Tag: gamification

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Call for papers Conferences

INTETAIN 2017 is calling for papers

INTETAIN 2017, the 9th International Conference on Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment , will take place in Funchal, Portugal on 20-22 June, 2017.

The Conference celebrates the future of Interactive Entertainment by inviting researchers to submit contributions around developments and insights in art, design, science, and engineering regarding novel entertainment-focused devices, paradigms, reconceptualisations, and reconfigurations of entertainment experiences.

INTETAIN 2017 solicits original, high-quality submissions (full papers, short papers and interactive posters) in the following categories:

  • Entertainment AI: procedural content generation, agents, and machine learning
  • Game and character design: tools, theories, and case studies
  • Gamification and serious games: principles and applications
  • Human factors: emotion, immersion, skill, and style
  • Non-human agencies: media, music, robot, and animal
  • Intelligent environments: ambient, virtual, and mixed reality
  • Interactive media: TV, social media, art, and storytelling
  • Invasion of entertainment: locative media, mobile guides, and companions
  • Novel interfaces and sensors: affective, multimodal, and bodily interactions

Important dates:

Full Paper Submission deadline:  6 February 2017
Notification and Registration opens:  20 April 2017
Camera-ready deadline:  22 May 2017
For further information about INTETAIN 2017, visit the official website.
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Insights Serious Games

Serious games in sustainable urban development – Part 2

Missed Part 1? Catch up here.
Coniuncta is an interdisciplinary research team founded in Warsaw University of Technology by professor Robert Olszewski. Main goal of the team is the research on application of gamification and design thinking mechanisms in promotion of civic engagement.
Our team perceives gamification as an answer to a problem observed in implementation of participatory mechanisms (such as participatory budgeting) in Polish cities. Research conducted by the Coniuncta team is focused on identifying key gamification and serious games mechanism which could be used to foster civic engagement, as well as provide geo-reference data on public opinion on various topics and projects.
In 2015 and 2016 our team conducted series of experiments conducted in the form of workshops, held in Warsaw (capitol of Poland) and Płock (city in central Poland of c.a. 120 000 inhabitants). The workshops were organized by the Municipality of Płock for local high school students. In April and June together around 250 students took part in these workshops. Scenario of the workshop was based on the game City Hall 2.0, using map of the Płock city center and gamified model of urbanistic problems as a main narrative axis of the game’s scenario.
Analysis of the decisions in game was base for several research papers on effects of gamification in urban planning consultations process [1]. First conclusions from this project were used in design of another serious game, Spot On, in the form of mobile browser based game, using real time GPS location data, real maps (based on OpenStreet Map API) and designed for both workshop application and outdoor gameplay.
app oneapp two
Outdoor version of the application uses gamification mechanism to motivate players to visit various points in the city and leave their opinions concerning optimal changes in those places. Other players can also see those opinions and give feedback on whether they like or dislike certain solutions proposed by game community.
The Spot On game is targeted mainly to the younger players (primary school, high school and university students) as well as other people who like mobile games and travel through the city on various occasions. It’s main educational aim is to cope with first barrier mentioned in our previous post: lack of civic engagement, due to bad experiences from the past or general low level of civic activity.
Spot On promotes activity and sharing opinions in the urban context, and presents them as fun and easy activity, and part of engaging narrative of the game. In consequence the game is meant to build positive attitude to social participation in the targeted age group, which in few years will actively take part as urban citizens in various consultations and participatory projects.
Spot On is currently undergoing final testing and finalization of development phase, and will be launched in January in series of workshops in Warsaw and Dublin.
References:
[1] Łączyński, M., Olszewski, R., Turek, A., Urban Gamification as a Source of Information for Spatial Data Analysis and Predictive Participatory Modelling of a City’s Development, [w:] DATA 2016 Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Data Management Technologies and Applications, Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Lizbona 2016, s. 176–182.

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Call for participation Conferences

Participate in SGames 2016!

SGames 2016, the 6th EAI International Conference on Serious Games, Interaction and Simulation will take place in Porto, Portugal on 16-17 June, 2016.

In spite of the existing evidence of success, there is still a limited use of Serious Games. This has mainly to do with social concerns and stereotypes about the relation of games and serious purposes. Other issues relate to physical and cost barriers, hardware and license cost, access (for online games), maintenance and support. But this limited use is also related to the lack of extended evidence of effective application.

SGames 2016 will be a conference with multidisciplinary approach to the presentation of research, theory, application, practice and validation in the field of Serious Games for any level and any area. As such it covers areas like cognition, psychology, technology-enhanced education, evaluation and assessment, multimedia and information technology, interaction and simulation. SGames 2016 is interested in new scientific approaches and results from experiments and real-life applications.

The Conference will host a great keynote speech by Dr. Sylvester Arnab (Coventry University, UK).With more than 10 years research experience in simulation, serious games and gamification combined, his research interests include gameful, playful and pervasive designs that transform ordinary tasks into extraordinary experiences.

To see which are the topics to be discussed at SGames 2016, see the Final Program in Full.

Selected papers, particularly those nominated for the Best Paper competition, will be automatically considered for publication in the EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games.

Registration to SGames 2016 is open! If you need more information about the Conference, visit the official website.

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Insights Serious Games

Serious games in sustainable urban development – Part 1

Concepts of sustainable urban development, “smart city” and civic engagement are becoming more and more popular among researchers and people in charge of municipal planning. With their growing popularity, there are also ideas to include gamification mechanisms and serious games in the course of their implementation.

Key reasons of this growing attention towards serious gaming are the main barriers preventing wide acceptance of social innovations such as participatory budgeting, civic consultations or various technologies used in sustainable urban development. Those two main barriers are:

  • Lack of civic engagement, due to bad experiences from the past or general low level of civic activity;
  • Beliefs and attitudes which inhibit the acceptance of social or technological innovations crucial to the development of a sustainable urban community;

Gamificiation and serious games are perceived as a possible remedy for those two problems, because of their potential of increasing people engagement and activity, as well as using this engagement to educate them and change attitudes towards various new behaviors.

From around 2010 a lot of ideas emerged on how to gamify civic engagement in modern urban communities. Some representative cases of those games and game related projects are:

  • Trash Tycoon – a social network game by Guerillapps, running from 2011 to 2012, which focused on issues like recycling and upcycling in modern cities(1);
  • Invisible playground – a series of urban games held initially in Berlin and now all across Europe, aimed as a form of leisure activity, but also as a medium for increasing social engagement across urban areas (2);
  • Community PlantIt – created by Emmerson’s College Engagement Lab, a serious game and a platform that enables municipal authorities to communicate with citizens. The aim of the game is to gather opinions and feedback from community dwellers and foster their engagement in social consultations (3);
  • Gamefull Urban Mobility – a research project held at Games & Experimental Entertainment Laboratory of RMIT University. The aim of this project is to assess the potential of gamification when applied to urban mobility (4);

Furthermore, Community PlantIt is an example of a recently emerging approach towards gamification that merges the concepts of social engagement and sustainable urban development with data-oriented focus typical for a “smart city”. In this kind of approach, a game not only educates, engages and promotes certain attitudes and behaviors, but is also a source of data on citizens opinion and activity, as well as feedback on various projects planned by municipal authorities.

In the second part of this post we’d like to present the results of “CONIUNCTA” project held at the Warsaw University of Technology. Our project is based on a similar approach as Community PlantIt, but it also integrates several layers of geospatial data used to gather feedback from city dwellers during the course of dedicated serious games City Shaper and City Hall 1.0.

References:

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trash_Tycoon
  • http://www.invisibleplayground.com/en/welcome
  • https://www.communityplanit.org/
  • http://www.geelab.rmit.edu.au/content/gameful-urban-mobility
Categories
Call for papers Conferences

SGames 2016: deadline extension!

The 6th EAI International Conference on Serious Games, Interaction and Simulation (SGames 2016) is going to take place in Porto, Portugal on 16-17 June, 2016.

With its multidisciplinary approach to the presentation of research, theory, application, practice and validation in the field of Serious Games for any level and any area, SGames 2016 will be cover areas like: cognition, psychology, technology-enhanced education, evaluation and assessment, multimedia and information technology, interaction and simulation. SGames 2016 is interested in new scientific approaches and results from experiments and real-life applications.

The Conference invites submissions that deal with issues including:

– Technology, tools and systems for Serious Games;
– Game platforms, toolkits, frameworks, engines, APIs and libraries;
– Game interfaces (input devices, speech, gestures);
– Content generation tools;
– Immersive Environments, virtual environments, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality use for Serious Games;
– Games for education and training;
– Games for emergency and disaster management, crowd simulation, crime scene investigation;
– Games for health, medical training, therapy;
– Games and art;
– Serious Games for other purposes;
– Games for science and research.

To see all the topics of interest to SGames 2016, click here.

Furthermore, SGames 2016 will host a great keynote speech by Dr. Sylvester Arnab (Coventry University, UK).

All accepted papers will be published by Springer and made available through SpringerLink Digital Library, one of the world’s largest scientific libraries. Proceedings are submitted for inclusion to the leading indexing services: DBLP, Google Scholar, Thomson Scientific ISI Proceedings, EI Elsevier Engineering Index, CrossRef, Scopus, as well as ICST’s own EU Digital Library (EUDL). Selected papers, particularly those nominated for the Best Paper competition, will be automatically considered for publication in the EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games.

Important dates:

Full Paper Submission Deadline: 4th April, 2016    14th April, 2016

Notification Deadline: 11th April, 2016   22th April, 2016

Camera-ready Deadline: 18th April, 2016   29th April, 2016

If you need more information about SGames 2016, visit the conference official website.

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Interviews

Putting the patient first

An interview with René Neubach, eHealth and mHealth marketing specialist, and a speaker in a session on Patient-centric approaches at the eHealth 360° Summit 2016 in Budapest (14-16 June). René works as consultant in the Multi-Channel Marketing area with clients in the Pharma and non-Pharma industry on Multi-Channel and positioning strategies, tactical plans and concepts with focus on Social Media and Content Marketing, Methodology and Setup of teams and processes.

Registration for eHealth 360° Summit 2016 is open! Find out more.

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Call for papers Conferences

New deadline extension for GameNets 2016!

GameNets 2016, the 6th EAI International Conference on Game Theory for Networks, will take place in Kelowna, Canada on 10-12 May, 2016.

Considering that Game Theory has recently become a useful tool for modeling and studying various networks, together with the rapid growth of data traffic, it requires more intelligent transformation. GameNets 2016 aims at gathering research contributions and practical applications that advance the state-of-the-art in intelligent Game Theory.

The conference welcomes archival quality papers that advance the following topics of interest:

  • Intelligent game theory and its applications;
  • Novel solution concepts such as equilibrium solutions or core solutions;
  • Game theory based machine learning;
  • Smartphone-based crowdsourcing and game theory;
  • Multimedia applications based on game theory;
  • Network security based on game theory;
  • Correlated equilibrium;
  • Network pricing;
  • Rate allocation game;
  • Power control game in communication systems;
  • Game theory in interactive applications;
  • Game theory in cognitive radio networks;
  • Game theory in ubiquitous networks;
  • Game theory in social networks;
  • Game theory in wireless network;
  • Coalitional game theory in networks;
  • Network optimization.

Furthermore, Prof. Vikram Krishnamurthy (The University of British Columbia, Canada) will participate as a keynote speaker.

All accepted papers will be published by Springer and made available through SpringerLink Digital Library, one of the world’s largest scientific libraries. Proceedings are submitted for inclusion to the leading indexing services: DBLP, Google Scholar, Thomson Scientific ISI Proceedings, EI Elsevier Engineering Index, CrossRef, Scopus, as well as ICST’s own EU Digital Library (EUDL). Authors of the best papers will be invited to submit an extended version of their work through the EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games and ACM/Springer Mobile Networks & Applications (MONET) Special Issue on “Game Theory for 5G Wireless Networks” .

Important dates:
Paper submission deadline: February 18th, 2016    March 8th, 2016
Acceptance Notification: March 14th, 2016
Camera-ready deadline: April 2nd, 2016
 
For more information about the conference, we invite you to visit the official website.

Categories
Interviews

Embracing the pervasiveness of games

We have talked with Laura Anna Ripamonti, Dario Maggiorini (University of Milan), and Daniela Villani (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan), General Co-Chairs of GOWELL 2016, EAI International Conference on Games for Well-being (14-16 June, Budapest, Hungary), co-located with eHealth 360° Summit 2016. In their research work, they span the areas of online social interaction in virtual worlds, software and network architecture to support entertainment applications, the use of interactive simulations for the training of psychological skills, and the cognitive factors related to the use of mediated technologies in education and clinical domains. We talked about what role games play in the modern society, and where their potential could take them in the future.

What is the central topic of GOWELL 2016 and why is it important? What is this event’s vision?

The starting point of GOWELL 2016 is the assumption that there is an emerging confluence of technologies that are being used more and more to support our daily activities, and the search for well-being that is a transversal goal of multiple disciplines. Thus, the conference builds upon the increasing relevance of applied gaming approaches, gamification techniques and game-related technologies and devices for health and well-being management and recovering. The objective is to bring together researchers, technologists and visionaries from Academia, research labs and industry to foster a lively discussion about the theory and practice of games as a way to improve health and well-being in tomorrow’s society.

What have been the recent developments in games for well-being? What are the biggest challenges that this area is currently facing?

Over the last five to ten years, increasing attention has been given to the possibility of games improving health and well-being. Using games as a medium presents a wide range of opportunities for the format of the intervention, since playing digital games and other playful activities are so pervasive in our modern-day lives. Current research suggests that video games already have a positive impact on different aspects of well-being, including positive social relations, environmental mastery, emotional regulation, relaxation, and stress reduction. The experience of engagement while playing video games, also leveraged by ubiquitous modern portable technology, has been proven to have a positive influence on well-being. Furthermore, other studies are interested in better understanding the optimal levels of game play, the influence of factors such as gender, personality, and other psycho-social characteristics, on well-being. Future research should attempt to monitor evidence regarding links between games and positive mental health and to provide guidelines for use by other researchers as they design specific tools and games to improve quality of life in a broader sense.

What are your expectations for GOWELL 2016?

The goal is to build a community of experts with a broad range of expertise in games and well-being-related research. This will allow us to share research results and to develop new multidisciplinary projects in a cooperative context involving multiple countries.

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Call for papers Conferences

GOWELL 2016 is accepting papers!

The 1st EAI International Conference on Games fOr WELL-being will take place in Budapest, Hungary on June 14th-16th, 2016.

In recent years, applied gaming approaces, gamification techniques, game-related technologies and devices for health and wellbeing management and recovery increased their relevance. The EAI Games fOr WELL-being conference has been created to present the latest emerging applications for improving the quality of everybody’s personal experience and promoting adaptive behaviors and positive functioning. The conference will also be co-located with eHealth360 Summit.

GOWELL invites presentations about the use of Virtual Reality, Augmented and Mixed Reality, Virtual Environments, Games for Health, Applied Games, Mobile Health and other emerging applications. Autors are encouraged to cover the following topics of interest:

  • Applied Games for health awareness and/or improvement;
  • Game applications for better lifestyle or well-being;
  • Game design techniques and solutions for healthcare environments;
  • Games’ devices/technology applied to medical treatments or prevention;
  • Gamification of healthcare processes;
  • Well-being interventions including affective strategies supported by technologies;
  • Information technologies to support patient’s engagement in healthcare;
  • Positive Gaming;
  • Stress management and new technologies;
  • Integrating technologies to support student’s engagement in learning process;
  • Technologies enhancing Social Well-being;
  • Technology for active aging and healthy living;
  • Integrating technology in self-help interventions.

Important dates:
Paper submission deadline: February 14th, 2016
Acceptance Notification: March 31st, 2016
Camera-ready deadline: April 29th, 2016
Find more details on the conference website.

Categories
Call for papers Conferences

Submit your paper to ArtsIT 2016!

The 5th EAI International Conference: ArtsIT, Interactivity & Game Creation (ArtsIT 2016) will take place in Esbjerg, Denmark on 2-4 May, 2016 at the Esbjerg campus of Aalborg University.

ArtsIT continues to be a leading scientific forum for dissemination of cutting-edge research results in the area of Arts, Design & Technology. The conference represents a valuable opportunity for researchers, artists and industry members both to showcase new ideas that will shape the future of Art and Technology, and to gain insights into the innovative techniques and trans-disciplinary activities that are making strong impacts both on the world of Arts and on society at large. ArtsIT 2016 will be co-located with the 1st EAI International Conference on Design, Learning & Innovation (DLI 2016).

The conference welcomes papers in these topics of interest:

  • Games, Interactivity;
  • Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality;
  • Gamification;
  • Interactive Art (innovative interactive installations);
  • Augmented Performing Arts (innovative performances and shows enhanced by ICT technologies), Augmented Reality applications in art and design;
  • Information visualization;
  • Big Data;
  • Applications and interfaces for Mobile Devices;
  • Virtual worlds, Metaverse, Avatars and Presence;
  • Multimedia;
  • Image Processing;
  • Digital Photography;
  • Audio Art, Sound Design;
  • New Media Technologies;
  • Corporeal Art/Design Systems (sensors, wearable computing, motion tracking etc.) Generative/Aleatoric Systems;
  • Media Archeology;
  • Virtual Museums and Curatorial Practices;
  • Theoretical Studies and research output that resides at the intersection of the fields of art, design and technology.

Proceedings are submitted for inclusion to the leading indexing services: DBLP, Google Scholar, Thomson Scientific ISI Proceedings, EI Elsevier Engineering Index, CrossRef, Scopus, as well as ICST’s own EU Digital Library (EUDL). Selected authors will be invited to publish their texts in the International Journal of Arts & Technology (Inderscience) and Metaverse Creativity, a peer reviewed academic journal published by Intellect, UK and in the EAI Endorsed Transactions on Creative Technologies or the EAI Endorsed Transactions of Serious Games.

Important dates:
Paper submission deadline: January 6th, 2015
Acceptance Notification: January 15th, 2016
Camera-ready deadline: February 5th, 2016
Find more details about the conference, visit the official website.