Syftet med denna studie var att lokalisera, värdera och sammanfatta befintlig litteratur som besvarar på den centrala frågeställningen. De två centrala frågorna för studien är om tv- och datorspel kan användas för att hjälpa underlätta problematiken som människor med någon form av autism kan uppleva, och hur bra denna metods effektivitet är gentemot mer traditionella metoder som terapi. Den teoretiska tolkningsramen som ligger till grund för denna studie är The Social Model of Disability, en modell som menar att samhället exkluderar människor med funktionsnedsättning via fördomar och okunskap på hur man bör inkludera människor med funktionsnedsättning. Data har samlats in via en form av litteraturstudie som kallas för Scoping Study och har därefter analyserats via analys genom uppräkning och tematisk analys. Resultatet visar på att datorspel kan användas för att lära ut språkliga kunskaper, igenkänning av ansiktsuttryck och emotioner, sociala erfarenheter, samt living skills (levnadsfärdigheter). Slutligen försöker studien även utpeka kunskapsluckor inom forskningsfältet och hur dessa kan besvaras på ett lämpligt sätt. / The aim of this study was to localize, evaluate and summarize existing literature to answer two central questions. The two central questions for this study is whether video and computer games can be used to ease the problems that people with some form of autism can experience, and how well this method works in comparison to traditional methods such as therapy. The theory which this study is based upon is The Social Model of Disability, a model which claims that society excludes people with disabilities through means such as prejudices a lack of knowledge for how to provide for said people with disabilities. Data was collected through a form of literature review called a Scoping Study, and was analyzed through enumerative content analysis and thematic analysis. The findings show that computer games can be used to teach language skills, recognition of facial expressions and emotions, social skills and living skills. Finally, this study also attempts to find gaps in the existing literature and the field of research, suggesting on how to adequately address these.

I denna uppsatsen undersöks det hur den 26 åriga esports-proffset Epitácio "TACO" de Melo representeras på den egna- samt esportsföretaget Godsents Instagram. Analysen har gjorts utifrån Raewyn Connells maskulinitetsperspektiv och vad det kan tänkas göra för avstamp på följarna. Undersökningen har genomförts via en kvalitativ-observerande textanalys. Från vardera Instagramflöde har jag valt ut nio representerande bilder. Bilderna har analyserat genom en mall som skapades utifrån textanalysens principer. Godsent och de Melo har tillsammans skapat en internetpersona som representerar det maskulina idealet som dominerar esportsvärlden. Detta idealet avtecknar sig ur ett ideal som är aggressivt, våldsamt och dominant. Förvisso är inte detta den enda representationen som är synlig men den som ger starkast intryck. Som micro celebrity kultiverar Taco sina fans genom värderingar och budskap och på så sätt bär ett ansvar, framförallt när publiken i esport är så ung. Denna representationen motverkar möjligheten för andra grupper i samhället att ta del av samfundet. / This thesis investigates how the 26-year-old esports professional Epitácio "TACO" de Melo is represented on his own- and the esports company Godsent's Instagram. The analysis has been made from Raewyn Connells masculinity perspective and the possible impact this can generate on his followers. The survey was conducted via a qualitative-observational text analysis. From each Instagram feed I have selected nine representative images for the analysis. The analysis is through a template that was created based on the principles of text analysis. Godsent and Taco have together created an internet persona that represents the masculine ideal that dominates the esports world. This ideal stands out from an ideal that is aggressive, violent and dominant. Certainly this is not the only representation that is visible but the one that gives the strongest impact. As a micro celebrity, Taco cultivates his fans through values and messages and thus bears a responsibility, especially when the audience in esports is so young. This representation counteracts the opportunity for other groups in society to take part in the esports society.

This paper describes a modification to the mixed-initiative co-creative tool, the Evolutionary Dungeon Designer, and a study performed to evaluate and analyze the co-creative relationship between human designer and AI. The relationship between AI and human designer in creative processes is delicate, as adjusting the autonomy of the AI can negatively affect the user experience. To perfect this type of Human-AI collaboration, further research is needed. In this thesis, different degrees of initiative of the AI are explored, to gain further understanding of mixed-initiative co-creative tools. A user study was performed on the Evolutionary Dungeon Designer, with three varying degrees of AI-initiative. The study highlighted elements of frustration that the human designer experiences when using the tool, and the behaviour in the AI that led to possible strains on the relationship. The paper concludes with the identified issues and possible solutions, as well as suggested further research.

This research examines the nature and level of educational computer-based game techniques adoption by Milken Educator Award winning teachers in achieving success in their classrooms. The focus of the research is on their level of acceptance of educational computer-based games and the nature of game usage to increase student performance in the classroom. With Davis' (1985) Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1985) as the conceptual framework, the research also examines how teachers' perceptions of educational computer-based games influence their willingness to incorporate these teaching methods in their classroom. The approach utilizes a descriptive survey to develop and evaluate responses from exemplar teachers about the level and nature of their use (or lack thereof) of educational computer-based games and implementation in the classroom. Further, this research seeks to identify successful and unsuccessful techniques in the use of educational computer-based games in the classroom. In addition, data collection and analysis will seek to identify the strength of relationships between content-specific educational computer-based games and subject; educational computer-based games and gender; educational computer-based games and age; etc. A teacher who is exemplary as defined by Milken Educator Awards possesses, "exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective instructional practices and student learning results in the classroom and school". Survey findings are placed within the Technology Acceptance Model framework developed by Davis.

In the age of computing, we rely on software to manage our days, from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep. Software predicts the future based on actualized data from the past. It produces procedures instead of experiences and solutions instead of care. Software systems tend to perpetuate a normalized state of equilibrium. Their application in social media, predictive policing, and social profiling is increasingly erasing diversity in culture and identity. Our immediate reality is narrowing towards cultural conventions shared among the powerful few, whose voices directly influence contemporary digital culture. On the other hand, computational collective intelligence can sometimes generate emergent forces to counter this tendency and force software systems to open up. Historically, artists from different artistic moments have adopted collaborative making to redefine the boundary of creative expression. Video Gaming, especially open-world simulation games, is rapidly being adopted as an emerging form of communication, expression, and self-organization. How can gaming conventions such as Narrative Emergence, Hacking, and Modding help us understand collective play as countering forces against the systematic tendency of normalization? How can people from diverse backgrounds come together to contemplate, make, and simulate rules and conditions for an alternative virtual world? What does it mean to design and virtually inhabit a world where rules are rewritten continuously by everyone, and no one is in control?

Some types of resource management and simulation games often inadvertently deal with theconcept of resource exploitation which is a natural outcome of emulating real-world systems ina digital environment. Sustainable decision-making is imperative for humanity’s sustainedsurvival and teaching the general populace about sustainability and climate through interactivemedia has proven to be an effective tool in increasing such decision-making. ECO (2018) is agame that deals with a simulated climate that reacts to the player’s actions, this makes it apotential candidate for teaching its players about climate change and sustainable decision-making. This paper looks at ECO (2018) through a close reading with the help of a set ofanalytical lenses to ascertain the player’s relationship with sustainability in the game. The extentto which the game’s simulated climate is interwoven with all other aspects of its progressionshows its potential for being a tool used in sustainability education in spite of the fact that itultimately emphasises innovation over sustainability as the main driver of the player’s decisionmaking.

Civilization games can depict imaginative and sophisticated perspectives on the future. Yet some scholars have critiqued civilization games for their replication of dominant, limited ideologies. Game designers often learn about design directly or indirectly from frameworks, such as the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework which contains a very idiosyncratic definition of aesthetics. Given that aesthetic thinking can unlock the sociological imagination, the aim of this dissertation was to discover opportunities to expand civilization game design by understanding the aesthetic experience of designers. A qualitative interview study was conducted of 13 game designers who created at least one civilization game based in the future. The interview and analysis had an ontological focus, to better understand how aesthetics fit into the existing puzzle of game design knowledge. The findings showed that designers employ their perspective in game design; this sense of self and perspective is not captured by current ontologies of game design. Furthermore, designers are limited in their ability to explore the boundaries of civilization games by task complexity, emotionality, and reliance on player experience. Resultantly, they may focus intensely on known aspects of game design in order to deliver a product. The dissertation proposes two primary solutions. Firstly, a game design framework that integrates the self into game design and more clearly delineates the game as an artifact. Secondly, cultivate truer senses of vision in game design for those who want to push civilization games and games as a whole, while understanding the practical realities of game design. These implications can be used by educators to reconsider game design program curricula, as well as affirm game designers’ pursuit of their own perspective.

In game based learning, motivating the players to learn by providing them a desirable gameplay experience is extremely important. However, it's not an easy task considering the quality of today's commercial non-educational games. Throughout the gameplay, the player should neither get overwhelmed nor under-challenged. The best way to do so is to monitor the player's actions in the game because these actions can tell the reason behind the player's performance. They can also tell about the player's lacking competencies or knowledge. Based on this information, in-game educational interventions in the form of hints can be provided to the player. The success of such games depends on their interactivity, motivational outlook and thus player retention. UNTANGLED is an online mapping game based on crowd-sourcing, developed by Reconfigurable Computing Lab, UNT for the mapping problem of CGRAs. It is also an educational game for teaching the concepts of reconfigurable computing. This thesis performs qualitative comparative analysis on gameplays of low performing players of UNTANGLED. And the implications of this analysis are used to provide recommendations for improving the gameplay experience for these players by guiding them. The recommendations include strategies to reach a high score and a compact solution, hints in the form of preset patterns and a clustering based approach.

This report is the outcome of an exam work made in interaction design, bachelor degree, at the School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University. Working in collaboration with the childhood obesity unit, Region Skåne, our aim was to fulfill their request of a web based application preparing the children for treatment at their facility. Furthermore the application intends to give the children knowledge concerning obesity as well as teaching them how to obtain a healthier lifestyle in terms of provision and activities. The application concerns children in different ages and therefore different stages of their learning abilities. Our conclusions are that they need to be challenged and obtain feedback in different ways to get motivated. For a younger child it is often enough with feedback in terms of a voice approving their choices. For an older child however it is important to constantly challenge them in order to maintain their interest. This can for example be achieved by making tasks harder but still obviously reachable within the children’s capabilities. Adding different difficulty levels is another way to motivate and challenge children in different ages and stadiums of development. The report leads you through our complete design process, from our initial ideas to our latest prototype. We describe what context in which we have been working, the methods we have been using, and finally a discussion concerning the results and conclusions we have made.

The aim of this thesis is to determine how the debate about equality in the culture of video and computer games appears in different kind of web based media. And what underlying reasons may affect the outcome of the discourse. The theoretical perspectives used in this study is based on a gender perspective complemented with the concept of hegemony, myths and stereotypes. This examination is based on a critical discourse analysis and Fairclough’s three dimensional model of discourse, the material has been collected with a quantitative content analysis. The result of the study shows that inequality in the culture of video and computer games is a big problem. The result is a study of constant repression against women, threats and harassment. The deduction of this study is that the patriarchy is the fundamental structure that has created the current culture of gaming. And as long as the patriarchy exsists, so will the inequality, not only in society, but in the ever growing culture of video and computer games.