Mystery at the library : encouraging library exploration using a pervasive mobile game

This paper presents Secret SLQ, a pervasive mobile game that aims to encourage eight to fourteen year olds to engage with the State Library of Queensland. The game sets out to encourage people to visit and explore the library, as well as educate a generation of young people and parents who may visit the library but have no idea of the treasures that it holds. The research explores how smartphone technology can be used to deliver an engaging and educational experience. The game aims to provide a fun and interactive way to guide participants through a multi-leveled library building, to search for unique QR codes to unlock clues, answer quiz questions and progress further up a leaderboard. This paper outlines the design and initial deployment of the game, reporting on results from a usability study and discussing initial observations made by librarians. Findings indicate that the mobile platform is suitable for delivering such experiences but consideration is needed when embedding games in such large environments so as not to confuse players as they play.

Hybrid game evolutionary algorithm for mission path planning of aerial survey tasks

The aim of this paper is to implement a Game-Theory based offline mission path planner for aerial inspection tasks of large linear infrastructures. Like most real-world optimisation problems, mission path planning involves a number of objectives which ideally should be minimised simultaneously. The goal of this work is then to develop a Multi-Objective (MO) optimisation tool able to provide a set of optimal solutions for the inspection task, given the environment data, the mission requirements and the definition of the objectives to minimise. Results indicate the robustness and capability of the method to find the trade-off between the Pareto-optimal solutions.

From entrepreneur to philanthropist : the “second half of the game”

This paper uses interviews with wealthy Australians to examine the progression from entrepreneurship to philanthropy in an Australian context. Understanding the characteristics, behaviours and motivations of this group of entrepreneurs turned philanthropists strengthens the links identified in international research between the entrepreneurship and philanthropic sectors. Three major themes emerging from the qualitative data are explored: first, the tipping points that move individuals (and their partners/families) between the two spheres of activity; and second, the strong motivations for giving that see entrepreneurs identified internationally as more generous than high net worth individuals whose wealth derives from other sources. The third major theme is the modes of giving that distinguish those with an entrepreneurship background from other philanthropists. The unique characteristics of a smaller sub-set of ultra high net worth donors are also explored, and areas for future study are highlighted.

The sixth 48 hour game making challenge (2012)

Game jams provide design researchers with extraordinary opportunity to watch creative teams in action and recent years have seen a number of projects which seek to illuminate the design process as seen in these events. For example, Gaydos, Harris and Martinez discuss the opportunity of the jam to expose students to principles of design process and design spaces (2011). Rouse muses on the game jam ‘as radical practice’ and a ‘corrective to game creation as it is normally practiced’. His observations about his own experience in a jam emphasise the same artistic endeavour forefronted earlier, where the experience is about creation that is divorced from the instrumental motivations of commercial game design (Rouse 2011) and where the focus is on process over product. Other participants remark on the social milieu of the event as a critical factor and the collaborative opportunity as a rich site to engage participants in design processes (Shin et al, 2012). Shin et al are particularly interested in the notion of the site of the process and the ramifications of participants being in the same location. They applaud the more localized event where there is an emphasis on local participation and collaboration. For other commentators, it is specifically the social experience in the place of the jam is the most important aspect (See Keogh 2011), not the material site but rather the physical embodied experience of ‘being there’ and being part of the event. Participants talk about game jams they have attended in a similar manner to those observations made by Dourish where the experience is layered on top of the physical space of the event (Dourish 2006). It is as if the event has taken on qualities of place where we find echoes of Tuan’s description of a particular site having an aura of history that makes it a very different place, redolent and evocative (Tuan 1977). Re-presenting the experience in place has become the goal of the data visualisation project that has become the focus of our own curated 48hr game jam. Taking our cue from the work of Tim Ingold on embodied practice, we have now established the 48hr game making challenge as a site for data visualisation research in place.

Adaptive dynamic path re-planning RRT algorithms with game theory for UAVs

The main aim of this paper is to describe an adaptive re-planning algorithm based on a RRT and Game Theory to produce an efficient collision free obstacle adaptive Mission Path Planner for Search and Rescue (SAR) missions. This will provide UAV autopilots and flight computers with the capability to autonomously avoid static obstacles and No Fly Zones (NFZs) through dynamic adaptive path replanning. The methods and algorithms produce optimal collision free paths and can be integrated on a decision aid tool and UAV autopilots.

Rough Game

Short Story About football Rugby League and City Country Clashes. Written to explore, examine and attempt to subvert generic conventions identified in PhD research. Good football fiction exists and it is plentiful.

Integrating crowd-behavior modeling into military simulation using game technology

Crowds of noncombatants play a large and increasingly recognized role in modern military operations and often create substantial difficulties for the combatant forces involved. However, realistic models of crowds are essentially absent from current military simulations. To address this problem, the authors are developing a crowd simulation capable of generating crowds of noncombatant civilians that exhibit a variety of realistic individual and group behaviors at differing levels of fidelity. The crowd simulation is interoperable with existing military simulations using a standard, distributed simulation architecture. Commercial game technology is used in the crowd simulation to model both urban terrain and the physical behaviors of the human characters that make up the crowd. The objective of this article is to present the design and development process of a simulation that integrates commercially available game technology with current military simulations to generate realistic and believable crowd behavior.

Crowd modelling for military simulations using game technology

Crowds of non-combatants play a large and increasingly recognized role in modern military operations, and often create substantial difficulties for the combatant forces involved. However, realistic models of crowds are essentially absent from current military simulations. To address this problem we are developing a crowd simulation capable of generating crowds of non-combatant civilians that exhibit a variety of realistic individual and group behaviours at differing levels of fidelity. The crowd simulation is interoperable with existing military simulations using a standard distributed simulation architecture. Commercial game technology is utilized in the crowd simulation to model both urban terrain and the physical behaviours of the human characters that make up the crowd. The objective of this paper is to present the process involved with the design and development of a simulation that integrates commercially available game technology with current military simulations in order to generate realistic and believable crowd behaviour.

Let's talk about failures : why was the game for children not a success?

A significant proportion of research in the field of human-computer interaction has been devoted to game design. Yet, a multitude of good ideas and enthusiastic game design initiatives exist, where the games never see the light of day. Unfortunately, the causes of these failures remain often unexplored and unpublished. The challenges faced by researchers and practitioners are particularly complex when designing games for special target groups, such as children, or for a serious purpose. The HCI community would benefit from a discussion on these issues in order to avoid researchers and practitioners to repeat mistakes. We want to learn from projects that started with a promising idea, but failed or faced severe challenges. This workshop will be the first at CHI focusing on 'failed game projects'. In particular, workshop participants are encouraged to discuss issues that typically received little attention in publications and hereby contribute to the discussion on failures in the design, development and evaluation of games for and or with children. As a result, the community will benefit from these insights and lessons-learned, which will enhance the design of future (serious) games with/for children.

Personality & video game genre preferences

This research has been conducted to ascertain whether people with certain personality types exhibit preferences for particular game genres. Four hundred and sixty-six participants completed an online survey in which they described their preference for various game genres and provided measures of personality. Personality types were measured using the five-factor model of personality. Significant relationships between personality types and game genres were found. The results are interpreted in the context of the features of particular game genres and possible matches between personality traits and these features.

YAWL game demo

Video presented as part of CyberGames 2006 conference in Fremantle Australia. Demonstration video showing the QUT YAWL workflow system controlling a game. The grey user interface, spawning of enemies and registration of killings is coordinated by the YAWL workflow tool, developed at QUT, Brisbane, Australia. This shows how easy it is to give a 3D interface to workflow systems. More information on this work is at www.bpmve.org.