Objetivo: Avaliar o uso de dispositivos eletrônicos e televisão (TV) em adolescentes saudáveis de uma escola particular da cidade de São Paulo; avaliar possíveis associações entre a presença de dor e síndromes musculoesqueléticas e o uso de dispositivos eletrônicos e TV. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal com adolescentes de uma escola particular da cidade de São Paulo. 299 adolescentes (10 a 19 anos) responderam a um questionário individual, confidencial e autoaplicável, com perguntas sobre o uso isolado e simultâneo de dispositivos eletrônicos (computadores, videogames, celular) e TV; dados demográficos; prática de atividade física e esportiva; disponibilidade, padrão de consumo, tipos de mídia utilizados e sintomas dolorosos do sistema musculoesquelético. Além da aplicação do questionário, foi realizado exame físico específico do aparelho musculoesquelético nos adolescentes que apresentavam queixas álgicas nos últimos três meses, visando à avaliação das seguintes síndromes musculoesqueléticas idiopáticas crônicas e não inflamatórias: fibromialgia juvenil, síndrome de hipermobilidade articular benigna, síndrome miofascial, tendinite, bursite, epicondilite e síndrome de dor regional complexa. Resultados: O índice de Kappa entre o pré-teste e reteste foi de 0,83. Dor musculoesquelética e síndromes musculoesqueléticas foram encontradas em 183/299 (61%) e 60/183 (33%), respectivamente. As medianas de idade [15 (10-18) versus 14 (10-18) anos, p=0,032] e os anos de escolaridade [10 (5-12) vs. 9 (5-12) anos, p=0,010] foram significantemente maiores em adolescentes com dor musculoesquelética em comparação com aqueles sem essa condição. A frequência do gênero feminino foi maior no grupo de adolescentes com dor musculoesquelética comparado ao grupo sem essa condição (59% versus 47% p=0,019), assim como as frequências do uso do telefone celular (93% contra 81%, p=0,003) e do uso simultâneo de pelo menos dois dispositivos eletrônicos (80% vs. 67%, p=0,011) foram significantemente maiores no grupo de adolescentes com dor musculoesquelética. Em relação às comparações entre os grupos com e sem síndromes musculoesqueléticas: a frequência de gênero feminino foi significantemente maior no grupo de estudantes com síndromes musculoesqueléticas (75% versus 25%, p=0,002), e os adolescentes com síndromes musculoesqueléticas apresentaram uma mediana significantemente reduzida de horas de jogos eletrônicos aos finais de semana e feriados [1,5 (0-10) vs. 3 (0-17) horas/dia, p=0,006]. Conclusões: Uma alta prevalência de dor musculoesquelética e síndromes musculoesqueléticas foi observada em estudantes adolescentes de uma escola particular. A dor musculoesquelética foi relatada em idade mais avançada, sobretudo entre as meninas e os alunos que usavam telefone celular e dispositivos eletrônicos simultaneamente. O sexo feminino e o uso reduzido de jogos eletrônicos foram associados à presença de síndromes musculoesqueléticas / Objective: To evaluate television and simultaneous electronic devices use in adolescents with musculoskeletal pain and musculoskeletal pain syndromes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 299 adolescents of a private school. All students completed a self-administered questionnaire, including: demographic data, physical activities, musculoskeletal pain symptoms, and use of simultaneous television/electronic devices (computer, internet, electronic games and cell phone). Seven musculoskeletal pain syndromes were also evaluated: juvenile fibromyalgia, benign joint hypermobility syndrome, myofascial syndrome, tendinitis, bursitis, epicondylitis and complex regional pain syndrome. Results: Inter-rater agreement between pretest and retest was 0.83. Musculoskeletal pain and musculoskeletal pain syndrome were found in 183/299 (61%) and 60/183 (33%), respectively. The median of age [15 (10-18) vs. 14 (10-18) years, p=0.032] and years of education [10 (5-12) vs. 9 (5-12) years, p=0.010] were significantly higher in adolescents with musculoskeletal pain compared to those without this condition. The frequencies of female gender (59% vs. 47%, p=0.019), cell phone use (93% vs. 81%,p=0.003) and simultaneous use of at least two electronic devices (80% vs. 67%,p=0.011) were significantly higher in the former group. Further comparisons between adolescents with and without musculoskeletal pain syndromes revealed that the frequency of female gender was significantly higher in the former group (75% vs. 25%,p=0.002), and with significantly reduced median of weekends/holidays electronic games use [1.5 (0-10) vs. 3 (0-17) hours/day, p=0.006]. Conclusions: A high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain/syndromes were observed in female adolescents. Musculoskeletal pain was mostly reported at median age of 15 years and students were using cell phone and at least two electronic devices simultaneously. Reduced electronic games use was associated with musculoskeletal pain syndromes

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:23:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiana Martins de Oliveira.pdf: 2599761 bytes, checksum: 32bfbb43f18c17407dfdf69a5efbd6a2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-09 / This study aims at the production of educational games that allow users to active participation in social and artistic contexts. Four are its aspects: first, the influence exerted by technological means to childhood. Second, the use of the simulation as a means of learning. Third, the free software use by students. And fourth, the objectives of arts education classes, which include the development of artistic and cultural understanding, obtaining self-esteem, individual expression, creativity and confidence. The union between postmodern virtual reality, conditions provided by the simulation environment, the target audience's behavior, and the influences of the artistic content, favor the production of a game with intercultural focus, which seeks to narrow the geographic and economic barriers existing between students from diverse backgrounds / Esse estudo objetiva a produção de jogos digitais educativos que possibilitem ao usuário a participação ativa em contextos sociais, culturais e artísticos. Quatro são suas vertentes: a influência dos meios tecnológicos na infância; o uso da simulação como meio de aprendizagem; a utilização de software livre por parte dos alunos e, os objetivos das aulas de educação artística. Todas as vertentes incluem o desenvolvimento das compreensões sociais, artísticas e culturais, a obtenção da autoestima, a expressão individual, a criatividade e a confiança. A união entre a realidade virtual na contemporaneidade, as condições proporcionadas pelo ambiente do simulacro, o comportamento do público alvo, e as influências dos conteúdos artísticos que favorecem a produção de jogos digitais com foco intercultural, e que, procura estreitar as barreiras geográficas e econômicas existentes entre estudantes de diversos contextos socioculturais

The gaming industry is a multimillion-dollar industry that is male dominated. The games contain mostly male protagonists and the few female protagonists that makes it to the shelves are met with criticism from the players. I have taken an interest in how the protagonists are portrayed by reviewers. For example, when it comes to age and use of name, if there is any difference between genders and if there is any kind of discrimination like sexualizing in the text. In this study, I use critical discourse analysis to study game review articles of six different games, three with female protagonists and three with male protagonists. The reviews are from two different gaming magazines. The results are that the protagonists are rarely represented as the stereotypical hero to the readers and there is not a big difference between genders. An observation is that the male protagonists are described and depicted as ideal men that are supposed to be aggressive, violent and dominant. The female protagonists are described with similar traits as the male protagonists. The conclusion is that the female protagonists are fitted into the stereotypical main character role. This role is built up by hard traits where softer traits like passive, pacifistic and submissive, which are more considered stereotypically female, is absent from main protagonists.

En quelques années, les domaines des jeux vidéo et des systèmes multi-agents (SMA) ont pris de plus en plus de places dans la vie de chacun. Malgré des similitudes assez fortes (présences d’entité dans les vidéo pouvant être assimilées à des agents), les SMA ne sont presque jamais utilisés dans le développement de jeux. Ce mémoire présente Shine Agent Modeling Platform (SAMP), une plateforme visant intégrer le paradigme multi-agents au sein du développement de jeux vidéo. Cette fusion permet l’utilisation de la puissance des multi-agents au sein des jeux vidéo.SAMP propose une approche au niveau des interactions permettant de réduire le coût de traitement de ces interactions en optimisant le nombre de recherches effectuées dans l’environnement.En plus d’intégrer le paradigme multi-agents, SAMP vise à être accessible à un maximum d’utilisateurs en proposant une interface de modélisation entièrement graphique. Un système d’importation de modèles comportementaux permet de créer deuxniveaux de modélisation : un niveau proche de la logique développement informatique et un niveau proche de la logique métier de l’utilisateur.SAMP est intégré à un moteur de jeux vidéo, Shine Engine, permettant de générer les environnements graphiques dans lesquels les agents évolueront. / In recent years, video games domains and multiagents systems (MAS) domains took more and more place into the life of many pepole. Despite of strong similarities (video games entities wich can be assimilated to agents), MAS are very rarely used during the development of video games. This submission presents the Shine Agent ModelingPlatform (SAMP), a framework trying to integrate the multi-agents paradigm within the development of video games. The purpose is to integrate the efficiency of the MAS within the video games.SAMP provides an approach to enhance the interactions between agents. This approach reduces the number of searches within the environment. In addition to integrate the multi-agents paradigm within the video games, SAMP aims to be userfriendly by proposing a full graphical interface to MAS. An import/export system of these modelsallows users to create two modeling levels: one close to the computer sciences logic and the second close the business logic of the user.SAMP is integrated in a video games engine: Shine Engine. This integration allows to generate the graphic environment in which agents will live.

Priming out-groups and taking the perspective of out-group members increases implicit and explicit identification with out-groups. Because the popularity of video games has increased dramatically over the past few decades and they have become an influential form of media, the current study investigated video games as another potential strategy to increase identification with and reduce prejudice against out-groups. Specifically, I investigated how manipulating the sexual orientation of the video game character participants used influenced implicit and explicit identification with homosexuals and implicit and explicit prejudice against homosexuals. Additionally, I investigated whether implicit and explicit identification with homosexuals would mediate the impact of video games on prejudice. Though I recruited enough participants to detect a medium effect size (169 participants in the final analyses), pre-registered analyses (osf.io/ynaw7) indicated that the sexual orientation of a video game character did not influence identification with or prejudice against homosexuals. Exploratory analyses demonstrated that among participants that identified with the video game character and played as a Gay character had increased explicit identification with and reduced prejudice against homosexuals. The possibility that increasing the strength of the manipulation by having participants play the game for multiple sessions, customize characters, and incorporating storytelling into the game are discussed.

"We are in the world, but not of the world," a maxim frequently spoken in evangelical Christian culture, provides insight into how these individuals view their relationship with secular culture. They presume to share the same temporal plane with secular culture, but do not participate in it. In this dissertation, I explore whether the division between evangelical Christian culture and secular culture is as clear as this aphorism implies. To facilitate this investigation, I examine media Christian content creators created for an American evangelical Christian young adult audience in the early twenty-first century, specifically focusing on novel-length fiction, comics and graphic novels, and video games. Guided by a methodology informed by structuralist and poststructuralist theories, I uncover patterns in these media. I conclude that the boundaries between evangelical Christian culture and secular culture are less distinct than might first appear, which indicates significant contact and influence between these cultures.

In recent years, having evolved beyond solely play-based interactions, it is now possible to analyze video games alongside other narrative forms, such as novels and films. Video games now involve rich stories that require input and interaction on behalf of the player. This level of agency likens video games to a kind of modern hypertext, networking and weaving various narrative threads together, something which traditional modes of media lack. When examined from the lens of reader-response criticism, this interaction deepens even further, acknowledging the player’s experience as a valid interpretation of a video game’s plot. The wide freedom of choice available to players, in terms of both play and story, in 2007’s Mass Effect, along with its critical reception, represents a turning point in the study of video games as literature, exemplifying the necessity for player input in undergoing a narrative-filled journey. Active participation and non-linear storytelling, typified through gaming, are major steps in the next the evolution of narrative techniques, which requires the broadening of literary criticism to incorporate this new development.

This qualitative study aims to explore, from a cognitive perspective, the influence visuals have on conveying the game's narrative and how this engages the player. The focus being to further the understanding of how both visuals and narrative affect the overall experience. Motivated by the underrepresentation of visuals and narrative studies within game research. At the centre of the study is a thematic analysis of qualitative data collected from face to face interviews in a home and school environment, where players shared memorable moments experienced while playing a game. The interviews were complemented by data from popular forums, with the same focus. Helping the analysis of the data were cognitive theories into how our minds process and interpret information, an analysis which resulted in five main themes with corresponding code, which represented what appeared central for the creation of the memorable moment. There were, however, always more than one element within the game which provided and engaged the player in the narrative construction of the memorable moment, which served to highlight the importance of considering all aspects of the design, as all affected our meaning making. Central to engaging the player's narrative construction was the intrinsic motivation of curiosity, in tangent with our desire to learn. Exactly how different visuals elements affected the player's narrative construction did not become apparent during the analysis, as a fine line existed between what element provided for different memorable moments. Most notably was that all of the themes and codes could be tied back to engagement, as all of them served to engage the player's meaning making. A discovery that in turn, lead to the creation of a framework for future studies, which, while supported by cognitive theories, aims to enable the discovery of what and how different aspects engage the player in the experience. / Målet med denna kvalitativa studie är att, utifrån ett kognitivt perspektiv, utforska inflytande det visuella har på att förmedla spelets narrativ och hur detta engagerar spelaren i upplevelsen. Fokuset är att utveckla förståelsen för hur det visuella och narrativet påverkar den övergripande upplevelsen, vilket är motiverat av underrepresentationen av studier med fokus på det visuella och narrativet inom spelforskning. I centrum av studien är en tematisk analys av den kvalitativa data som samlats in från intervjuer i en hem och skolmiljö, där deltagarna delade minnesvärda stunder från när de spelade spel. Intervjuerna kompletterades med data från populära forum med samma fokus. Kognitiva teorier om hur man bearbetar och tolkar information, fick ge stöd till analysen av spelarnas meningsskapande som resulterade i fem huvudteman med motsvarande koder, som representerade det som framstod som det centrala i skapandet av de minnesvärda stunderna. Det fanns dock alltid mer än ett element i spelet som bidrog och engagerade spelaren i den narrativa konstruktionen av det minnesvärda ögonblicket, vilket lyfter fram vikten av att uppmärksamma alla aspekter av designen, eftersom alla påverkade meningsskapandet. Centralt för att engagera spelarnas narrativa konstruktion var vår inre motivation av nyfikenhet, i kombination med vår vilja att lära oss. Exakt hur de olika visuella elementen påverkade spelarens narrativa konstruktion framkom dock inte under analysen, eftersom gränsen mellan vilka element som bidrog med de olika minnesvärda stunderna, var hårfin. Det tydligaste exemplet av detta är att alla teman och koderna kunde knytas tillbaka till engagemang, eftersom alla bidrog till att engagera spelaren meningsskapande. En upptäckt som i sin tur ledde till skapandet av ett ramverk för framtida studier, som vars mål är, med stöd av kognitiva teorier, att möjliggöra upptäckten av hur de olika aspekterna engagerar spelaren i upplevelsen.

Notre recherche consiste à comprendre quels sont les effets des jeux vidéo de simulation d’animaux virtuels sur les conceptions du vivant, en particulier sur la distinction entre ce qui est vivant et ce qui ne l’est pas. Pour ce faire, il s’agit d’identifier les différences conceptuelles entre les populations de joueurs et de non-joueurs aux jeux vidéo de simulation d’animaux virtuels. Tout d'abord, nous avons fait une enquête exploratoire identifiant les pratiques vidéo ludiques des enfants. Cette enquête a permis de sélectionner les deux jeux les plus utilisés par les enfants de cet âge : Talking TOM et POU. Notre étude porte plus particulièrement sur ces deux jeux. Un questionnaire a été diffusé au Liban et en France pour étudier la façon dont les joueurs et les non-joueurs à ces deux jeux conçoivent le vivant. Au total 916 enfants âgés de 9 à 12 ans ont rempli ce questionnaire. Au Liban, le questionnaire a été suivi de 21 entretiens avec des élèves. Les questionnaires ont été traités statistiquement afin de faire émerger les différences et les similitudes entre les populations de joueurs et de non-joueurs en France et au Liban. Les entretiens ont été analysés par une analyse thématique de contenu suivie par une analyse lexicale et ont permis une exploitation plus qualitative des résultats. Les résultats montrent que les entretiens et les questionnaires convergent fortement vers l’hypothèse d’une influence des jeux sur la construction de la notion de vie chez les joueurs des deux pays. En effet, au Liban et en France les utilisateurs de TOM et POU ont des conceptions significativement plus anthropomorphiques, animistes et anthropocentriques que ceux qui n’y jouent pas. / Our research is to understand the effects of video games simulating virtual animals on the concepts of life, especially the distinction between what is alive and what is not. To do this, it is a question of identifying the conceptual differences between the populations of players and non-players in virtual animal simulation video games. First, we did an exploratory survey identifying children's playful video practices. This survey allowed selecting the two most used games by children of this age: Talking TOM and POU. Our study focuses on these two games. A questionnaire has been distributed in Lebanon and France to study how players and non-players in TOM and / or POU design the living. A total of 916 children aged 9 to 12 completed this questionnaire. In Lebanon, 21 interviews with students followed the questionnaire. The questionnaires were statistically analyzed to reveal the differences and similarities between the populations of players and non-players in France and Lebanon. The interviews had been analyzed by a thematic analysis of content followed by a lexical analysis and allowed a qualitative exploitation of the results. The results show that interviews and questionnaires strongly converge on the hypothesis of an influence of games on the construction of the notion of life among players of both countries. Indeed, in Lebanon and France users of TOM and POU have significantly more anthropomorphic, animistic and anthropocentric conceptions than those who do not play it.

<p>Inlevelse i den digitala spelvärlden är ett utspritt begrepp bland spelare och spelutvecklare, men har termen samma innebörd för alla. Detta forskningsarbete tar upp tidigare forskning inom ämnet inlevelse i digitala spel men också vad spelare idag anser om termen och vilka faktorer de anser är viktiga att fokusera på när man vill skapa ett inlevelserikt spel i genren first-person shooter. Genom en litteraturundersökning av tidigare forskning samt en enkätundersökning framgår det att inlevelse kan delas in i tre olika nivåer: involvering, försjunkning och total inlevelse. Forskningsarbetet bekräftar tidigare forskning på området och för ämnet om inlevelse i first-person shooter genren vidare, där inlevelsen styrs av spelelementens fyra pelare: estetik, spelmekanik, story och teknik men är också högst beroende av en spelares personlighet, mentalitet och inställning till det spel denne spelar. Enkätundersökningen pekar också på ytterligare faktorer som kan stärka respektive hämma inlevelsen i FPS.</p> / <p>The term immersion is widely used in the video game industry, but there is still a lack of signs on what immersion really is, or if people are using the term with the same meaning behind it. This paper describes previous research relating to the subject but also what gamers think about immersion, and what different factors that they deem important to focus on when creating an immersive digital video game in the first-person-shooter genre. With research of previous work in the field and a survey on immersion showed that immersion can be seen in three different levels: engagement, engrossment and total immersion. This research paper confirms previous research in the field and moves the research of immersion in first-person shooters forward, where immersion is governed by the four pillars of game elements: aesthetics, game mechanics, story and technology but is also highly influenced by the gamers personality, mentality and attitude towards the game the gamer is playing. The research paper also indicates other elements which can enhance or limit the feeling of immersion in FPS.</p>