Technology such as television, computers, and video games are often in the line for reasons of why people lack physical activity and tend to gain weight and become obese. In the case of video games, with the advent of the so called “serious games initiative”, a new breed of video games have come into place. Such games are called “exergames” and they are intended to motivate the user to do physical activity. Although there is some evidence that some types of Exergames are more physically demanding than traditional sedentary games, there is also evidence that suggests that such games are not really providing the intensity of exert that is at the recommended levels for a daily exercise. Currently, most exergames have a passive approach. There is no real tracking of the players progress, there is no assessment of his/her level of exert, no contextual information, and there is no adaptability on the game itself to change the conditions of the game and prompt the desired physiological response on the player. In this thesis we present research work done towards the design and development of an architecture and related systems that support a shift in the exertion game paradigm. The contributions of this work are enablers in the design and development of exertion games with a strict serious game approach. Such games should have “exercising” as the primary goal, and a game engine that has been developed under this scheme should be aware of the exertion context of the player. The game should be aware of the level of exertion of the player and adapt the gaming context (in-game variables and exertion interface settings) so that the player can reach a predefined exertion rate as desired. To support such degree of adaptability in a multimedia, multimodal system, we have proposed a system architecture that lays down the general guidelines for the design and development of such systems.

Human wellbeing, in a large component, relies on the harmony between the body and the mind. Unfortunately, we often miss or ignore important signals from our bodies, and sometimes this can negatively impact our health. Therefore, the use of intelligent systems that grasp such signals and convey them in an intuitive manner to our minds can result in great health benefits. In this Thesis, we introduce a family of multimedia technologies and techniques aimed at realizing such systems. We call them: Ubiquitous Biofeedback Multimedia Systems. Although the notion of clinical biofeedback has been around for years, we introduce the concept of Ubiquitous Biofeedback where the biofeedback operation is given geographical and temporal ubiquity attributes. A Ubiquitous Biofeedback reference model is introduced in the Thesis to provide an abstract structural representation of the various components at play in a typical non-clinical biofeedback environment. Two systems that implement the reference model’s components are presented. These systems implement the concept of Ubiquitous Biofeedback through the introduction of innovative stress management methods. An important component of these systems guides users through a relaxation routine. Therefore, a mathematical model is developed in the goal of personalizing the relaxation process. Its objective is to suggest relaxation techniques to a user during a stressful episode based on her or his preferences, history of what worked well and appropriateness for the context. The mental stress monitoring mechanism built into the Ubiquitous Biofeedback systems presented in this Thesis relies on the measurement of Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Therefore, HRV based methods for tracking mental stress accumulation and acute manifestations during long term monitoring have been devised. Also, since HRV signals can be plagued by artifacts, several algorithms are contributed to the effort of correcting such occurrences.

abstract: This study is a qualitative exploration into the roles and social identities that Research Engineering Undergraduates (REU) enacted while engaging the public through designing serious games. At present, the science communication field is searching for ways to train the next generation of scientists to practice public engagement with science in a way that fosters dialogue with the public, however, little research has been done on training undergraduates in this regard. This exploratory study seeks to determine what opportunities a game design project in a summer program in solar energy engineering research provides undergraduates to that end. The project includes REUs designing games through a facilitated design process and then sharing them with the public at arts festivals. Through discourse analysis, data was analyzed through the lens of cohesion in order to interpret what roles and social identities REUs enacted as well as members of the public who play the games. Based on the analysis of 12 REUs and 39 player participants, findings indicate REUs most often enacted the science game designer social identity and science educator role during the public event. Less often, REUs enacted a sociotechnical role to determine the player's relationship to science/solar energy. Also, less often did they position themselves directly as scientists. For the most part, REUs reproduced the dissemination model of science communication in an interactive way and with an element of reflexivity. However, during public engagement events, dialogue with the public occurred when REUs enacted open-ended roles that enabled members of the public to contribute to the conversation by assuming a range of roles and social identities rather than positioning them into a single role. Dialogue was also supported when REUs were responsive and shifted their role/ social identity to correspond with the public’s enactment. Some players enacted a local Arizonan social identity in response to the open-ended role and game content about Arizona’s solar energy. The project afforded REUs the opportunity to learn illustration and reformulation to communicate science concepts. Also, REUs referenced their game during illustration and reformulation, using it as a tool to teach science, be a science game designer, and other enactments. More research is needed to determine how science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) undergraduates learning science communication can design serious games and conduct player reflections in such a way to promote dialogue to a greater degree than observed in this study. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2020

Human Computation methods such as crowdsourcing and games with a purpose (GWAP) have each recently drawn considerable attention for their ability to synergize the strengths of people and technology to accomplish tasks that are challenging for either to do well alone. Despite this increased attention, much of this transformation has been focused on a few selected areas of information science. This thesis contributes to the field of human computation as it applies to areas of information science, particularly information retrieval (IR). We begin by discussing the merits and limitations of applying crowdsourcing and game-based approaches to information science. We then develop a framework that examines the value of using crowdsourcing and game mechanisms to each step of an IR model. We identify three areas of the IR model that our framework indicates are likely to benefit from the application of human computation methods: acronym identification and resolution, relevance assessment, and query formulation. We conduct experiments that employ human computation methods, evaluate the benefits of these methods and report our findings. We conclude that employing human computation methods such as crowdsourcing and games, can improve the accuracy of many tasks currently being done by machine methods alone. We demonstrate that the best results can be achieved when human computation methods augment computer-based IR processes, providing an extra level of skills, abilities, and knowledge that computers cannot easily replicate.

Stress is a rising problem in society today, stress brings with it side effects that are detrimental towards an individuals’ physical and psychological health. One way to treat stress is through metacognitive therapy, which includes a change in how to perceive ones’ emotions and behavior in stressful situations.Using current technology, treatment for mental illnesses can be aided with digital programs such as digital games, which can be easier accessed than traditional therapy.The aim of this thesis work is to make guidelines that can act as a guide to develop games that aims to help young adults with stress management.

Denna studie fokuserar på forskning kring digitalt spel och ljud. Därmed innehåller studien mycket om synnedsatta personer och ljudspel. Studien använder sig av kvalitativa metoder för att samla in data om hur effektivt man kan byta ut grafisk information med auditiv information. Texten innehåller relevant forskning och diskuterar metoder kring ämnen som synnedsättning, serious games, tillgänglighet och auditiv information. Artefakten som användes för undersökningen består av en 3D-miljö, där spelaren ska ta sig till delmål och förbi hinder för att nå slutmålet. Artefakten innehåller ingen grafisk information för spelaren och de ska endast använda sin hörsel för att få den informationen de behöver för att nå slutmålet. Undersökningen visade resultat som gav insyn på hur man kan gå tillväga för att ge effektiv auditiv information. För framtida arbeten bör flera olika banor och mekaniker undersökas, samt utveckla de metoder som används under denna studie.

Many organisations need to increase their use and knowledge of service innovation in order to answer up to the increased demand for sustainable services and offerings that cater to the needs of their users. They need to become better at understanding that the best starting point for organisational development is outside the organisation where the value of their products and services are Co created with other actors and stakeholders. This paper explores the possibility of creating a serious game that introduces service innovation using the design science research and workshops as a collaboration method. The most important Service Innovation elements to include in the game are evaluated and the game ideas generated are examined through the lens of two different game design frameworks.

The aim of this degree project was to find out what students currently enrolled at upper-secondary school programs think of video games as an educational tool, and whether they believed it would be a good idea to use video games in English language classrooms. This was done by collecting data through the use of an online questionnaire, where students enrolled at an upper-secondary school in central Sweden answered questions on the subject video game habits, previous experience playing video games in class, attitudes toward video games in general and as educational tools in teaching English in particular. A secondary objective for this study was to compare what the students think of video games as an educational tool with previous research and what two active teachers have to say about the subject. To achieve this, two teacher interviews were conducted and analyzed through comparing the answers with the student questionnaire and previous research, by others, on the subject of attitudes toward video games and education. These teachers were also asked to present possible challenges for integrating video games in English class. The result was that the students had, by and large, a positive attitude towards video games being used in English class and a substantial amount of them acknowledged that they had acquired English skills through playing video games in the past. The teachers presented a number of practical challenges for using video games in class – including current curriculums, teacher readiness, technology available at school and a perceived lack of science behind video games as educational tools. Despite this, both teachers were willing to use video games in English class if they get the right incentive and tools to do so.

It is not always easy to immersive oneself in a new field, maybe even harder so if it is obligatory. This study focused on how serious games can immerse players and potential students in educational games for a learning purpose. More specifically, the study compared two similar educational games in cyber security. One of them was pretty lengthy and explained the topics in-depth, while the other was short and simpler. By allowing participants to play at least one of the two games and then answer a questionnaire about their experience with immersion, this study attempted to conclude which approach was the most immersive of the two. With the replies collected, the data on the whole suggest longer games that are more in-depth are generally more immersive, with the possible exception of participants that had no prior knowledge of the topic tend to prefer the simpler ones. / <p>Det finns övrigt digitalt material (t.ex. film-, bild- eller ljudfiler) eller modeller/artefakter tillhörande examensarbetet som ska skickas till arkivet.</p>

Projektet hade som syfte att hjälpa personer med diagnosen dyspraxi, mer specifikt oral dyspraxi. Oral dyspraxi yttrar sig som problematik medatt koordinera munrörelser vilket kan leda till svårigheter att prata tydligt och därmed även saker som svårigheter att kommunicera med andra och talgenans. Dyspraxi yttrar sig som tydligast hos unga barn då dessa ännu inte hunnit utveckla metoder för att dölja sin funktionsnedsättning. I projektet uppstod idén att denna problematik kunde hjälpas genom att skapa motivation och glädje i talpedagogiksessioner som annars kan kännas som utdragna för det barn som genomgår dem. Denna tanke ledde till efterforskning kring gamification och resulterade i ett brädspel som används av barnet med dyspraxi ihop med en talpedagog baserat på talpedagogikmetoden Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment. Brädspelet ficknamnet svammel utifrån de nonsensord som förekommer inom RapidSyllable Transition Treatment.