Use Of Games Research Articles

Let’s Talk Games: An Expert Exploration of Speech Interaction with NPCs

Recent years have witnessed significant advances in speech recognition and language processing technologies, enabling natural language conversations with computers. Concurrently, the gaming industry seeks to heighten immersion as one of the leading mediums for entertainment. This work investigates the potential and challenges of using speech interaction in single-player video games, particularly for interactions with NPCs. We conducted an online survey with video game experts ( N = 20 ) alongside in-depth interviews with researchers specializing in conversational user interfaces and game user research ( N = 16 ). Our findings emphasize experts’ recognition of the considerable potential of speech interaction in games, fostering increased immersion, engagement, and entertainment. Additionally, experts address pertinent concerns like privacy issues and play environment limitations. Drawing from our findings, we provide practical recommendations for integrating speech interaction in single-player games. These encompass potential benefits, challenges, accessibility, and social implications. We further address potential regulatory requirements and offer implementation tips to enhance player experience.

Exploring the Relationship Between Stress and Excessive Gaming: The Role of Game Efficacy

ABSTRACT Video game overuse, especially among youths, has become a global social concern with diverse adverse consequences. Using data on a sample of Korean adolescents from the Game User Panel, this study aims to enhance our understanding of the connection between stress and excessive gaming by integrating the concept of gaming efficacy. A series of cross-lagged dynamic panel models indicate that academic stress is significantly related to increased game use. Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by game efficacy. The findings suggest that video games may serve as a coping strategy, allowing adolescents to fulfill basic psychological needs by feeling confident in their gaming abilities. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

Metaverse gaming: analyzing the impact of self-expression, achievement, social interaction, violence, and difficulty

ABSTRACT In the burgeoning landscape of metaverse gaming, understanding player behaviour and preferences is crucial for both academic and practical applications. This study delves into the dynamic realm of metaverse gaming, exploring the influence of various factors on user satisfaction and continuance intention. The primary purpose was to examine the roles of self-expression, challenge and achievement, social interaction, violence catharsis, and game difficulty in shaping player experiences in the metaverse. Employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) as the analytical method, the study analysed responses from 171 metaverse game users. The findings revealed intriguing patterns: while self-expression significantly impacts continuance intention, it does not affect immediate satisfaction. Challenge and achievement enhance satisfaction but not continuance intention, emphasizing the complex relationship between these constructs. Social interaction emerged as a critical factor positively influencing both satisfaction and continuance intention. Contrary to popular belief, violence catharsis did not significantly affect either satisfaction or continuance intention. Additionally, increased game difficulty was found to negatively impact both satisfaction and continuance intention. Satisfaction was shown to drive continuance intention. These insights bear significant implications for game developers and marketers, highlighting the need for nuanced game design strategies that emphasize social interaction and balanced challenges.

Hic sunt leones. User orientation as a design principle for emerging institutions on social media platforms

AbstractThe phenomenon of missed interactions between online users is a specific issue occurring when users of different language games interact on social media platforms. We use the lens of institutional theory to analyze this phenomenon and argue that current online institutions will necessarily fail to regulate user interactions in a way that creates common meanings because online institutions are not set up to deal with the multiplicity of language games and forms of life co-existing in the online social space. We argue for the need to enable and foster grassroots online institutions that can stabilize the norms of interaction by redesigning algorithms and user interfaces. Such online grassroots institutions would facilitate user orientation at three distinct levels: informational, normative, and semantic-pragmatic. We propose user orientation as a principle that would facilitate the formation of institutions aiming to regulate information exchanges between users inhabiting various forms of life. This principle of user orientation should guide design decisions, while designer teams would need to become aware of the institutional power unleashed when they set up interfaces and algorithms for user-generated content.

Two Sides of the Same Virtual Coin: Investigating Psychosocial Effects of Video Game Play, including Stress Relief Motivations as a Gateway to Problematic Video Game Usage.

Video gamers can play to negate the psychological impact of stress, which may become problematic when users over-rely on the stress relief potential of gaming. This study used a repeated measures experimental design to investigate the relationships between stress, video gaming, and problematic video gaming behaviours in a convenience sample of 40 students at a UK university. The results indicated that positive affect increased and negative affect decreased, whilst a biological stress measure (instantaneous pulse rate) also decreased after a short video gaming session (t(36) = 4.82, p < 0.001, d = 0.79). The results also suggested that video gaming can act as a short-term buffer against the physiological impact of stress. Further research should focus on testing individuals who have been tested for gaming disorder, as opposed to the general population. Research could also utilise variations of the methodological framework used in this study to examine the intensity of a stress relief effect under different social situations. The study's findings in relation to published works are also discussed.

Pattern of video game usage and video game disorder in Portugueses adolescents: A study about parental and peer attachment, parenting styles, and communication in parenting

Introduction Video game disorder has been a subject of increasing interest, being associated with patterns of insecure attachment and authoritarian and permissive parenting styles. However, there is still a gap concerning the relationship between video game disorder and parent-child communication, one of the fundamental components of attachment to parents. Particularly in the Portuguese context, research on these topics and their interrelations is still scarce, thus remaining relatively unexplored.ObjectivesTo explore the pattern of video game usage and video game disorder, as well as their relationships with parental and peer attachment, parenting styles, and communication in parenting within a sample of Portuguese adolescents.Methods 150 Portuguese teenagers, recruited at public Portuguese schools, aged between 10 and 19 years old (mean age = 14.37, DP = 3.12; 52.7% girls (n = 79), and mostly living with both parents (79.7%, n = 106) fulfilled a sociodemographic and an academic questionnaire, a questionnaire on video game use patterns, the Video Game Disorder Scale - Short Version 9, the People in My Life Questionnaire, the Portuguese hetero-report version of the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire: Short Versionand the Perception Scale of Parenting Communication.ResultsThe majority of the sample indicated 3rd childhood (n = 81, 54.0%), specifically at 8 years old, as the age of video game initiation and a playtime of less than or equal to 2 hours (n = 111, 74.0%), with only 2 participants found to have a video game disturbance index (1.3%). A positive association was found between video game disturbance and the average hours of gameplay, as well as a negative association with the age of game initiation. Additionally, relationships were explored, revealing that video game disturbance is negatively related to lower quality of attachment to parents and peers, positively related to an authoritative parenting style, and negatively related to less available, open, and affectionate parent-child communication.ConclusionsThis study provides an in-depth understanding of adolescents’ behavior regarding video games, contributing to the knowledge of the topic in the Portuguese context. Furthermore, the identification of factors associated with video game disturbance allows for the development of remediation and prevention programs for this addictive disturbance, which are essential tools in psychological practice.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Playing Through the Pandemic: Gaming Usage as a Buffer During COVID-19

Amidst the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, video games were used heavily, presumably to help cope with negative moods and social isolation. This study sought to understand the implications of such play on well-being within a particular sample. Drawing on uses and gratifications and self-determination theories, the study adopted a longitudinal perspective incorporating data from one game, both before and during the pandemic. Data included both repeated cross-sectional surveys as well as unobtrusive, within-game measures. Among players of a marginally social, large-scale, team-based vehicle combat game (World of Tanks), play time increased slightly while well-being was generally steady. Increases in play were associated with increases in competence, which in turn lead to higher well-being. The theoretical implications and generalizability of the findings are discussed.

Evaluation of the Usability of a Serious Game in Virtual Reality with a Focus on the Perception and Experience of Health Professionals for Motor Rehabilitation in Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Introduction: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a nonprogressive neuropathological condition that requires lifelong neurocognitive-motor rehabilitation. Evidences indicate that the use of new technologies to assist in rehabilitation processes, such as serious games in virtual reality (VR), have served as adjuncts to therapy and capable of promoting engagement, motivation, and motor activation for these patients. Objective: To investigate the usability of a serious game in VR to help with the stability and balance of the head and trunk of children with CP, focusing on the perception and experience of health professionals. Methods: The collection was carried out with health professionals, and the results were comprehensively evaluated through viability by means of the total score, number of correct answers, number of errors, and level of difficulty during the execution of the game, which were collected from the performance report generated by the application. System satisfaction was also verified by the System Usability Scale (SUS). Results: The mean obtained from the total score of the SUS was 82.10 ± 12.66 points, being considered of high usability for the suggested purpose. The professionals' opinion about the usability of the system did not change due to the performance during the game. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the developed rehabilitation program has successfully delivered the experience to exercise the head control and trunk balance of subjects with CP.

Student Player Types in Higher Education—Trial and Clustering Analyses

In the context of the ongoing transformation in education, new learning methods, as well as new technologies, and therefore new forms of interactions are challenging higher education. This challenge can be addressed through ambient learning management systems that adapt to the student in the presentation and preparation of course materials. For educational games offered in such systems, this means that the game mechanics should be adapted to the student. To narrow down the sum of mechanics to the amount that is relevant for students, player types can be identified. This paper investigates the player types among students at the University of Lübeck. The characteristics of all player types of Marczewski’s Gamification User Types Hexad Framework are considered using a clustering method for the analysis. The result is three profiles with different characteristics of player types. For each of the profiles, mechanics are suggested which can be used for the respective profile. Thus, educational games can be more easily and automatically adapted to player type.

Bimodal Transformer with Regional EEG Data for Accurate Gameplay Regularity Classification.

As games have been applied across various fields, including education and healthcare, numerous new games tailored to each field have emerged. Therefore, understanding user behavior has become crucial in securing the right players for each type of game. This study provides valuable insights for improving game development by measuring the electroencephalography (EEG) of game users and classifying the frequency of game usage. The multimodal mobile brain-body imaging (MOBI) dataset was employed for this study, and the frequency of game usage was categorized into "often" and "sometimes". To achieve decent classification accuracy, a novel bimodal Transformer architecture featuring dedicated channels for the frontal (AF) and temporal (TP) lobes is introduced, wherein convolutional layers, self-attention mechanisms, and cross-attention mechanisms are integrated into a unified model. The model, designed to differentiate between AF and TP channels, exhibits functional differences between brain regions, allowing for a detailed analysis of inter-channel correlations. Evaluated through five-fold cross-validation (CV) and leave-one-subject-out cross-validation (LOSO CV), the proposed model demonstrates classification accuracies of 88.86% and 85.11%, respectively. By effectively classifying gameplay frequency, this methodology provides valuable insights for targeted game participation and contributes to strategic efforts to develop and design customized games for player acquisition.

POSSIBLE UTILIZATION OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS FOR CREATING DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL ESCAPE ROOMS

Escape rooms used for teaching purposes are usually called educational escape rooms. Educational escape rooms are cooperative games designed for teaching particular educational material based on a series of narrative-driven puzzles that group(s) of pupils/students must solve within a limited time to achieve the goal of the game and leave a room or environment (or alternatively break into the locked box or unravel a mystery). The shift to online teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of educational escape rooms in a digital format. Digital educational escape rooms are escape game-like interactive activities (based on educational content) that are made with digital technologies. Most of the research studies and literature reviews suggest that digital educational escape rooms could have some positive impacts on students’ cognitive, behavioral, and affective learning outcomes. However, a significant amount of digital escape games created by teachers lack engaging story, challenging narrative-based puzzles (that are related to specific learning objectives), and cohesive graphics. Therefore, the practical usability and effectiveness of such games in real and virtual learning environments are questionable. In the field of educational game development, generative artificial intelligence can play a significant role in simplifying the process, improving quality, and saving time. This paper discusses how teachers could utilize generative artificial intelligence tools to ease and improve the creation process of digital educational escape rooms. In other words, this paper provides examples of how elements of digital escape games (such as narrative, game environment images, and puzzles) can be created with generative artificial intelligence tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing Image Creator, Stable Diffusion, AutoDraw, etc.).

Improving Behavioral-Based Safety Training in Using Verbal Commands Through a Theory-Driven and Feedback-Based Nonimmersive Virtual Reality Game: Development and Usability Study.

The construction, chemical, aviation, medical, and health care industries have used serious games for safety training. To our knowledge, serious games have not been developed focusing on behavioral change to improve safety through the use of verbal commands and instilling players with heightened awareness of their spatial proximity to other people in their surroundings. We aimed to develop a theory-driven serious game for improving safety behavior using verbal commands and validate the implementation of the theoretical frameworks used for game development. The game developed, KitchenSpeak, was a first-person character (FPC) game where users respond to in-game prompts to use loud verbal commands when they are approaching another employee's blind spot. In addition to using the SERES framework in guiding the general game design and development, and the Reflection, Engagement, Choice, Information, Play, Exposition (RECIPE) framework to inform the design of the game mechanics, we also applied gestalt laws of perception for graphic design to guide the design of the game's user interface. We conducted 2 evaluative tests (alpha and beta) to collect end user and stakeholder feedback on the implementation of the theoretical frameworks, as well as to collect relevant information for full-scale implementation and a future validation study. The alpha and beta tests had 8 and 40 participants, respectively. The alpha test results revealed that the theoretical frameworks were adequately applied; however, suggestions were also made to modify and improve the game. The beta test results suggested further improvements for the game design and found no differences in the perception of ease of play between participants with and without previous FPC gaming experience (P=.47; Kruskal-Wallis). Results suggested that the game met its design and theoretical requirements, and it would be easily playable by all players regardless of their previous experience in FPC games. A theory-driven and evidence-based FPC game titled KitchenSpeak was developed to teach the use of kitchen-speak terms in commercial kitchens. Evaluative tests were conducted to validate the implementation of the theoretical frameworks. Our main contributions are creating and validating game-based training to improve behavioral-based safety in the workplace and the incorporation of gestalt laws of perception for graphic design in the game's user interface.

Music-driven generative dance movement teaching game based on a multi-feature fusion strategy

The study aims to develop a music-driven dance teaching game that enhances players' dance learning. By utilizing a multi-feature fusion strategy, the game creates dance movements inspired by music. The model effectively combines music and dance features to generate various dance sequences. In performance tests, the research model successfully matches the tempo and intensity of the music with the generated dance. Overall, this approach improves players' dance movement learning ability. The teaching effectiveness of the research method is significantly superior, with an average value of 95.23 points in the teaching evaluation. In terms of running time, for simple dances, the average generation time is 10 s; for ordinary categories of dances, the average generation time is 15 s; for complex dances, the average generation time is 17 s. The fluency of the generated dances is 97.21 %. The study's findings confirm the effectiveness of the research method. The game's use of multi-feature fusion algorithms allows for adaptive adjustments in difficulty and complexity based on the player's learning situation and ability level. This provides a more diverse and immersive gaming experience, while also presenting innovative ideas for future game development and teaching design.

Perceived Soccer Literacy: A Construct Linking Soccer Video Games Play to Soccer Engagement

Abstract: This study investigates soccer video games as a platform to promote soccer engagement (i.e., involvement, behavioral intentions) among those who do not physically play soccer regularly. Perceived soccer literacy is proposed as a construct explaining the promotional effect, consisting of the four sub-themes of affective attitude, perceived functional knowledge, perceived critical knowledge, and perceived competence. A study was conducted based on an online survey and with US and Canadian adults who do not physically play soccer on a regular basis. With structural equation modeling, (1) the association between soccer video game use and perceived soccer literacy was examined (via mean comparison) and (2) perceived soccer literacy’s link to soccer involvement and behavioral intentions was tested (via latent variable path analysis). Positive links were reported from soccer video games usage to all four sub-themes. Perceived soccer literacy imposed significant influences on soccer involvement/intentions, where perceived critical knowledge was the most influential.

VR 게임 이용자의 지각된 진정성이 재구매 의도에 미치는 영향 : 지각된 가치, 몰입의 매개효과 및 신뢰 성향의 조절효과

VR 게임 이용자의 지각된 진정성이 재구매 의도에 미치는 영향 : 지각된 가치, 몰입의 매개효과 및 신뢰 성향의 조절효과

A Comparison between Online Quizzes and Serious Games: The Case of Friend Me

The rapid changes in digital technology have had a substantial influence on education, resulting in the development of learning technologies (LTs) such as multimedia, computer-based training, intelligent tutoring systems, serious games, social media, and pedagogical agents. Serious games have demonstrated their effectiveness in several domains, while there is contradictory data on their efficiency in modifying behavior and their possible disadvantages. Serious games are games that are specifically created to fulfill a primary goal other than entertainment. The objective of our study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a serious game designed for the self-assessment of students concerning their knowledge of web technologies on students with an equivalent online quiz that uses the same collection of questions. The primary hypotheses we stated were that those utilizing the serious game would experience better results in terms of engagement, subjective experience, and learning compared to those using the online quiz. To examine these research questions, the IMI questionnaire, the total number of completed questions, and post-test grades were utilized to compare the two groups, which consisted of 34 undergraduate students. Our findings indicate that the serious game users did not have a better experience or better learning outcomes, but that they engaged more, answering significantly more questions. Future steps include finding more participants and extending the experimental period.

Increasing the productivity of hunting lands on the base of upgrading the quality of trade furs

A decrease in the productivity of hunting lands is often associated with a drop in the income of hunters who are not informed about the main changes in the requirements of buyers for the quality of fur. This is explained by the lack of up-to-date reliable information among the majority of hunters and game users about the system of modern international sorting of commercial sable, on the basis of which auctions are carried out, export prices are formed, which determine the prospects for the exploitation of such a valuable species. For this reason, the number of fur market subjects who understand the possibilities of increasing profi ts from the sale of sable skins by improving their quality is small. The purpose of the research was to consider the possibilities of increasing the productivity of hunting lands through increasing the level of development of sable resources based on improving the quality of commercial furs. The main natural and anthropogenic factors aff ecting the quality of commercial sable skins have been discussed in the article. The dependence of the auction price of skins on the degree of their defectiveness has been traced. An analysis of the dependence of fur quality on the geographical distribution of the species was carried out. The main defects of anthropogenic origin have been identifi ed, aff ecting the cost and the possibility of improving the quality of the product through additional processing. The economic effi ciency of complex additional processing of raw materials was shown. For example, eliminating fur defects and increasing the size of individual skins contributed to an increase in their selling price at auction by 20–30 %.

The role of lifestyle factors, biological sex, and racial identity for (visually induced) motion sickness susceptibility: Insights from an online survey

Motion sickness (MS) and visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) are common side-effects when travelling or when using visual devices, respectively. A variety of individual factors may determine one’s susceptibility to MS/VIMS. Here, the role of lifestyle factors including video-game usage, physical activity, diet, and substance use on self-reported susceptibility to MS/VIMS was investigated. Additionally, the roles of biological sex and racial identity on the overall prevalence of MS/VIMS were analyzed. A total of 711 responses to an online survey were collected from adults between the ages of 17–49 years. Methods of analyses included correlations, comparison tests, and multiple regressions. The results showed that, overall, VIMS is a prevalent issue for most participants, with approximately 24 % of users reporting nausea at least sometimes when using visual displays. Although some lifestyle factors (video game usage, assorted dietary elements) were identified as potentially relevant for MS/VIMS susceptibility, these factors only explained a minimal amount of the variance in MS/VIMS susceptibility. Significant sex differences were found, with female participants reporting higher susceptibility for MS/VIMS than male participants. Additionally, East Asians participants reported higher MS susceptibility. Our findings do not suggest that lifestyle factors are prominent predictors for the susceptibility of VIMS and MS.

Reinforcement Learning Review: Past Acts, Present Facts and Future Prospects

Reinforcement Learning (RL) is fast gaining traction as a major branch of machine learning, its applications have expanded well beyond its typical usage in games. Several subfields of reinforcement learning like deep reinforcement learning and multi-agent reinforcement learning are also expanding rapidly. This paper provides an extensive review on the field from the point of view of Machine Learning (ML). It begins by providing a historical perspective on the field then proceeds to lay a theoretical background on the field. It further discusses core reinforcement learning problems and approaches taken by different subfields before discussing the state of the art in the field. An inexhaustive list of applications of reinforcement learning is provided and their practicability and scalability assessed. The paper concludes by highlighting some open areas or issues in the field

Return to Play, Performance, and Earnings Analysis After Lumbar Disc Herniation in National Hockey League Players

Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Objective Professional hockey players have a high incidence of lumbar disc herniations (LDH). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of LDH on the performance and financial earnings of National Hockey League (NHL) players. Methods NHL players who sustained a LDH were retrospectively reviewed utilizing an online database and a 2:1 matched control cohort. Player performance and game usage was compared at one- and three-season(s) pre- and post-injury season within the cohorts. Injured and matched players were divided into 3 groups based on the player’s adjusted index season salary. Results A total of 181 players were included, with 62 LDH players matched to 119 healthy controls. Return to play after LDH was 79%. The LDH cohort had fewer seasons played throughout their career compared to the matched group (12.5 ± 4.3 vs 14.2 ± 3.8; P = .031). At 1 season post-index, the LDH cohort had significantly fewer goals per 60 and points per 60 when compared to pre-index. At 3 seasons post-index, the LDH cohort exhibited a significant decline in time-on-ice per game played, goals per 60, and points per 60 compared to pre-index. Conclusion The majority of NHL players who sustained a LDH returned to play (79%) but had shorter careers overall and decreased performance outcomes when compared to matched cohorts at both 1 and 3 seasons post-injury.