The thesis maps and compares the success of solving the game activities of the players of the Czech women's national football team. It is a diagnostic of eight games played in the qualifications for the 2019 World Championship. The thesis investigates the success of the selected gaming activities of the Czech team as a whole, and in these activities it compares the success of defensive players, midfielders and offensive players.

There is currently little research about how the aesthetics of a game affects the perceived PX. Especially, the aesthetics of the individual 3D game components, such as characters, enemies and environmental objects. This thesis project studies different design principles and approaches to create 3D game components. These are used in practice to create 3D game components for a video game. The 3D game components are evaluated with qualitative and quantitative methods, with the intention to find a method for creating 3D game components that evoke a certain PX. The results show that it is possible to create 3D game components that evoke positive emotions, by using color psychology, animation theory and by designing from the developers own feelings and experiences.

Throughout the last two years the revenues from in-game transactions in video-games have increased due to its growing presence both in traditional retail games as well as digital due to the fact that more and more games have become free. This growing presence is the basis for answering the question of what motivates players to spend money on in-game purchases in freeto-play games. The research found that having a well designed game is a very important factor that makes players purchase content. Many respondents made purchases based on emotional reasons such as wanting to look cool. People also made purchases to avoid grinding and to gain competitive advantages. In summary people think that their purchases were justifiable since the games are free but the common consensus is that while cosmetic items are acceptable, pay-towin items which provide a competitive advantage are not.

Thesis advisor: Richard McGowan / Can statistical analysis of professional basketball players lead to a more efficient evaluation of a player's worth? Following the recent success of statistic-driven baseball franchises, many basketball executives and followers are beginning to mine the sport's production in search of an all-encompassing player value rating. Teams could thus exploit undervalued players, leading to increased team and fan welfare. My thesis addresses this ongoing debate by examining various player and team statistics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). While I find significant relationships between individual efficiency statistics and team success, I also discover the paramount importance of defensive statistics and balanced team payrolls. This paper proposes a model that would help team executives find players who promote team efficiency, rather than individual production. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Este trabalho tem como intuito trazer luz a elementos que possibilitem o claro entendimento dos conceitos responsáveis pelo envolvimento do jogador com o jogo, em especial, as regras e o gameplay, que consideramos como primordiais para a construção de sua experiência de jogar. Neste intento, partimos do entendimento do conceito de jogo, buscando identificar os elementos que são importantes para que um jogo se constitua como tal, derivando os que consideramos ser essenciais ao jogo. Discutimos os conceitos de regras e gameplay, seus tipos e elementos, e as relações e as influências que se estabelecem entre eles. Observamos que quando o jogo apresenta um desafio ao jogador, que o coloca imerso no ambiente do jogo, a manipulação das mecânicas e da combinação das regras lhe permitirá experimentar a emergência de novos elementos, decorrentes de sua agência, e capazes de lhe porporcionar uma experiência gratificante e prazerosa. / The work is concerned primarily to point out some elements that can clarify the understanding of the concepts responsible by the player engagement with the game; the rules and the gameplay are the elements, considered as principal, to construct the experience of playing. Comprehending the concept of the game, we tried to identify the elements responsible for that. The rules and the gameplay concepts, types and elements, and their interrelations have been discussed. The challenge proposed by the game can create an immersive condition to the player; the mechanics manipulation and the rules combination will evoke the emergence of new elements and turn this experimentation enjoyable and grateful.

Serious games can be used for a vast amount of different purposes and they change the way we think, learn, and entertain ourselves. The focus of this paper will be more about learning or educational games and how the adaptation of content through personalized preferences can be of an importance for capturing the user’s interest and retaining their motivation. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the content adaptation of a serious game target group in order to maintain their motivation to achieve the learning outcome. The players of serious games usually have a goal or motivation prior to begin playing a game. Those goals may include the learning of a new language or increasing one's geography or math skills. By adapting the content of a serious game to the level of knowledge of a player or giving the player the opportunity to choose in what field they would like to increase their knowledge in, could be a factor to maintain the player motivation up until the goal of the player is achieved. In this paper, an adaptive educational game has been developed to examine whether a target group with personalized content will indicate a higher motivation to play the game than another group which will be playing the direct version of the game without any personalized content.

The current models of skill in video games make one of two impositions on players: either to provide an estimate of their own skill, or complete several games before they can be properly assessed. However, in order to experience the most enjoyment and greatest sense of immersion, players need to play against the right difficulty. In order to assign the appropriate difficulty, the player's skill must first be captured accurately and quickly, before the player gets frustrated or bored. Rather than relying on game results that need to be averaged over several games, this thesis proposes predicting a player's skill from their behaviour within the first game. In order to do this, we explore methods for measuring skill in both a multiplayer and single-player game and methods for extracting appropriate information from the player's behaviour. The resulting predictions can then be used to automatically assign an appropriate difficulty to the player. In a multiplayer environment, we first demonstrate that a player's final rank canbe predicted within the first 30 seconds of a game with a correlation of over 0.8.This process is transferred to a single-player first-person shooter, where our modelis shown to assign difficulties comparable to a player's own assessment of theirskill within the first 30 seconds of a campaign. We argue that these methods forcapturing skill in a first-person shooter are transferable to other genres, and havethe potential to improve difficulty selection systems.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:22:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KASSIA KELY GOMES SILVA.pdf: 21870608 bytes, checksum: 6330fefebf04e6a0a3a8ecd27ac46345 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-12 / Soccer is the greatest social phenomenon in Brazil, in that it is admired and played by many people, permeated for peculiar ideologies and fleeting waves, a reason that took us to research its workers, the players. So, this paper has seeked to learn how the professional athletes of soccer experience their work for the Team X? What are the feelings that they attribute to their work as professional athletes for Team X? The labor reported experiences were systematized and analyzed, having as substrate three macro-categories that group the established categories a priori from the Psychodynamic approach in the paper, which are: Category 1 Professional Journey and Identity; Category 2 Work Management Work conditions, Work Organization and Work Relations; and Category 3 Subjective Mobilization Work Objectives, Experiences of Pleasure and Suffering in the work and Facing Strategies. So that it was possible, we decided to do a study of case of descriptive and exploratory character, in a soccer team, using for technique of collecting data, semi-structured interview and documental analyses, we interviewed 21 players, we used as inclusive criteria: being athlete of professional soccer, male sex, hired by the X Team and taking part in the daily activities like training and preparing. The interview guide was a leading axe having questions that encompassed the three macro categories. The discursive analysis was used to treat the generated data from the interview. Results showed that the history of these players have been permeated by many fallacious discourses as their representation the society holds over their profession, they live in a context very competitive, this characteristic of their Sport insert them in an alienating logic, peculiar of the system instrumental logic of production, in which subordination, denial and self-overcoming consist in conditions sine qua nom for staying in the market. The work for the athletes still consist in recognizing source, pleasure and social accession, which provides them with pleasurable experiences. The athletes in the execution of their work provide happiness for the supporters, making them to forget the daily maladies, this is important, because it justifies in many aspects the everyday work, besides contributing in the forge of the resignification of suffering inherent to that one. Reinforced by the media work, the athletes are considered idols, examples and myths. Like this, it was possible to understand the meaning of the work for the Professional soccer players, from three aspects: personal, social accession and promising career; the professional aspects, for they are considered idols, promoters of entertainment, subjects without culture that get rich and finally the popularity aspects, for playing soccer is a different profession, better paid, although, the media sells a twisted image, which does not represent the reality lived by them. But, even if the reality be contradictory, the pleasure of being a professional athlete for these professional overcome the suffering. / O futebol consiste no maior fenômeno social do Brasil, sendo admirado e praticado por muitas pessoas, permeado por ideologias e modismos peculiares, motivo que nos levou a optar por pesquisar os trabalhadores - atletas profissionais de futebol. Assim, esta dissertação buscou apreender como os atletas profissionais de futebol vivenciam seu trabalho no Clube X? E quais os sentidos que atribuem ao seu trabalho como atleta profissional no clube X? As experiências laborais relatadas foram sistematizadas e analisadas, tendo como substrato três macro categorias que agruparam as categorias estabelecidas a priori da abordagem Psicodinâmica do Trabalho, que são: Categoria 1 - Identidade e Trajetória profissionais; Categoria 2 - Gestão do Trabalho - Condições de Trabalho, Organização do Trabalho e Relações de Trabalho; e Categoria 3 - Mobilização Subjetiva Sentidos do Trabalho, Vivências de Prazer e Sofrimento no Trabalho e Estratégias de Enfrentamento. Para que isto fosse possível, optamos por realizar um estudo de caso de caráter descritivo e exploratório, em um clube de futebol, utilizamos como técnica de coleta de dados, entrevistas semi estruturadas e análise documental, entrevistamos 21 atletas, utilizamos como critérios de inclusão: ser atleta de futebol profissional, do sexo masculino, contratado pelo clube X e estar participando das práticas cotidianas do clube como treinamentos e concentrações. O roteiro de entrevista foi um eixo norteador contendo perguntas que contemplaram as três macro categorias. Os dados gerados pelas entrevistas foram tratados a partir de análise discursiva. Os resultados mostraram que a trajetória destes jogadores foi permeada por muitos discursos falaciosos quanto à representação que a sociedade possui a respeito da profissão deles, vivem num contexto muito competitivo, esta característica do esporte insere-os numa lógica alienante, própria da lógica instrumental do sistema de produção, onde subordinação, negação e auto-superação consistem em condições sine qua nom de permanência no mercado. O trabalho para os atletas consiste ainda em fonte de reconhecimento, prazer e ascensão social, o que proporciona a eles vivências de prazer. Os atletas na execução de seu trabalho proporcionam alegria aos torcedores, fazendo-os esquecer as mazelas do dia a dia, e isto é importante, pois justifica em muitos aspectos o cotidiano do trabalho, além de contribuir no fomento da ressignificação do sofrimento inerente a este. Reforçados pela atuação da mídia, os atletas, são considerados ídolos, exemplos e mitos. Sendo assim, foi possível entender o significado do trabalho para o atleta profissional de futebol, a partir de três aspectos: os pessoais, de ascensão social e de carreira promissora; os aspectos profissionais, pois são considerados ídolos, promotores de diversão às pessoas, sujeitos sem cultura que enriqueceram; e finalmente os aspectos de popularidade, pois jogar futebol é uma profissão diferente, melhor remunerada, porém, a mídia vende uma imagem distorcida, que não condiz com a realidade vivida por eles. Todavia, ainda que a realidade seja contraditória, o prazer em ser atleta profissional de futebol para estes profissionais, prevalece sobre o sofrimento.

Current Audio-Video (A-V) players are limited to pausing, resuming, selecting and viewing a single video stream of a live broadcast event that is orchestrated by a professional director. The main objective of this research is to investigate how to create a new custom-built interactive A V player that enables viewers to personalise their own orchestrated views of live events from multiple simultaneous camera streams, via interacting with tracked moving objects, being able to zoom in and out of targeted objects, and being able to switch views based upon detected incidents in specific camera views. This involves research and development of a personalisation framework to create and maintain user profiles that are acquired implicitly and explicitly and modelling how this framework supports an evaluation of the effectiveness and usability of personalisation. Personalisation is considered from both an application oriented and a quality supervision oriented perspective within the proposed framework. Personalisation models can be individually or collaboratively linked with specific personalisation usage scenarios. The quality of different personalised interaction in terms of explicit evaluative metrics such as scalability and consistency can be monitored and measured using specific evaluation mechanisms.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T18:12:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernanda Gelsomini Villas Boas Francois Chiarelli.pdf: 603904 bytes, checksum: 10cf04769ca019aeb839c018992c1755 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The use of portable listening devices (PLD), among teenagers, has grown and caused an increase in time exposure to high sound pressure levels. Is important to know the hearing habits of a group of young people from a private school and a public school in the city of São Paulo and to verify the level of awareness about the potential hearing damage caused by improper and prolonged exposure to high levels of loudness in recreational activities in order to promote good hearing habits. Objective: to investigate the hearing habits of teenagers from 14 to 18 years of age regarding to the use of portable listening devices, situations experienced after the use of devices and hearing loss prevention measures. Method: This is a cross-sectional study in a population of adolescents between 14 and18 years of age. The questionnaire used was based on a research conducted by Zogby et al. (2006). Method: the questionnarie was given by the researcher and answered by the students at home. The descriptive results analysis and association analysis were carried out through the chi- square and the Fisher s exact tests . Results: the sample was constituted by 86 students from 14 to 18 years old. The results show that more than 73,9% of the students , males and females, and of the two schools use music portable devices with earphones. In general, boys use the PLD in a higher volume, during more hours and many times during a week. The answer pattern for girls from public schools is similar to the boys from private schools. The general pattern for both boys and girls, shows that the higher volume comes in association to a major frequency of use. 60% of the students use computer/ laptop with earphones. 100% of the girls from public school use VI mobile phone with earphones, in private schools we found 60% for girls and 72,6 % for boys. Girls are more inclined to reduce the time of using and the volume of the PLD. 50% frequent parties /shows / samba school rehearsal. The hearing symptoms and extra-symptoms aren t different between males and females. The girls from private school, regarding to the public school, showed a minor interest in using hearing protection, and to know the influence of the sound pollution and to participate of hearing health. The students that use PLD / mobile phones showed more need in rising the volume of the TV/ radio, beside saying ham and feeling more tired. The boys that are inclined to use hearing protection, demonstrate worry concerning to lose hearing. Conclusion: The use of portable listening devices with earphones and mobile phones is a common habit among teenagers. Go to parties and shows are, at least, part of the daily life of the half of the analysed public. The interference of these facts in the hearing health of this population is already noticed by part of it. Although this behavior is settled among adolescents, we can see a tendency to a change of habits and a worry in losing the hearing datas that can benefit the implementation of hearing health at schools / O uso de dispositivos portáteis de música (DPM) entre adolescentes tem crescido e provocado aumento no tempo de exposição à elevados níveis de pressão sonora. É importante conhecer os hábitos auditivos e a forma como os adolescentes se comportam diante de situações ruidosas para verificar seu nível de consciência sobre os potenciais riscos auditivos e extra auditivos a que se expõem nas atividades de lazer. Objetivos: investigar os hábitos auditivos de adolescentes entre 14 e 18 anos de idade. Método: estudo transversal em uma população de adolescentes entre 14 e 18 anos de idade de uma escola particular e de uma escola pública da cidade de São Paulo. Foi utilizado um questionário sobre hábitos auditivos baseado na pesquisa de Zogby et al. (2006). O instrumento foi entregue pela pesquisadora e respondido em casa pelos alunos. Foi realizada análise descritiva dos resultados e análise de associação através dos testes quiquadrado e exatos de Fisher. Resultados: a amostra foi constituída por 86 estudantes com idade entre 14 e 18 anos. Os resultados mostram que mais de 73,9% dos alunos de ambos os sexos e das duas escolas usam dispositivos portáteis de música com fones de ouvido. Meninos geralmente utilizam os DPM em volume mais alto, por mais horas e várias vezes durante a semana. O padrão de respostas para as meninas da escola pública se assemelha ao dos meninos da escola particular. O padrão geral de respostas para ambos os sexos mostra que geralmente o volume mais alto vem IV associado a uma maior frequência de uso. 60% dos alunos utilizam computador / laptop com fones de ouvido. 100% das meninas da escola pública utilizam telefone celular com fones de ouvido, na escola particular encontramos 60% para as meninas e 72,6% dos meninos. As meninas são mais propensas a diminuir o tempo de uso e o volume dos DPM. 50% frequentam baladas / shows / ensaios de escola de samba. Os sintomas auditivos e extra-auditivos não diferem entre os sexos. As meninas da escola particular, em relação à escola pública, apresentaram menor interesse em utilizar proteção auditiva, conhecer a influência da poluição sonora e participar de programas de saúde auditiva. Os alunos que utilizam DPM / telefones celulares apresentaram maior necessidade de aumentar o volume da TV / rádio, apresentaram necessidade de falar ham e sentiram-se mais cansados. Os meninos que estão propensos a usar proteção auditiva apresentam preocupação em perder a audição. Conclusão: a utilização de dispositivos portáteis de música com fones de ouvido e de telefones celulares é um hábito generalizado entre os adolescentes. Frequentar baladas e shows também faz parte do cotidiano de pelo menos metade do público analisado. A interferência desses fatos na saúde auditiva dessa população já é notada por parte dela. Embora esse comportamento esteja arraigado entre os adolescentes, observa-se uma propensão à mudança de hábitos e uma preocupação em perder a audição dados que podem favorecer a implementação de programas de saúde auditiva nas escolas