportamento de qualquer objecto do jogo ou, pelo menos, como as outras personagens irão reagir. O produto final é uma ferramenta de bases sólidas que permite uma implementação relativamente simples de um sistema abrangente e adaptativo, com poucas falhas e apenas algumas questões de simplicidade de código.

“The impact of online ratings on video game sales”

Online third-party reviews have been grown over the last decade and they now play an important role as a tool for helping customers evaluate products and services that in many cases offer more than tangible features. This study intends to quantify the impact online ratings have over video game sales by conducting a linear regression analysis on 300 titles for the previous console generation (PlayStation® 3 and Xbox® 360) using a data from the video game industry to understand the existing influence on this particular market. The findings showed that these variables have a weak linear relationship thus suggesting that quality of a title explains little the commercial success of a video game and instead this should cover a wider range of factors. Afterwards, we compare results to previous ones and discuss the managerial implications for upcoming gaming generations.

TFC : disseny d'aplicacions per a iOS Viral Zombies TD

Joc d'estrategia per a iPhone desenvolupat amb xCode.

Proposal for the analysis of a video game, a film, and their relationship : Silent Hill as a subject of the horror genre

Aquest treball de recerca fa un estudi comparatiu del videojoc de terror amb el seu homòleg cinematogràfic. L’objectiu és arribar a saber si els dos mitjans de comunicació usen les mateixes tècniques per transmetre les seves històries i per crear suspens. Aquesta investigació és només una part d'un estudi més ampli amb el que es pretén tenir un coneixement més aprofundit de les emocions de la gent i les reaccions que els provoca un videojoc de terror en comparació amb la visualització de l'adaptació cinematogràfica del corresponent videojoc.

Pathological video game use among young Swiss men: the use of monothetic and polythetic formats to distinguish between pathological, excessive and normal gaming

There is no agreement about the distinction between pathological, excessive and normal gaming. The present study compared two classifications for defining pathological gaming: the polythetic format (gamers who met at least half of the criteria) and monothetic format (gamers who met all criteria). Associations with mental, health and social issues were examined to assess differences between subgroups of gamers. A representative sample of 5,663 young Swiss men filled in a questionnaire as part of the ongoing Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). Game use was assessed with the Game Addiction Scale. Mental, social and physical factors (depression, anxiety, aggressiveness, physical and mental health, social and health consequences), gambling and substance use (illicit drug use, alcohol dependence and problematic cannabis use) were also assessed. The results indicated that monothetic gamers shared problems with polythetic gamers, but were even more inclined to mental health issues (depression, anxiety, and aggressiveness) and were more vulnerable to other dependencies like substance use, alcohol dependence or gambling. A second analysis using Latent Class Analysis confirmed the distinction between monothetic and polythetic gamers. These findings support the use of a monothetic format to diagnose pathological gaming and to differentiate it from excessive gaming.

Completing the picture: the effects of video game practice on verbal and performance I.Q. scores in high functioning children

The strength and nature of the video game practice effect on tests of visual and perceptual skills were examined using high functioning Grades Four and Five students who had been tested with the WISC-R .for the purpose of gifted identification and placement. The control group, who did not own and .play video games on a sustained basis, and the experimental group, who did own a video game system and had some mastery of video games, including the -Nintendo game, "Tetris", were each composed of 18 juniorg:r;-ade students and were chosen from pre-existing conditions. The experimental group corresponded to the control group in terms of age, sex, and community. Data on the Verbal and Performance I.Q. Scores were· collected for both groups and the author was interested in the difference between the Verbal and Performance Scores within each group, anticipating a P > V outcome for the experimental group. The results showed a significant P > V difference in the experimental, video game playing group, as expected, but no significant difference between the Performance $cores of the control and experimental groups. The results, thus, indicated lower Verbal I.Q. Scores in the experimental group relat'ive to 'the control group.' The study conclu~ed that information about a sUbject's video game experience and "learhing style pref~rence is important for a clear interpretation of the Verbal and Performance I.Q. Scores of the WISC-R. Although the time spent on video game play may, 'indeed, increase P~rformance Scores relative to Verbal Scores for an individual, the possibilities exist that the time borrowed and spent away from language based activities may retard verbal growth and/or that the cognitive style associated with some Performance I.Q.subtests may have a negative effect on the approach to the tasks on the Verbal I.Q. Scale. The study also discussed the possibility that exposure to ,the video game experience, in pre-puberty, can provide spatial instruction which will result in improved spatial skills. strong spatial skills have been linked to improved performance and preference in mathematics, science, and engineering and it was suggested that appropriate video game play might be a way to involve girls more in the fields of mathematics and science.