This Exegesis and accompanying artworks are the culmination of research conducted into the existence of surveillance in virtual worlds. A panoptical model has been used, and its premise tested through the extension into these communal spaces. Issues such as data security, personal and corporate privacy have been investigated, as has the use of art as a propositional mode. This Exegesis contains existing and new theoretical arguments and observations that have aided the development of research outcomes; a discussion of action research as a methodology; and questionnaire outcomes assisting in understanding player perceptions and concerns. A series of artworks were completed during the research to aid in understanding the nature of virtual surveillance; as a method to examine outcomes; and as an experiential interface for viewers of the research. The artworks investigate a series of surveillance perspectives including parental gaze, machine surveillance and self-surveillance. The outcomes include considerations into the influence surveillance has on player behaviour, security issues pertaining to the extension of corporations into virtual worlds, the acceptance of surveillance by virtual communities, and the merits of applying artworks as proposition.

<p>This licentiate thesis describes the development of the Swedish computer and video game industry. The main focus is on the Swedish game development industry. Little research on the industry has been done and the purpose is to define the companies involved and to create an initial overview of the development of the industry. This overview will later be used as a platform for the doctorial thesis.</p><p>Games are a growing culture form and today a lot of people are playing different types of computer and video games. Internationally the industry has expanded and some of the successful games have generated spectacular revenues. In Sweden the industry has received attention from different actors like universities, government bodies and media. There are today educations that are focused on game development and there are programs which allocates grants towards game companies. The rapid development in the computers technology has had a great impact on the game industry, which is dependent on hardware development to create games.</p><p>The first computer games were made for some of the very first computers in the 1940´s and 1950´s. In the 1970´s a market for games was created when arcade machines and somewhat later home consoles were introduced. The industry has grown and includes today some of the largest companies in the world.</p><p>The Swedish industry follows the international pattern but developed a bit later and the first Swedish game companies were founded in the late 1980´s. The industry has expanded, especially between 1998 and 2002. In 2005 the number of people employed in the industry had increased to over 600. During the period under study the industry seems to have had a constant problem with making a profit. Especially in 2002 and 2003 the industry has had economic problems and some of the lager companies were bankrupt.</p>

<p>Vardagen ställer allt färre krav på fysisk aktivitet och stillasittande aktiviteter har blivit allt vanligare. En av dessa aktiviteter är tv- och dataspel som idag tros ha fler utövare än fotboll och ishockey har tillsammans. Studiens syfte var därför att undersöka attityder och värderingar hos föräldrar med tv- och dataspelande barn. Studien var kvalitativ på en beskrivande nivå. Sammanlagt har sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med totalt nio deltagande föräldrar, sex kvinnor och tre män. Huvudresultatet i studien visade att föräldrars negativa attityd främst påverkades av våldet som förekommer i många spel. Spelen kunde också ha en negativ effekt genom att barnen blev trötta och på dåligt humör ifall de spelade för länge. Positivt var att barnen hade kul då de spelade, de lärde sig nya saker samt att de kunde känna sig stolta över vad de åstadkommit i spelen. Jämfört med andra medier jämställde föräldrar tv- och dataspelens effekter på hälsan. Föräldrarna kunde se en skillnad mellan olika konsoler då Nintendo Wii är den konsol som erbjuder rörelse, till skillnad från traditionella konsoler.</p>

<p>The aim of the dissertation is to understand the playing of computer games based on its own conditions, and questions are asked such as what is the meaning constructed around playing and themselves as players, what is the social construction of playing and how can playing computer games be understood from the perspective of youth culture? A basic interest in the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of Bildung in an informal context outside the institutions, activities and genres that traditionally stand for Bildung.</p><p>The empirical investigation that forms the basis of this thesis i in the form of presence at various LANs and interviews with players. The research perspective includes a hermeneutic point of departure and playing computer games is interpreted and understood from three perspectives: playing computer games as a meaning of Bildung (play and mimesis), as social meaning (friendship and community) and as cultural (style).</p><p>The results demonstrates that playing computer games is something the player does to relax, to have fun and it makes the time that passes meaningful. For dedicated players, playing computer games is a longing for community. To be a member of a community provides the opportunity to become someone in relation to the others. To participate in the community of players is a way to achieve understanding about how one is expected to behave in a larger community, that is to say society. The players are not much interested in clothes and fashion. Alcohol and other drugs are disapproved. Not stealing from others in the LAN, helping each other and sharing both knowledge and material things are also ways of expressing style. </p><p>Playing computergames is Bildung and the experiences and insights wich playing can provide should have a place in a vision regarding Bildung in our time. The teachers and the school should make use of the free-time experiences that young people take with them to school.</p>

The work presented in this dissertation was focused on developing an affordable, automated, upper extremity exercise system suitable for individuals with stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI). The three studies presented in this thesis demonstrated the efficacy of functional electrical stimulation-assisted exercise therapy (FES-ET). Furthermore a protocol was developed to implement FES-ET in participants homes via tele-rehabilitation. The protocol included the use of an improved version of the bionic glove, an FES device that enhanced hand grasp and release in SCI individuals in combination with a custom-built workstation that enabled task-oriented rehabilitation in the home setting, supervised over the Internet. In the course of these studies, an objective hand function assessment tool was developed to complement tele-supervised FES-ET and provide the therapist with an unbiased evaluation of the participants impairment. A major section of this dissertation is concerned with the development and testing of a novel exercise workstation named the ReJoyce (Rehabilitation Joystick for Computer Exercise), that can assess hand function electronically. The ReJoyce is an instrumented workstation that provides standardized upper extremity rehabilitation based on ADLs, in the guise of computer games played by manipulating attachments on the device. The three studies presented in this thesis focus on the scientific merits and the logistics of providing tele-supervised FES-ET with this workstation. The first study demonstrated the feasibility of treating and assessing individuals on the workstation who had recently suffered a stroke. The second study explored the relationship between the quantitative assessment of hand function with the workstation and two widely-used clinical tests. The last study involved daily, tele-supervised FES-ET or conventional exercises and therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES), maintained for 6 weeks, with SCI participants spread out over a large geographical area. FES-ET performed with the workstation resulted in statistically significant and clinically important improvements in hand function that were greater than those produced by the more conventional protocol. The results demonstrated the importance of including a range of exercises aimed at improving both strength and dexterity. It is concluded that tele-supervised FES-ET on a standardized workstation is feasible, effective and affordable in the current healthcare settin

Klassifikationen von Computerspielen widmet sich den Begriffen, mit denen Computerspiele zu Klassifikationszwecken versehen werden. Eine repräsentative Auswahl an derartigen Klassifikationsmodellen, die die Arbeiten von Designern, Journalisten, Pädagogen, Laien und expliziten Computerspielforschern abdeckt, wird vorgestellt und hinsichtlich ihrer Anwendbarkeit zur eindeutigen Bestimmung konkreter Spiele bewertet. Dabei zeigen sich zwei grundlegend verschiedene Herangehensweisen an die Problematik: „Kategorisierungen“ stellen feste Kategorien auf, in die einzelne Spiel eindeutig einsortiert werden sollen, während „Typologien“ die einzelnen Elemente von Spielen untersuchen und klassifizieren. Beide Ansätze werden analysiert und ihre jeweiligen Vor- und Nachteile aufgezeigt. Da offensichtlich wird, dass die Klassifikation von Computerspielen in bedeutendem Maße vom jeweiligen zugrunde liegenden Verständnis davon, was ein „Computerspiel“ sei, abhängt, ist der Untersuchung der Klassifikationsmodelle eine Betrachtung dieser problematischen Begriffsdefinition vorangestellt, die beispielhaft an vier ausgewählten Aspekten durchgeführt wird. / Classifications of computer games is concerned with the terms that are used to label computer games for classificatory purposes. A representative selection of such classification models, that covers the works of designers, journalists, pedagogues, laymen and explicit computer game researchers, are introduced and assessed with regard to their ability to classify specific games unambiguously. Two essentially different approaches to this problem are identified: “categorizations” establish rigid categories to which single games are to be assigned unambiguously, while “typologies” examine and classify single elements of games and not games as a whole. Both methods are analysed and their advantages and disadvantages are shown. As it becomes obvious that classifying computer games is highly dependent on the respective basic understanding of what a computer game is, the study of the classification models is preceded by an overview which discusses four chosen aspects as examples of this problematic definition.

Vardagen ställer allt färre krav på fysisk aktivitet och stillasittande aktiviteter har blivit allt vanligare. En av dessa aktiviteter är tv- och dataspel som idag tros ha fler utövare än fotboll och ishockey har tillsammans. Studiens syfte var därför att undersöka attityder och värderingar hos föräldrar med tv- och dataspelande barn. Studien var kvalitativ på en beskrivande nivå. Sammanlagt har sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med totalt nio deltagande föräldrar, sex kvinnor och tre män. Huvudresultatet i studien visade att föräldrars negativa attityd främst påverkades av våldet som förekommer i många spel. Spelen kunde också ha en negativ effekt genom att barnen blev trötta och på dåligt humör ifall de spelade för länge. Positivt var att barnen hade kul då de spelade, de lärde sig nya saker samt att de kunde känna sig stolta över vad de åstadkommit i spelen. Jämfört med andra medier jämställde föräldrar tv- och dataspelens effekter på hälsan. Föräldrarna kunde se en skillnad mellan olika konsoler då Nintendo Wii är den konsol som erbjuder rörelse, till skillnad från traditionella konsoler.

Följandet arbete är en reflekterande text som handlar om hur jag skapade ett verktyg för att balansera det rundbaserade precautionstridsystemet av spelet Dreamlords – The Reawakening. I början förklaras mitt syfte och mål med arbetet som följs av en frågeställning kopplat till det. Jag kommer även att beskriva olika teorier som jag tittade närmare på angående spelbalansering. För att inleda läsaren till spelet Dreamlords ska jag även förklara den generella spelprincipen av hela spelet. Därefter tar jag upp min arbetsprocess som handlar om hur jag strukturerade upp mitt arbete. I denna text ska jag även förklara hur precautionstridsystemet fungerar med alla matematiska beräkningar för att sedan beskriva mitt verk som praktiskt resultat av arbetet. I slutet av rapporten inleder jag med en diskussion där mitt arbete sammanfattas och problem behandlas som uppstått vid arbetets gång. Texten beskriver i sin helhet hur man kan gå tillväga för att balansera ett spelsystem såsom Dreamlords precautionstridsystem. Som resultat av mitt arbete kan betraktas mitt balanseringsverktyg och denna reflekterande text som förhoppningsvis kommer att inspirera läsaren och flera andra personer som är intresserad av att balansera dataspel.

Game balance can be considerd complex - there are many factors that play a role in the perception of balance. This thesis examines complexity, game theory and intution in an effort to disconver more about the perception of balance. The findings are that tactical and strategical choices that are presented for a player need to be interesting, not to complex and not to obvious. The importance lies in the estimation of the result that the player does when making a choice. / Spelbalansering är komplext – det finns många faktorer som påverkar det som uppfattas som balans. I mitt verk undersöks speciellt komplexitet, spelteori och intuition i jakten på att gräva fram mer ut ämnet. Denna reflexiva rapport tar upp metod och arbetsprocessen runt verket och mitt arbete på ability-systemet på Lockpick Entertainment. Om de taktiska och strategiska val som presenteras för en spelare anses som intressanta beror både på spelaren och svårigheten i valet. Är valet komplext är det svårare att avgöra korrekt, och taktiska och strategiska avvägningar måste göras. Detta är grunden i spelbalansering, att spelaren har flera vettiga, men inte uppenbara, val att välja bland.

Video games are a part of modern culture. As video game spaces begin to enter a new generation’s spatial lexicon, it is important for architects, curators of spatial design, to understand this new medium of space. This thesis aims to introduce two concepts specific to video game design, the magic circle and flow, to architects as a means of understanding the design of video game spaces. First coined by the Dutch historian Johann Huizinga in Homo Ludens, and later adapted by video game designers Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, the magic circle refers to the boundary created by the rules of a game that separate reality from the fantasy of the game. Within the magic circle, the rules of play can transform and give new meaning to spatial organizations that could be considered problematic in real world architectural design. Flow is a psychological concept introduced by Hungarian psychology professor Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. When completing a task, flow occurs when both the skill level of the participant and the challenge level of the task are equally high. When a state of flow is achieved, the task becomes enjoyable and can be carried out indefinitely until the balance is broken. Effective video games spaces are specifically designed to contribute to flow experiences, while ineffective spaces can make a game too easy or too hard, creating a boredom or anxiety for the player. Through a series of explorations and video game case studies, specifically in the first-person and third person shooter genre, this thesis first observes the transformation of implied spatial meanings in the magic circle. It then introduces the unique spatial languages used to generate spaces that support the creation of flow alongside the gameplay and narrative of a video game. This thesis culminates with the design and execution of an original capture the flag map created with the Unreal Engine that tests the concepts of the magic circle and flow in video game spaces. As video games become increasingly ubiquitous, this thesis acts as means of entry for architects to understand the unique properties of an emerging form of spatial design.