Games and Learning Alliance: 11th International Conference, GALA 2022, Tampere, Finland, November 30 – December 2, 2022, Proceedings

345 Pages·2022·18.42 MB·English

by  Kristian Kiili, Koskinen Antti, Francesca de Rosa, Muhterem Dindar, Michael Kickmeier-Rust, Francesco Bellotti

Kristian Kiili · Koskinen Antti ·
Francesca de Rosa · Muhterem Dindar ·
Michael Kickmeier-Rust · Francesco Bellotti (Eds.)
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4 Games and
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Learning Alliance
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11th International Conference, GALA 2022
Tampere, Finland, November 30 – December 2, 2022
Proceedings
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 13647
FoundingEditors
GerhardGoos
KarlsruheInstituteofTechnology,Karlsruhe,Germany
JurisHartmanis
CornellUniversity,Ithaca,NY,USA
EditorialBoardMembers
ElisaBertino
PurdueUniversity,WestLafayette,IN,USA
WenGao
PekingUniversity,Beijing,China
BernhardSteffen
TUDortmundUniversity,Dortmund,Germany
MotiYung
ColumbiaUniversity,NewYork,NY,USA
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· ·
Kristian Kiili Koskinen Antti
· ·
Francesca de Rosa Muhterem Dindar
·
Michael Kickmeier-Rust
Francesco Bellotti (Eds.)
Games and
Learning Alliance
11th International Conference, GALA 2022
Tampere, Finland, November 30 – December 2, 2022
Proceedings
Editors
KristianKiili KoskinenAntti
TampereUniversity TampereUniversity
Tampere,Finland Tampere,Finland
FrancescadeRosa MuhteremDindar
CenterforAdvancedPathogenThreat TampereUniversity
ResponseandSimulation Tampere,Finland
Austin,Texas,US
FrancescoBellotti
MichaelKickmeier-Rust UniversityofGenova
PädagogischeHochschuleSt.Gallen Genova,Italy
St.Gallen,Switzerland
ISSN 0302-9743 ISSN 1611-3349 (electronic)
LectureNotesinComputerScience
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22124-8
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicense
toSpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2022
Chapter “Motivation and Emotions in a Health Literacy Game: Insights from Co-occurrence Network
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Serious Games and Game Design
Turtle Heroes: Designing a Serious Game
for a VR Interactive Tunnel
B
AnastasiosTheodoropoulos1( ) ,ElinaRoinioti2,MariosDejonai3,
YannisAggelakos3,andGeorgeLepouras3
1 DepartmentofPerformingandDigitalArts,UniversityofPeloponnese,Nafplio,Greece
[email protected]
2 PanteionUniversityofSocialandPoliticalStudies,Athens,Greece
3 HCI-VRLaboratory,UniversityofPeloponnese,Tripoli,Greece
https://hci-vr.dit.uop.gr/
Abstract. Immersiveplayfulactivitiesareregardedtobeapromisingwayfor
increasing children’s understanding of significant issues. This paper proposes
animmersiveinteractivetunnelenvironment,forwhichwedevelopedaserious
gametoraiseawarenessonchildrenandyoungadultsonenvironmentalissues
and endangered species, and specifically, about Caretta caretta. The paper first
describesthedesignandimplementationoftheCAVE-tunnelsystem;then,itdis-
cussesthedesignanddevelopmentoftheseriousgame“TurtleHeroes”.Thisis
aworkinprogresswhilemoregamesareinthedesignprocessforthisVRinter-
activetunnelsetup.Possibleuses,opportunitiesandfutureworks-gamesinthis
environmentarealsodiscussed.
Keywords: EnvironmentalVR·Immersivegame·Interactivetunnel·
Children·Game-design
1 Introduction
VirtualReality(VR)technologygeneratessimulatedenvironments,thatenableusersto
immersethemselvesinamotivatingway[1].EspeciallyVRgamesarerapidlygrowing
andbecomingpartofpublic-spaceentertainments(e.g.,gamedisplaysandVRentertain-
mentparks)[2].SharingVRexperienceswithothersismoreenjoyable[3]andseemsto
influencesocialattitudessignificantlymorethannon-immersiveinterventions[2].Asa
result,intheeraofpublic-spaceentertainment,theabilitytoshareexperienceslikeVR
withviewersisveryimportant[4].
Inthispaperwepresentacustom-madeimmersiveinteractivetunnelandashooter
seriousgamemadespecificallyforthisinstallation.Thegameiscalled“TurtleHeroes:
(cid:2)ω´στετιςχελω´νες”anditispartofaR&Dprojectintheareasofcultureandeducation
in which immersive technologies are introduced as part of the public-space entertain-
ment.The“TurtleHeroes”gameisthefirsttodeveloped,aimingtoraiseawarenesson
environmentalissuesandaffectchildren’sandyoungadults’attitudeswithrespecttosea
turtles.Thegamefollowsthelongtraditionofimmersivetechnologiesandinteractive
learningenvironmentsthataimtohelpstudentsimprovetheirskillsandknowledge,by
providinglearningexperiencesinafun,attractiveandeffectiveway[5,6].
©TheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2022
K.Kiilietal.(Eds.):GALA2022,LNCS13647,pp.3–10,2022.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22124-8_1
4 A.Theodoropoulosetal.
2 Related Work - Skeleton Tracking for Games Beyond
Entertainment
Overthelastyears,full-bodyinteractivegameshavebeendeveloped,whereplayersuse
theirbodieswhenplaying[7],afeaturethatprovidesafunandplayfuluserexperience,
suitableforseriouspurposes[8].Skeletontrackingisbasedonbodymovements,ges-
turesandpositions[7].Generally,the3Dbodymovementfeaturesareextractedfrom
joint-orientedskeletontrackingandacommonmethodisbyusingtheinformationpro-
videdby3Ddepthsensorcameras[9].Whiletheuserstandsinfrontofadepthcamera,
thelocationanddirectionofjointsaretrackedandbodyjointsaremapped,asshownin
Fig.1.Regardingseriousgamesskeletontrackingcanprovidebeneficialfindingslikein
[9]whereauthorsusedagesturerecognitionsystemthroughagametopreventdementia.
Gamecontentsweredesignedtopracticespatialrecognitionandusers’movementswere
analyzedtomeasurehowtheirrecognitionskillsimproved.Likewise,Avolaetal.[10]
designedaninteractivevirtualenvironmentwithabodymodelingrehabilitationframe-
workforpatientstoplaywithstimulatingrehabilitationexercises.Thefeedbackreceived
fromuserswhousedthesystem,pointedoutremarkableresultsintermsofmotivation,
usability,andcustomizationandtheauthorsconsideredthissystemaconcretesolution
intermsofversatility,immersivity,andnovelty.
Fig.1. 3Djointrecognitionprocessfrom[9].
3 DesignoftheVRInteractiveTunnel
The interactive tunnel consists of 15 monitors (55 in.) and one projection screen. As
showninFig.2,thesystemadoptsadaisychainmonitorconnection(borderlessdesign
with0.9mmbezel),withDisplayPortcablesandpull-outmountforquickinstallation
andmaintenance.Thisinstallationisattachedoncustomvideowallmounts(aluminum
trussstructure).Thesidemonitors(3screensoneachedge)caneasilybeadoptedtoeither
120-or90-degreesplacement.Thehighbrightnessandresolutionprojector(locatedat
the top middle of the truss structure) displays special effects and multimedia content
ontoaspecificfloorsurface(madebyaspecialreflectivematerialofhighstrengthand
reflectivity).Thesystemiscontrolled/drivenbyacomputerwithtwoCPUsIntelXeon
Gold62302.1GHz–3.9GHz,with256GBRAMinstalled,storageof1TBSSDand
8TBHDdisksand4graphicscardsby24GBeach(NVIDIAPNYQuadroRTXA5000).
There is also an NVIDIA Quadro Sync II card that synchronizes the GPUs, enabling
TurtleHeroes:DesigningaSeriousGameforaVRInteractiveTunnel 5
the 15 synchronized displays to stand in a single chassis. The visualization uses the
Mosaic technology, which allows to configure a multi-display setup. There are also
twotrackingcameras(TVico)forgesturerecognitionthatmeasurepositionaltracking,
spatialmapping,objectdetectionandbodytracking(19joints).
Fig.2. TheVRinteractivetunnelsetup.
Finally,whendesigningthisVRinteractivetunnelsystem,weconsideredthestruc-
turedframeworkbyBowmanetal.[11]forconductingusertestingtoevaluatevirtual
environments.Thisincludesthecombinationofuserneedsanalysis,usertaskscenarios,
usabilityevaluation,andformativeevaluation,priortoasummativeevaluation.
4 TheGame
Inthefollowing,wepresenttheTurtleHeroesgameandspecifically,thegameconcept,
its educational goals, the core mechanics and finally, opportunities that rise from this
gaming-installation.
Background–EducationalGoal
TheCarettacarettaorLoggerheadSeaturtle,isconsideredaspeciesofgreatecological
importance,facingseveralthreats,amongwhicharehumanactivitiesthatdestroytheir
nestinghabitat.TheCarettacarettaturtles,haveakeyroleinstabilityofmarineecosys-
tems, as they hold a high position in marine food grids and mainly through hunting,
hold the populations of other organisms under control [12]. Commonly found in the
MediterraneanSea,withGreecehostingmorethan60%oftheMediterraneanpopula-
tion officially protected by the 1992 Habitats Directive, their status as an endangered
speciesremainsunchangedtothisday1.
1WWF Greece, the threats Caretta caretta turtles face in Greece, online at https://www.wwf.
gr/en/our_work/nature/marine/endangered_species/caretta_caretta_turtle/, last accessed 15th
September2022.
6 A.Theodoropoulosetal.
Inthegame“TurtleHeroes”,thegoalisa)toinformtheyoungpublicaboutthesea
turtle spawning beaches within the Peloponnese area. In contrast to other regions like
Zakynthos,thePeloponneseregionandspecificallytheGulfofKyparissiaortheMani
Peninsula,arerarelyassociatedwithnestingareas,b)toshedlightonabittertruth,that
the loss or degradation of Caretta’s nesting habitat results from direct human activity
andconsequently,c)toraiseawarenessonharmfulpracticeslikecoastaldevelopment
andmanagementandlightpollution.
GeneralDescription-Architecture
TurtleHeroesisaco-opseriousshootergamedesignedforchildrenaged10yearsand
aboveandyoungadults.Eventhoughshootergames,arenotusuallyusedinseriousgame
design,itisagenrewithmanydesignopportunitiesandmetaphoricalcorrespondences
thatcancreatemeaningfuleducationalassociations[13].Thefactthatitisamongthe
mostpopulargamegenres,addsfurtherpotentialtoourpurpose.
Table1. Metaphoricalcorrespondencesin“TurtleHeroes”.
FPSgames TurtleHeroesgame
Enemies Human-likezombies
Dynamiccombat Differentenemieshavedifferentdamageamount
Boosters Co-opboosterstohelpplayers’collaboration
Bossfight Bossfight(lightpollution)
In“TurtleHeroes”playerstakeontheroleofavolunteer-rescuerandprotectorof
the sea turtles and their goal is to help newborn turtles to reach the sea. Just like in a
typical,mainstreamshootergame,theplayersmustfacedifferentkindofenemiesandof
course,towinthebossfight.Themainenemiesarehumansandspecifically,annoying
bathers.Tohighlightdifferentkindofhumanactivitiesthatcanleadtonestdestruction,
wedesignedfunnybatherarchetypes:theSportsLover,theGluttonousBeachgoer,The
Mommy Person etc. Our enemies are illustrated as brainless zombies (Fig. 3) due to
theirrecklessbehavior(Table1).
Using comedy or satirical elements in games, is not new to game design or game
studies in general. Radical and political games, often used for propaganda purposes,
relyongrotesquefiguresandsituationalcomedytoengagepeopleandatthesametime,
stimulate reflection in different kinds of contexts. At the same time and as Nele Van
de Mosselaer (2022) mentions, “gameplay has an inherent aptitude for self-directed
laughter” (p. 41) [14]. From a first point of view and through immersion, games can
be conceived as a “serious” activity, while from a third point of view, as the human-
player controls the avatar, games can be understood as pixelized environments full of
audiovisual stimulithatpossiblycanmake uslaugh. Butwhatabout learningthrough
comedy? The relationship between humor and learning has been thorough researched
over the years, emphasizing on the psychological effects of humor in-class [15], on
students’contentretention[16],onthecreationofapositivelearningenvironment[17]
etc. Through the design of the “Turtle Heroes” game, we aspire to further investigate