Calibrating Simulation Models with Sparse Data: Counterfeit Supply Chains During Covid-19

COVID-19 related crimes like counterfeit Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) involve complex supply chains with partly unobservable behavior and sparse data, making it challenging to construct a reliable simulation model. Model calibration can help with this, as it is the process of tuning and estimating the model parameters with observed data of the system. A subset of model calibration techniques seems to be able to deal with sparse data in other fields: Genetic Algorithms and Bayesian Inference. However, it is unknown how these techniques perform when accurately calibrating simulation models with sparse data. This research analyzes the quality-of-fit of these two model calibration techniques for a counterfeit PPE simulation model given an increasing degree of data sparseness. The results demonstrate that these techniques are suitable for calibrating a linear supply chain model with randomly missing values. Further research should focus on other techniques, larger set of models, and structural uncertainty. © 2022 IEEE.

“Risk Management Can Actually Be Fun” - Using the Serious Cards for Biosafety Game to Stimulate Proper Discussions About Biosafety

As part of a Dutch Science Foundation project called T-TRIPP, the authors developed the serious game Cards for Biosafety. The aim of Cards for Biosafety is to let young biotechnology researchers learn more about biosafety. Analyses of workshops with researchers from the biotechnology domain as well as results of interviews with several biosafety officers clearly indicated the need for such a serious game with a focus on educational learning. Cards for Biosafety is a physical (also playable online on Tabletopia) round-based card game and playable with up to eight players. The game itself consists of scenario, risk and measure cards, and the task of the players is to choose risk and measure cards that fit the scenario explained by the facilitator at the beginning of each round. To test the efficiency of Cards for Biosafety as a learning tool, the authors conducted two online-workshops with twelve participants. The results of these sessions have not only shown that Cards for Biosafety is a well-designed game, but also a successful game to achieve the intended learning goal. In addition, the authors recognized that ‘fun’ is an important element in the game which leads to ‘learning’ in a very effective way. Future research should focus on the role of such positive states in serious games and their influence on learning outcomes. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Facilitated Tabletop Games in a Mediated Environment

Tabletop games that require the aid of a human facilitator are typically designed for a physical environment. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown measures prevented people from gathering. Therefore, tabletop games were sometimes played and facilitated in a mediated environment using online communication tools instead. But this setting possibly deteriorates the players’ game experience. To understand the effect of playing facilitated tabletop games in a mediated environment we measured the player experience of the game Cue Kitchen in a mixed-method study comparing physical and mediated game sessions. Forty-four players played eleven game sessions, three in a physical environment and eight in a mediated environment. Of all seven dimensions of game experience measured, only one differed significantly between the two experimental conditions: players in a mediated environment became significantly more tired than players in a physical environment. The qualitative results explained why: players in a physical setting can wander off, while players in an online setting have to stay focused on their screen and, therefore, grow more tired. The research results suggest that facilitated tabletop games may be played in a mediated environment instead of a physical environment, without significant loss of player experience. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.