Search

Serious virtual worlds (SVWs) represent a great opportunity for learning and should embed a lot of high-quality contextualised information so that the player can take the most from his or her exploration of the environment. This requires defining new methodologies and tools for effective production. We have investigated this issue in implementing a couple of SVWs and abstracted a conceptual framework relying on the task-based learning pedagogical theory. The model defines games set in realistic SVWs enriched with embedded educational tasks. Tasks are simple trial activities that embody units of knowledge. The player can discover them in his or her SVW exploration and interact with them in order to construct meaning, build lasting memories and deepen understanding of the featured item(s). The model involves pedagogical task annotation--which allows decoupling the tasks, which can be reused in different VWs from the definition of their delivery strategy in the context of a specific VW, which is specified by the VW designer and automatically managed by the run-time engine. This approach simplifies the authoring work. The visual Creative Toolkit (CT) we have developed is being used for producing contents for the 15 reconstructed cultural cities that will be featured in the first version of the Travel in Europe VW. The paper described the overall framework and the details of the CT. It also presented an implemented example, briefly discussing the methodology we have followed for developing cultural heritage content.

Analytical games explore a problem or a domain with a research purpose. Considerable research is ongoing to investigate improvements to analytical game design, execution and exploitation. Moreover, the fast-paced technological developments in many fields, such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, make it even more compelling to account for the advantages and limitations of these new capabilities. In game design, the use of digital means is often regarded as a mere technical factor that relates to the platform selection, facilitator support and data recording processes. In this work a shift in perspective is proposed, to move from technology-oriented design selection criteria towards a broader assessment of the design choices. In fact, the introduction of technology (i.e., automation and autonomy) will not lead to a substitution of tasks, but will intrinsically change the game environment. This work introduces a framework to provide a structured guidance on the aspects to be factored in the different design phases of an analytical game, including the potential impact of the adoption of automation and autonomy. The proposed approach is based on previous research in the field of simulation-based serious gaming, model-driven engineering and human factors engineering. The framework is applied to a Knowledge Acquisition Analytical Game as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever more extensive data collection from Internet of Thing (IoT) devices stresses the need for efficient application development tools. State-of-the-art IoT cloud services are powerful, but the best solutions are proprietary, and there is a growing demand for interoperability and standardization. We have investigated how to develop a nonvendor-locked framework, which exploits state of the art data management technologies, and targets effective and efficient development in this article. Focusing on the concept of measurement, we abstracted an architecture that could be applied in a variety of domains and contexts. We tested the framework and its workflow in four use cases analyzing data and enabling new services in health, automotive, and instruction. Our experience showed the benefits of the development tool, which is not tied to a commercial platform, nor requires the huge set-up times needed to start a project from scratch. The tool is released open-source, particularly supporting collaborative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Bayesian networks for behavioral analysis is gaining attention. The design of such algorithms often makes use of expert knowledge. The knowledge is collected and organized during the knowledge acquisition design task. In this paper, we discuss how analytical games can be exploited as knowledge acquisition techniques in order to collect information useful to intelligent systems design. More specifically, we introduce a recently developed method, called the MARISA (MARItime Surveillance knowledge Acquisition) Game. The aim of this game is to ease the elicitation from domain experts of a considerable amount of conditional probabilities to be encoded into a maritime behavioral analysis service based on a multi-source dynamic Bayesian network. The game has been deployed in two experiments. The main objectives of such experiments are the validation of the network structure, the acquisition of the conditional probabilities for the network, and the overall validation of the game method. The results of the experiment show that the objectives have been met and that the MARISA Game proved to be an effective and efficient approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tomorrow's elastic adaptive mobility industrial research project developed eleven collaborative mobility apps addressing various traffic issues and scenarios. The apps, involving different aspects and degrees of collaboration (e.g., direct user participation, shared objectives, coordination, etc.), aim at increasing the driver/traveler awareness and support a better behavior. This paper describes the apps and the underlying system architecture shared by the participating car manufacturers. Then, it provides a user acceptance analysis grouping the apps according to the three main types of users and stakeholders: drivers, travelers, and administrators/operators. Data, collected in five European countries, shows that acceptance and expected impact are positive. The actual road-test experience did not diminish the high expectations raised by an initial presentation on paper, showing a good maturity of the prototypes. The Administrator app cluster shows a slightly better assessment, highlighting the importance of considering collaborative mobility as a system, including road, infrastructure, and traffic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical equilibrium and balance are key factors for human activities. Training for improving proprioception employ new, effective methodologies and tools. However, such tools are sometimes boring and difficult to use properly in achieving the given training goals. Exergaming, the combination of physical exercise and video-gaming using smart tools, may help to overcome these issues by offering enjoyment and motivation. However, the literature lacks papers investigating how to integrate tools for proprioception training into a serious game combining effectiveness and enjoyment. In this paper, we focus on the Balance Board (BB), a device used in gyms and in several health-related applications, and present an exergaming system for proprioception training. The system includes a BB, which was instrumented to act as a motion controller for an ad-hoc developed, simple 3D video game. The system aims to provide enjoyable training, boosting equilibrium exercising through the simulation of downhill skiing. We validated the score computation and tested the efficacy of the system in a user test with 40 healthy participants, in ecological settings. The evaluation concerned user performance and a game experience questionnaire. The results, deduced through mapping users' performance to their balance capacity, showed statistically significant improvement in players' ability to use the BB. Users also reported a positive gameplay experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systems to support Situational Awareness take increasingly advantage of data and information fusion techniques. Due to the rise in the variety of information sources (e.g., sensors, open-source, intelligence, historical databases) and their possible lack of veracity those techniques should account for source reliability. Although the appropriate mathematical instruments exist, it still needs to be fully understood what are the factors that contribute to source reliability and what is their relative and total impact on Situation Assessment, which is the process that builds up Situational Awareness. In order to characterise source factors impact on human belief assessment the Reliability Game has been developed. This is a data exchange game in which the players are requested to perform Situational Assessment tasks by mentally processing incoming information and meta-information, abstracted and provided through cards. This paper presents the method, the design choices and shows through a qualitative analysis that the proposed approach is indeed able to capture elements of source factors impact on players' belief changes. Data collected through the game will be further analysed to inform and improve the design of information correction methods in multi-source information fusion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present public transport services still suffer from issues such as time deviations from the static timetable, overcrowded buses, increased on board time, and long wait at bus stops. This work studies the experimental implementation of an on-demand public bus transportation service in Trikala, a medium-sized Greek city. With a view to optimize the service from both the operator’s and the citizens’ point of view, this paper presents an insertion heuristic solving the static multivehicle dial-a-ride problem with time windows and a fixed fleet of vehicles. Since viability of such a service depends on its ability of involving a significant number of users and getting reliable information, we tested a gamification layer, aimed at motivating public transport users to participate and behave correctly with the system. We present and discuss a novel pervasive computing architecture and various types of serious games designed to achieve these goals. We finally report early usability test results and some simulation-based indications on the design of city-scale deployable serious games to enhance public transport-based mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]