Group items tagged

"Online games increasingly sell virtual goods to generate real income. As a result, it is increasingly important to identify factors and theory of consumption values that affect intent to purchase virtual goods in online games. However, very little research has been devoted to the topic. This study is an empirical investigation of the factors and theory of consumption values that affect intent to purchase virtual goods in online games. The study determines the effects of game type, satisfaction with the game, identification with the character, and theory of consumption values on intent to purchase virtual goods. The study used a survey to collect information from 523 virtual game users. Study results showed that game type is a moderating variable that affects intent to purchase virtual goods. And it demonstrated that role-playing game users are affected by theory of consumption values: functional quality, playfulness, and social relationship support. Moreover, war-strategy game users are affected by satisfaction with the game, identification with the character, and theory of consumption values: price, utility, and playfulness. The study also presents conclusions, proposes applications, and describes opportunities for further research."

Abstract: "In digital games and virtual worlds, like in other digital media, the structure of the medium, its code, influences the emerging interaction and culture. A deliberate modification of this code to facilitate democratic decision making might thus lead to more meaningful interaction in games. If we see virtual worlds as learning environments this might even help players to understand and question real-world power structures. A way to modify the code of a virtual world is by extending its interface with an add-on that interacts with the application programming interface of the game. In this paper we present the design vision and theoretical framework of a digital tool for ethical decision making that will be implemented in the virtual world World of Warcraft. Its purpose will be to supply players with means to modify the power structure built into the code of this virtual world and to support more ethical and democratic decision making in the game."

"Doctors in a domed laboratory in Montreal are designing a virtual world where they hope to one day treat traumatized children with colourful avatars using toylike medical gadgets. Sensory stimulation could be used to make a burn victim feel she is encased in a block of ice."

Abstract: "The rising acceptance of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) in the e- Learning field poses new challenges such as producing student-centered courses which can be automatically tailored to each student's needs. For this purpose digital games can be used, taking advantage of their flexibility (good video games always try to adapt to different players) and capabilities to stealthily track players' activity, either for producing an accurate user model or enhancing the overall assessment capabilities of the system. In this chapter we discuss the integration of digital games in Virtual Learning Environments and the need of standards that allow the interoperable communication of games and VLE. We also present a middle-ware architecture to integrate video games in VLEs that addresses the technical barriers posed by the integration. We present a case study with the implementation of the architecture in the game authoring platform, along with three examples of video game integration in educational settings"

"a method for the automatic generation of virtual players that adapt to the player skills; this is done by building initially a model of the player behavior in real time during the game, and further evolving the virtual player via this model in-between two games."

Novel, a virtual world that simulates the job search process; job seekers can determine a good workplace environment through exploring virtual alternatives

Abstract: "Computer based video games are receiving great interest as a means to learn and acquire new skills. As a novel approach to teaching navigation skills in the blind, we have developed Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES); a virtual reality environment set within the context of a video game metaphor. Despite the fact that participants were naïve to the overall purpose of the software, we found that early blind users were able to acquire relevant information regarding the spatial layout of a previously unfamiliar building using audio based cues alone. This was confirmed by a series of behavioral performance tests designed to assess the transfer of acquired spatial information to a large-scale, real-world indoor navigation task. Furthermore, learning the spatial layout through a goal directed gaming strategy allowed for the mental manipulation of spatial information as evidenced by enhanced navigation performance when compared to an explicit route learning strategy. We conclude that the immersive and highly interactive nature of the software greatly engages the blind user to actively explore the virtual environment. This in turn generates an accurate sense of a large-scale three-dimensional space and facilitates the learning and transfer of navigation skills to the physical world."

from the introduction: "Collision avoidance and navigation among virtual agents is an important component of modern video games. Recent de- velopments in commodity hardware, in particular the utiliza- tion of multi-core and many-core architectures in personal computers and consoles are allowing large numbers of vir- tual agents to be incorporated into game levels in increasing numbers and with increasing fidelity. As a result, there is a need for efficient techniques to automatically generate real- istic behaviors for such groups of virtual agents"

Abstract: "Cloud gaming provides game-on-demand (GoD) services over the Internet cloud. The goal is to achieve faster response time and higher QoS. The video game is rendered remotely on the game cloud and decoded on thin client devices such as tablet computer or smartphone. We design a game cloud with a virtualized cluster of CPU/GPU servers at USC GamePipe Laboratory. We enable interactive gaming by taking full advantage of the cloud and local resources for high quality of experience (QoE) gaming. We report preliminary performance results on the game latency and frame rate. We find 109 ~ 131 ms latency in using the game cloud, which is 14% ~ 38% lower than 200 ms latency experienced on a thin local computer. Moreover, the frame rate from the cloud is 25% ~ 35% higher than that of using a client computer alone. Base on these findings, we anticipate game cloud to have a performance gain or QoS improvement of 14% ~ 38% over video gaming on a thin client device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer."

Abstract: "The advancement of game-based learning has encouraged many related studies, such that students could better learn curriculum by 3-dimension virtual reality. To enhance software engineering learning, this paper develops a 3D game-based learning system to assist teaching and assess the students' motivation, satisfaction and learning achievement. A quasi-experimental design is based on the ARCS Theory (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) to investigate the effectiveness of game-based learning strategy in 3-dimension virtual reality scenario. The students are randomly assigned into two groups for quasi-experimental design. In game-based learning, the curriculum content is mapped into the game to provide a scenario learning environment. After implementation of quasi-experimental design, the pre-test and post-test results shown that 3D game-based learning system with software engineering curriculum could achieve a better learning achievement and motivation than using traditional instruction. The statistical test displayed that learning motivations of students have significant impact on learning achievement, and learning achievements of students with game-based learning are better than those who use traditional face-to-face teaching. After re-checked the questionnaire, this paper finds that game-based learning challenging and attractiveness can lead to learners' curiosity and immersion in learning activity. And the results show that 80% students are satisfaction, and 83% students are confidence for the course learning after use the game-based learning system. Lastly, the research results could provide to related educators as references"

"Roll20 is an online tabletop gaming platform with a focus on storytelling as opposed to game mechanics. This is NOT a video game, but instead a virtual "table" to gather around with friends in order to play any number of role playing games."

This seems the takeaway: ""We don't have a lot of control over how people interpret our findings," Bushman told Ars. ... Still, Bushamn suggests that the basic idea that virtual shooting can help improve real-world shooting performance shouldn't be that controversial at its core. "If you want to learn how to fly an airplane and you want to use the media to help you learn, what would be the best way: read a book about it, watch a TV program about it, or play a flight simulator video game?" he asked rhetorically. "Clearly the more interactive the media, the more you're going to learn. Does that mean by playing flight simulator you're going to be good enough to fly a real plane? I don't know, that's a relative decision, but better than if you'd watched a TV program or read a book about it, I would say.""

Abstract Virtual worlds give us the opportunity to explore another self, a virtual character of the real life you. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) have become extremely popular over the last decade. It has also grown into a lucrative business. To keep the players, the game needs to be more than just a game. This study aimed at finding out what factors that determine which features of the character creation interface that are most important to players. The following research question was formed; "Which underlying factors affect how important different features of the character creation interface are to experienced MMORPG players? To be able to answer the question an extensive literature review was conducted. A qualitative approach was taken. Long interviews were made with five participants, two female and three male players. The interviews took place while they created a number of avatars in different MMORPGs. The interviews were then followed up. During the follow-ups, the impact the character creation process had for the players, were discussed. The findings indicate that the character creation interface is important for the players to get a good gaming experience. However different types of players require different things. Important features for the users to change were mainly; the head; the name; and adding parts of yourself on your character. The factors that determined the importance of these features were found to be; Player types; Identity types; Immersion levels; and whether or not the game or the gaming experience were new to the player. Another finding showed that the longer you have played a game the less bizarre the different races, classes and gender will seem. The study also indicated that the female participants had a hard time identifying with their male characters."

"The continuous quest for ever increasing fidelity in 3D virtual worlds is running parallel to the emergence and adoption of low-cost technologies to implement such environments. In education and training, complex simulations can now be implemented on standard desktop technologies. However, such tools lack the means to represent multisensory data beyond audio-visual feedback. This paper reports on a study that involved the design, development and implementation of a 3D learning environment for underground mine evacuation. The requirements of the environment are discussed in terms of the sensory information that needs to be conveyed and techniques are described to achieve this using multiple modes of representation, appropriate levels of abstraction and synesthesia to make up for the lack of tactile and olfactory sensory cues. The study found that audio-visual cues that used such techniques were effective in communicating complex sensory information for novice miners."

Abstract: "This article presents experiences and lessons learned with the implementation of a serious game for simulating the management of a hostage taking scenario. The game was created with ARLearn, a toolkit for mobile and virtual reality serious games, developed at the Open University of the Netherlands. In collaboration with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), ARLearn use cases for crisis situations were developed. This manuscript covers the games that were designed with UNHCR's Global Learning Centre (GLC) and discusses the training pilot with UNHCR staff-members."

"The game enjoyment threshold model was used to evaluate player feedback in the feasibility study of a serious game, Wellness Partners. This game was purposefully developed as a web-based application that combines digital gaming and social networking to promote physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. The game design team led by the second author consisted of current students and alumni at the Interactive Media Division at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California. The primary participants were middle-aged university staff (egos) and they were asked to invite at least one family member or friend to enroll in the game as their wellness partners (alters). Players can accumulate points by sending status updates about their physical activities or setbacks. They can redeem their points to collect virtual objects or play animations of a virtual character related to healthy activities. A tag cloud is generated based the frequency of physical activities reported by members in a playgroup."

Published 2013 and excerpted in Google Books

From the abstract: "This chapter will make a case that games are not necessarily the exclusive domain of game professionals. Rather than enforcing teachers to get acquainted with and use complex, technically demanding games, we will discuss approaches that teachers themselves can use to build games, make use of existing games and even one step beyond use tools or games that can be used by learners to create their own designs, e.g. games or virtual worlds."

"Automated lm editing involves the generation of the position, orientation, motion and selection of virtual cameras in interactive 3D graphics applications. There is a pressing demand for techniques to assist and automate the control of virtual cameras in the computer games industry where the rapid development of personal computers and high performance consoles has led to substantial improvements in the visual delity of games. The goal of this survey is to characterize the spectrum of applications that require automated lm editing, present a summary of state-of-the-art models and techniques, and identify both promising avenues and hot topics for future research"