Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

This paper explores the nature of player behaviour in game environments in relation to the methodology of the dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Firstly, a conceptualisation of how manipulation of both a player’s actions, and their affective state is achieved by contemporary first-person games will be described. It will be questioned whether such game experiences can be reconfigured as spaces for complex and ethical learning experiences or whether their formal characteristics preclude this. Brecht’s theatre, in particular the Lehrstucke (learning plays); Verfremdung (the alienation effect); and his exposure of the mechanics of the theatre experience will be introduced as a means of further exploring ways of delivering FPS experiences.

This paper discusses timing and pacing issues in Interactive Storytelling applications at the conceptual level. Herein, aspects of both, the authoring process and the experiencing of interactive stories are considered. Undoubtedly, interactive stories and Interactive Storytelling applications provide a huge potential as basis for any kind of dialogue based, game based, or ‘serious’ edutainment application. On the other hand – and in contrast to linear, pre-scripted and less interactive applications, such as films, books or life performances – the challenge of developing applications based on interactive stories lies in the interactivity and possible ‘free scenes’. By free scenes we refer to interactive elements such as chatting with a virtual character, ‘playing’ with an interactive installation in a museum, or performing on-site rallies (‘un-guided’ tours), enabling users to interactively explore the content space and acquire knowledge in their individual style and pace. Hereby, these free scenes might disturb the fluent continuation of the underlying story plot, and harmfully influence the dramaturgy and suspense of the story model. Chapter 1 further introduces and motivates the topic, while Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive overview of related research work along with some examples from the edutainment domain. Chapter 3 and 4 introduce a new approach conceptualized by the authors of this paper in the context of the EU funded project INSCAPE. Finally the main aspects are summarized and an outlook indicates open issues to be addressed in future research.

This main target of this paper is to present an interaction model allowing the user to feel immersed to the VR content with a storytelling factor. The storytelling factor allows the user to be presented with a series of interaction environment in a narrative form about the task domain. Finding out about how the VR content can be delivered in a more narrative form has produced a method of ’controlling the time factor’ within the VR application. This interaction model allows the player action to result in the change of the scenery of the virtual environment as well as the progression of the environment in time. By adding the time controlling factor, a more complex environment can be presented where a novice user may not be overwhelmed by the complexity of the virtual environment. The content designer can maximize the storytelling factor within the VR to gracefully acquaint the novice user and provide a compelling and effective content for the task domain of the VR contents.

Excessive game play of adolescents is one of the serious problems faced by the information society. This paper reviews the related work and programs of this field first, and then explores the mechanism which leads to Game Addiction (GA) from the perspective of inner architecture of game. We find that game addiction is due to the PS-DA cycle embedded in games, and provide a method to control and utilize GA from the source of edutainment game development. Furthermore, we discuss the possibilities of implanting the PS-DA mechanism into instruction and general activities.

When designing a game, one of the major tasks is to design a game of exciting and challenging difficulty levels to maintain the interest level of a player throughout the game. This is especially important when designing an educational game. This paper proposes the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), specifically the Backpropagation Neural Networks (BPNNs) for handling the gaming experience. The BPNNs can provide targeted learning experience for the user or the student. This will achieve personalized learning that is an important issue for student relationship management. The proposed frameworks will provide motivation for the student as the difficulty level progresses and adjusts to suit individual users.

Dance is one of the entertainments where the physical movement is the key factor. On the other hand, the main reason why robots are kind of boom is that they have physical body. Combining there two element, a concept of a dancing robot is proposed. First, various kind of factors concerning entertainment and dance is studied. Also we describe the functions required for robots to achieve dancing. Then we describe one of the dancing robot we have developed focusing its hardware functions and show several examples of dance performance we have developed.

Smart Ambience Games (or SAG) combines interactive media with smart ambience technologies to create a motivating environment for children with learning difficulties to overcome barriers in art education. Through a development of innovative motion and gesture capture and detection techniques, we create a smart ambience that enables students to interact intuitively with a virtual environment to create a rich variety of multimedia forms and space without the use of specific physical tools. Through various interactive activities and game scenarios, particular subjects such as history and mathematics can be taught through developed VR games that can help students to overcome inhibitions related to learning, become more active learners and stimulate creativity in art education.

Current findings suggest that human-computer interaction following the basics of human-human interaction, in which emotions play a critical role. We performed a set of consecutive experiments in a laboratory environment for identification, recognition, visualization and interactive computing of affective states within a gaming application framework. To start our research and to get a data base we analyzed more than 90 test hours of user tests using rating-scales and physiological measurements. As results we provide (1) a mini-game with extra features for the induction and obtaining of affective states, (2) integrated data mining methods with recognition rates up to 70 percent, (3) different kind of visual representation of recognized emotions, and (4) an architecture for control of an affective game.

“Online Learning” has been commonly viewed as a mechanism for empowering improved learning outcome, increased flexibility of aligning the individual need of learners, and better quality of educational interaction. In fact, a lot of “digitized” and “ready-to-use” learning and teaching resources are already available online; nevertheless, we must not confuse quantity and quality, as these resources may just continue to perpetuate teacher-centred approaches, rather than student-centred approaches. The present research aimed to compare the educational values, learning effectiveness, students and teachers’ perceptions of a new online educational paradigm – Situated Game-based Learning with Traditional Web-based Learning in secondary education in Hong Kong. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed for data collection and analysis. Results showed that, under the present research settings, although no significant difference of students’ learning outcome with respect to these two approaches was found, the participating students and teachers were quite positive towards the educational paradigm of Situated Game-based Learning. This provides vital insights and a basis for further investigating the paradigm’s application and development for learning and teaching.

The expeditious growth of the Internet and the related technologies hastily contribute and fill up educational applications. While most of them are intended to facilitate the teaching process and are teacher-oriented, the society has continuously asked for a paradigm shift to a student-centred approach. The VISOLE teaching style is a learning paradigm is made up of student-oriented elements which contemplate to infuse learning with amusement. is an online game designed to implement the VISOLE idea with situated learning. Students are suggested to play this online game in groups, interact and compete with other group members. Eventually they are expected to learn the subject knowledge embedded in the game and develop high-order skills through playing the game. The design and implementation of the game follow two principles. The first one is to make the game as realistic as possible so that students can learn from an authentic environment. The second one is to inject fun and interactive components in the game, so that students are eager to immerse and interact in the multiuser environment.