Smartphone Game Research Articles

Influence of smartphone game play on head flexion angle, muscle activity, and load at C7 among adolescents.

Smartphones cause physiological problems due to inappropriate postures and extensive usage. India, being the second leading country with the highest number of smartphone users (492 million in 2021), has witnessed a significant rise in smartphone-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). This study compared the effects of 60-min smartphone gameplay on head flexion angle, muscle activity, and loads at C7 on Indian adolescents. A subjective assessment was conducted on 1659 participants, of which, 40 young male adults aged between 20-28 years performed the experimental trial. Muscle (Sternocleidomastoid) activity, head flexion angle, and load acting at the neck (C7) were analyzed through postural assessment, pre-and post-subjective analysis. Participants maintained an average of 28.46°±4.04° head flexion angle for more than 43 min (71%) in an hour while performing the task. The muscle activity increased to 23% (p < 0.001) of MVC at the end of the task compared to the beginning. The results indicated a significant increase in muscle activity (1.61 times), spinal loads (4.6 times) and subjective discomfort (2.9 times) after prolonged smartphone usage. It is evident that various aspects (duration, posture, content) play a vital role in smartphone-related MSD and there is a potential risk of cervical spine problems. The increased loads reduce muscle stiffness and increase intervertebral disc pressure.

The effects of a smartphone game training intervention on executive functions in youth soccer players: a randomized controlled study.

Cognitive training primarily aims to improve executive functions (EFs). It has become a popular research topic, as previous studies have provided preliminary evidence that EFs relate to sports performance. However, whether a domain-generic cognitive training intervention can improve EFs in high-performance athletes is still unclear. The present randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effects of an eight-week (5 min/day, 5 days/week) smartphone-based domain-generic cognitive training intervention (i.e., the smartphone game "Fruit Ninja") on EFs in youth soccer athletes (N = 33; intervention: n = 15, passive control: n = 18; German youth soccer academy). We assessed working memory (3-back task), inhibition (Flanker & Go/NoGo task), and cognitive flexibility (number-letter task) in a pre-post design with computerized tasks. The results showed no significant time x group differences attributable to the cognitive training between the intervention group and the control group, except for a response time variable of the Go/NoGo task. These preliminary results do not suggest an application of CT as a smartphone-based game to improve EFs performance in soccer players. However, more research is needed to establish the efficacy of domain-specific interventions in high-level team sport athletes.

The Technological Carnivalesque in Niantic’s Pokémon Go

This article explores the networked, affective, and embodied gameplay and potential of Niantic’s 2016 augmented reality smartphone game, Pokémon Go. Following affective critique in videogame and digital studies (Anable, Hayles, et al.,) and literary notions of the “grotesque and carnivalesque” (Bakhtin), I emphasize the important and often overlooked role of embodiment in hypertext, hypermedia, and digital smartphone technology. By framing Pokémon Go in relation to Shelley Jackson’s 1995 hypertext, Patchwork Girl, I identify a specific transformative moment that reactivates Bakhtin’s carnivalesque through the embodied gameplay of the digital mobile network. Pokémon Go’s digitally mediated gameplay demonstrates how mobile gaming, and perhaps all mobile computing, in general, serves to further expand the transformative implications and uncertain possibilities of embodiment as the digital takes on new forms. This observable, transductive transformation, I argue, demonstrates a reactivation of Bakhtin’s carnivalesque in the digitally mediated mode of the technological carnivalesque.

Egyptian university students’ smartphone addiction and their digital media literacy level

This study examined the correlation between Egyptian university students’ smartphone addiction and digital media literacy. Data were gathered from a sample of 558 students enrolled at Minia University, aged 18-22, using an online questionnaire. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between smartphone overuse and digital media literacy levels. Moreover, it was found that university students obtained higher scores on the smartphone addiction scale, and social networking applications (e.g., WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok). Also, it was found that smartphone gaming, learning, and entertainment apps increase the likelihood of smartphone addiction and boost digital media literacy levels. These findings suggest that smartphone addiction may have positive effects on young adults; so, smartphone use should be oriented to benefit mobile users.

WITHDRAWN: Severe cervical kyphosis in a young adult with fixed dropped head syndrome, dysphagia, and myelopathy: A case report

Several reports exist on syndromic cervical kyphosis in the elderly, including dropped head syndrome, degenerative spondylosis, and neurological diseases; however, it is rarely reported in young patients especially with complications. We describe a case of a 25-year-old man who presented severe cervical kyphosis with dropped head syndrome, horizontal-gaze disorder, dysphagia, and myelopathy. The etiology of this cervical kyphosis was suspected to be as a result of a combination of an underlying developmental disorder and habitual, long-term cervical flexion postures while engaging in smartphone games. Combined anterior and posterior surgeries resulted in good outcomes and improved the patient's quality of life remarkably. Cervical kyphosis awareness in young patients is crucial. Moreover, combined anterior and posterior approach provides secure, good results, and with less sequelae.

Effects of Smart Phone Gaming on Hand Strength and Dexterity

Background: Mobile phones are becoming an absolute need in routine life. Mobile gadgets have developed into a portal to a wide selection of creative and competitive activities. The ease of use and cost effective of mobile phones has led to an increase in their popularity of gaming in past decade. Prior reports show that students who involve themselves in gaming activities on mobile phones, spend approximately 3 to 4.5 hrs on the activity. Due to scarcity of information and need to explore the association between hand strength and dexterity among smart phone gamers and its consequences on functions of hand. Objective: To evaluate the hand strength and dexterity among gaming and non gaming population. Method: After getting consent 288 subjects were recruited based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria from College’s in and around Bangalore South for this study. Accordingly the candidates were divided into case and control group. The assessment for grip strength, pinch strength and dexterity using HHD, Pinch meter and Jebsen Taylor hand function test was done. The analysis of obtained data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics by SPSS. Results: There is a statistically significance association seen in grip strength, pinch strength and dexterity with the p-value &lt; 0.05. Interpretation and Conclusion: There was a strong association existed between the hand strength and dexterity in gaming population compared to non gaming population.

대학생의 자기효능감이 스마트폰 게임중독에 미치는영향에서 역기능적 신념의 매개효과

The purpose of this study is to verify whether dysfunctional beliefs have a mediating effect onthe influence of college students' self-efficacy on smartphone game addiction. We conducted astudy on 323 university students, and it was investigated through questionnaires measuringsmartphone game addiction, self-efficacy, and dysfunction belief. As a result, there was asignificant negative correlation between self-efficacy and dysfunctional beliefs, self-efficacy andsmartphone game addiction, and a positive correlation between dysfunctional beliefs andsmartphone game addiction. And it was found that self-efficacy had a statistically significantnegative effect on smartphone game addiction and dysfunctional belief, and dysfunctional beliefhad a significant positive effect on smartphone game addiction. In addition, the mediating effectof dysfunctional beliefs was significantly confirmed in the relationship between self-efficacy andsmartphone game addiction.

The Use of Smartphone Serious Gaming Apps in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: Observational Study on Feasibility and Acceptability.

BackgroundAddiction is a worldwide problem with major health complications. Despite intensive treatment, relapse rates remain high. The prevalence of cognitive impairment is high in patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) and is associated with treatment dropout and relapse. Evidence indicates that cognitive function training in persons with SUDs may support treatment. Therefore, the use of web-based tools to test and train cognitive functions is of increasing interest.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a serious gaming smartphone app to test and train cognitive functions in addition to the treatment of SUDs.MethodsA prospective observational study was conducted with 229 patients seeking addiction treatment. The patients were offered 2 smartphone apps in addition to regular care: MyCognition Quotient (MyCQ) assessed cognitive functions and AquaSnap trained these functions. The feasibility was determined based on acceptance rates. The acceptability of the smartphone apps was qualitatively analyzed based on the answers to a questionnaire. Patient characteristics were compared between patients who played and did not play smartphone games. Explorative correlation analyses were performed between the playing time and cognitive assessment scores.ResultsOf the 229 patients who were offered the apps, 110 completed the MyCQ assessment, and 59 started playing AquaSnap, yielding acceptance rates of 48.0% and 25.8%, respectively. The group that completed the MyCQ assessment was significantly more educated than the group that did not download the apps (χ22=7.3; P=.03). The education level did not differ significantly between the group that played AquaSnap and the group that did not (P=.06). There were relatively more women in the AquaSnap playing group than in the nonplaying group (χ21=6.5; P=.01). The groups did not differ in terms of age, substance use, treatment setting, mood, or quality of life. With respect to acceptability, 83% (38/46) of the patients who filled out the questionnaire enjoyed taking the MyCQ measurement, whereas 41% (14/34) enjoyed playing the AquaSnap game. Furthermore, 76% (35/46) and 68% (23/34) rated the apps MyCQ and AquaSnap, respectively, as easy. More playing minutes was associated with decreased working memory reaction time and executive functioning accuracy.ConclusionsOur study showed that the use of a smartphone app for cognitive assessment in patients with SUDs who are interested and highly educated is feasible and acceptable for the subgroup that was asked to fill out a perception questionnaire. However, the use of a smartphone app for cognitive training was less feasible for this group of patients. Improvement of the training application and enhancement of the motivation of clients are needed. Despite these limitations, the present results provide support for future research investigating the use of smartphone apps for cognitive assessment and training in relation to the treatment of SUDs.

Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Pemilihan Smartphone Gaming Android Terbaik Dengan Metode Weighted Product

The lack of information in choosing an effective android gaming smartphone makes it difficult for people to choose the best gaming smartphone while people only know about ordinary smartphones with criteria that are not for games. By conducting this research, it can provide information in making decisions to determine the best Android gaming smartphone. Solutions using a decision support system using the Weighted Product (WP) method, the Weighted Product method can assist in making decisions but calculations using this method only produce the largest value that will be selected as the best alternative. The targeted population is the area of North Bekasi which amounted to 329,976 people with a presentation of leeway of five percent (5%) using the slovin formula and the results obtained were 399.515 rounded up to 400 samples. The criteria that have been set based on standard specification data for gaming smartphones for playing games are (price, battery, RAM, ROM, Chipset, and GPU) as well as alternatives selected based on the best gaming cellphones in 2021, namely Asus ROG Phone 3, Black Shark 3, Realme X50 Pro 5G, OPPO Find X2 Pro, Nubia Red Magic 5G. By using a decision support system using the Weighted Product method, it is concluded that the selection of the best Smartphone Gaming at this time in the North Bekasi area and the appropriate criteria have obtained satisfactory results in the selection of the best Gaming Smartphone. In other words, Asus ROG Phone 3, Black Shark 3 and OPPO Find X2 Pro are recommended as the best Android Gaming Smartphones today.

Smartphone gaming induces dry eye symptoms and reduces blinking in school-aged children

PurposeSmartphone use by children is rising rapidly, but its ocular surface impact is unknown. This study examined the effect of smartphone use on blinking, symptoms, and tear function in children.MethodsProspective intervention study where 36 children aged 6–15years (14 M:22 F) played games on a smartphone continuously for one hour. Symptoms (SANDE, IOSS, NRS) and tear film (lipid layer thickness, tear secretion, stability) were assessed before and after gaming. Blink rate and interblink interval were measured in situ using an eye tracking headset, before (during conversation) and continuously throughout gaming. Symptoms and tear film changes were examined using paired t-tests. Changes in blinking throughout one hour were examined using repeated measures ANOVA, post-hoc comparisons with Bonferroni correction. Associations examined using Pearson bivariate correlation. Significance level was 0.05.ResultsSymptoms worsened following one hour smartphone gaming (SANDE + 8.2units, p = 0.01; IOSS + 1.3units, p < 0.001; NRS-average +6.3units, p = 0.03; NRS-comfort +7.6units, p = 0.04; NRS-tiredness +10.1units, p = 0.01), but tear film remained unchanged. Blink rate reduced from 20.8 blinks/min to 8.9 blinks/min (p < 0.001) and interblink interval increased from 2.9 s to 8.7 s (p = 0.002) within the first minute of gaming relative to baseline conversation, and this effect remained unchanged throughout one hour of gaming.ConclusionsSmartphone use in children results in dry eye symptoms and immediate and sustained slowing of blinking, with no change in tear function evident up to one hour. Given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by children, future work should examine whether effects reported herein persist or get worse over a longer term causing cumulative damage to the ocular surface.

P048 Review of Serious Smartphone Games for Teaching Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

P048 Review of Serious Smartphone Games for Teaching Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Health Information and Monitoring of Sexually Transmitted Infections (SIM study): a single-center, parallel, three-arm randomized controlled trial protocol for enhancing adherence to syphilis treatment and follow-up

BackgroundSyphilis has recently resurfaced as a significant public health problem. Since the 2000s, isolated syphilis outbreaks have increasingly occurred in North America, Europe, and Australia; in Brazil, there have been progressive increases in both congenital and acquired syphilis. There are several possible explanations, such as misdiagnosis of acquired syphilis, which could increase the number of untreated transmitters in the population; failure to initiate or complete treatment; and nontreatment of sexual partners (leading to reinfection). Mobile technologies have been successfully used to promote behavior changes and can positively impact treatment and follow-up adherence in patients with infectious diseases. The purpose of this clinical trial is to evaluate treatment and monitoring methods in patients with syphilis, including follow-up by telephone, via a game in a smartphone app, and at public health centers.MethodsThe SIM study is a single-center, randomized controlled trial with a 12-month follow-up period. The aim is to identify the most effective method of follow-up regarding patient compliance with treatment. The tests will be performed in a mobile unit in easily accessible locations. The goal is to perform 10,000 rapid tests for syphilis. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis according to VDRL tests will be randomized to one of three arms: telephone, smartphone game, or conventional in-person follow-up. All analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle.ConclusionIf we find differences in effectiveness, a major change in the conventional approach for this patient population may be needed, potentially affecting current Brazilian health policy strategies.Trial registrationNTC04753125. Version 1 of protocol 1/09/2020.

PENGARUH MODEL PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF-STAD BERBANTUAN GAME KAHOOT TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR SISWA

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This study aims to know the effect of cooperative learning model type Student Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) using smartphone game kahoot application toward students learning outcome. This research is quasi experimental design. The population of this study were students of class VIII SMP totaling 4 classes. The sampling was conducted by random sampling technique and obtained 2 classes as samples, class VIII-C and class VIII-D. Class VIII-C as the experimental class totaling 24 students and class VIII-D as the control class totaling 25 students. The test instrument used to determine student learning outcomes is a multiple choice questions in the form of pre-test and post-test which consists of 20 questions. The results showed that the class taught by STAD learning model using kahoot game obtained an average score of 82.917, while classes taught with conventional learning obtained an average score of 50.25. Hypothesis test obtained t count = 4.509 &amp;gt; t table = 4.047 then H0 is rejected and Ha is accepted. So it can be concluded that there is an effect on student learning outcomes through the Student Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) type cooperative learning model using the Kahoot game smartphone application on the learning outcomes of class VIII students on the Materials Structure and Function of Plants.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Effect of a multi-disciplinary program on anthropometric and biochemical parameters in obese and overweight elementary school girls: A randomized clinical trial

Background and aimsObesity and overweight in children are associated with an increased risk of several health issues. The present study aimed to assess the effects of a multi-disciplinary program (including nutrition education using a smartphone game, physical activity, and cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT]) on the management of obesity and overweight in elementary school girls. Methods and resultsSixty-two school girls above the 85th percentile of body mass index (BMI) for age were randomly assigned to two groups. During 10 weeks of study, the intervention group received a multi-disciplinary intervention, including nutrition education using a smartphone game, aerobic exercise, and CBT. The control group received usual traditional nutritional education. Biochemical and metabolic factors were assessed, including fasting blood sugar (FBS), lipid profile, serum leptin, and anthropometric measurements. The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) and metabolic equivalent test (MET) were also conducted. The intervention group showed more promising results in weight loss, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), and FBS compared to the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, MET and DEBQ scores in all three sections of emotions, stimuli, and restriction were better in the intervention group than in the control group (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between groups regarding the results of serum leptin and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR; p > 0.05). ConclusionsThe results indicated that education through smartphone games could possibly affect performance in real life. In addition, the multi-disciplinary approach to childhood obesity might have better performance in most areas than the single-intervention approach in obesity management.

Improved Digital Therapy for Developmental Pediatrics Using Domain-Specific Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning Study.

BackgroundAutomated emotion classification could aid those who struggle to recognize emotions, including children with developmental behavioral conditions such as autism. However, most computer vision emotion recognition models are trained on adult emotion and therefore underperform when applied to child faces.ObjectiveWe designed a strategy to gamify the collection and labeling of child emotion–enriched images to boost the performance of automatic child emotion recognition models to a level closer to what will be needed for digital health care approaches.MethodsWe leveraged our prototype therapeutic smartphone game, GuessWhat, which was designed in large part for children with developmental and behavioral conditions, to gamify the secure collection of video data of children expressing a variety of emotions prompted by the game. Independently, we created a secure web interface to gamify the human labeling effort, called HollywoodSquares, tailored for use by any qualified labeler. We gathered and labeled 2155 videos, 39,968 emotion frames, and 106,001 labels on all images. With this drastically expanded pediatric emotion–centric database (>30 times larger than existing public pediatric emotion data sets), we trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) computer vision classifier of happy, sad, surprised, fearful, angry, disgust, and neutral expressions evoked by children.ResultsThe classifier achieved a 66.9% balanced accuracy and 67.4% F1-score on the entirety of the Child Affective Facial Expression (CAFE) as well as a 79.1% balanced accuracy and 78% F1-score on CAFE Subset A, a subset containing at least 60% human agreement on emotions labels. This performance is at least 10% higher than all previously developed classifiers evaluated against CAFE, the best of which reached a 56% balanced accuracy even when combining “anger” and “disgust” into a single class.ConclusionsThis work validates that mobile games designed for pediatric therapies can generate high volumes of domain-relevant data sets to train state-of-the-art classifiers to perform tasks helpful to precision health efforts.

Effective Bots’ Detection for Online Smartphone Game Using Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks

Online smartphone game bots can cause unfair behaviors and even shorten the game’s life cycle. The random forest algorithm in machine learning is a widely used solution to identify game bots through behavioral features. Although the random forest algorithm can exactly detect more definite game bot players, some players belonging to the gray area cannot be detected accurately. Therefore, this study collects players’ data and extracts the features to build the multilayer perceptron, neural network model, for effectively detecting online smartphone game bots. This approach calculates each player’s abnormal rate to judge game bots and is evaluated on the famous mobile online game. Based on these abnormal rates, we then use K means to cluster players and further define the gray area. In the experimental evaluation, the results demonstrate the proposed learning model has better performance, not only increasing the accuracy but also reducing the error rate as compared with the random forest model in the same players’ dataset. Accordingly, the proposed learning model can detect bot players more accurately and is feasible for real online smartphone games.

The Efficacy of a Smartphone Game to Prevent HIV Among Young Africans: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial in the Context of COVID-19.

BackgroundAdolescents contribute slightly less than one-third of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a need for more effective intervention approaches to help young adolescents safely navigate through adolescence and into adulthood. We are assessing the efficacy of Tumaini, a smartphone game designed to prevent HIV among young Africans. Against the background of COVID-19, meaningful alteration of the research protocol was necessary to ensure successful implementation and retention of the study participants in ongoing research.ObjectiveThe objective of our protocol is to determine (1) if Tumaini delays sexual debut and increases condom use at first sex and (2) whether it influences behavioral mediators of early and unprotected sex.MethodsParticipants were recruited from Kisumu County in Western Kenya. This study is a 2-arm, individual-randomized controlled trial that enrolled 1004 adolescents aged between 12 years and 15 years. The intervention arm participants are playing Tumaini, while the control arm is provided with Brainilis, a commercially available control game. The study period will last 45 months. At baseline, participants in both arms completed a baseline survey and biological testing for HIV and herpes simplex virus, type 2 (HSV-2); participants will have annual game play periods in years 1-3. They will also complete a total of 12 follow-up surveys. At endline, repeat biological testing will be conducted. Protocol adaptations were necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented in accordance with local public health guidelines.ResultsParticipants were enrolled between October 2020 and November 2020. We plan to complete study procedures in September 2024. The enrolled participant sample was 50.1% (499/996) female and had a mean age of 14.0 (SD 0.6) years.ConclusionsThis ongoing research demonstrates that, with appropriate revisions to planned protocol activities guided by the need to maintain study integrity, protect both study participants and staff, and adhere to institutional review board and local health authority guidelines, human subject research is possible in the context of a global pandemic. If the trial demonstrates efficacy, Tumaini would provide an alternative, remote means of delivering age-appropriate education to adolescents on safer sex, HIV prevention, and effective life skills on a highly scalable, low-cost, and culturally adaptable platform.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04437667; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04437667International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/35117

Analysis on Advantages and Disadvantages of Playing Mobile Games among Colleges Students

In recent years, smartphone games have developed rapidly thanks to smart media and mobile media. It is popular among college students by virtue of its obvious characteristics, such as the integration of authenticity and virtuality, the intersection of infinity and disorder, and the unity of mobility and sociability. For college students, appropriate time consumed in playing games is beneficial to the development of psychological health, the improvement of intelligence level, which can overcome the sense of alienation caused by social role division. Excessive indulgence will aggravate the psychological cognitive contradictions of college students, hindering the cultivation of good moral behavior, and even going against the steady progress of the society as a whole.

Receiving push-notifications from smartphone games reduces students learning performance in a brief lecture: An experimental study

Many university students use mobile phones during study tasks for unrelated activities. It is known that using social networking while studying reduces the learning performance. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether using smartphone games during a lecture reduces the learning performance, and whether this is influenced by receiving push notifications. Ninety-three students were randomized to three conditions: In two gaming conditions (G), participants played a custom-made gaming-app (20 s) at 2-min intervals while watching a video mimicking a lecture. In one subgroup (GN+), the game app sent push notifications; in the other (GN-), no notifications were sent. Participants in the control group (C) watched the lecture without playing. Subsequently, participants answered multiple choice questions and estimated their own quiz performance. Comparing the quiz scores and subjective performance estimates of the three groups showed that the learning performance in GN+ was lower than in C (d = 0.51); no other differences were observed. Participants’ subjective performance estimations remained unaffected by the experimental condition. Possible implications of the divergence of the subjective estimate and objective performance are discussed, as well as limitations, such as the low complexity of the game used and the short lecture duration, not reflective of typical lectures.

O espaço híbrido em Santa Maria (RS): experienciando a cidade como jogador de Pokémon Go.

We studied the smartphone game, Pokémon Go, from the perspective of phenomenology and the player’s experience. The experience constitutes and is constituted by the concept of hybrid space, given by the presence and movement of the player in the ‘real’ and’ ‘virtual’ spaces. We operationalized the search through self-narratives produced by the main author of the paper in his actions as a player in the urban space of Santa Maria (RS). As a result, we verified that there is the crucial importance of the body and movement to produce the experience and that the hybrid space, conformed to the practice of playing, expands the network of meanings of the urban space. In addition, we note a relationship between the practice of Pokémon Go and the concept of ‘geograficity’, which we call ‘hybrid geograficity’.