ABSTRACT
It is usually hard for unfamiliar partners to rapidly 'break the ice' in the early stage of relationship establishment, which hinders the development of relationship and even affects the team productivity. To solve this problem, we proposed a collaborative serious game for icebreaking by combining immersive virtual reality (VR) with brain-computer interface based on the team flow framework. We designed a multiplayer collaboration task with the theme of fighting COVID-19 and proposed an approach to improve empathy between team members by sharing their real-time mental state in VR;in addition, we propose an EEG-based method for dynamic evaluation and enhancement of group flow experience to achieve better team collaboration. Then, we developed a prototype system and performed a user study. Results show that our method has good ease of use and can significantly reduce the psychological distance among team members. Especially for unfamiliar partners, both functions of mental state sharing and group flow regulation enhancement can significantly reduce the psychological distance. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Children are one of the groups most influenced by COVID-19-related social distancing, and a lack of contact with peers can limit their opportunities to develop social and collaborative skills. However, remote socialization and collaboration as an alternative approach is still a great challenge for children. This paper presents MR.Brick, a Mixed Reality (MR) educational game system that helps children adapt to remote collaboration. A controlled experimental study involving 24 children aged six to ten was conducted to compare MR.Brick with the traditional video game by measuring their social and collaborative skills and analyzing their multi-modal playing behaviours. The results showed that MR.Brick was more conducive to children's remote collaboration experience than the traditional video game. Given the lack of training systems designed for children to collaborate remotely, this study may inspire interaction design and educational research in related fields. © 2023 ACM.
ABSTRACT
The implementation of social isolation policies in response to COVID-19 coincided with Nintendo's video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (also known as atsumare dobutsu no mori) gaining popularity. At this time, the game served as a means of escape and comfort for those experiencing loneliness and anxiety. The kawaii animal characters that occupy the players' island in this game are designed to elicit social responses from players as a central part of gameplay, through dialogue, animation, and character design. This article contributes to an emerging body of work that considers the social relations formed between kawaii characters and viewers, through a digital ethnography of English-speaking Animal Crossing fan practices on Twitter, Reddit and Instagram. A key appeal of Animal Crossing during COVID-19 lockdowns resided in its kawaii character design, which elicits caring and playful behaviours in players. Through design, the non-player characters shift between functioning as an object upon which players can act, to a simulated subject that encourages social interactions from the player and stimulates the imagination. Through this flexibility of appearing both 'real' and 'unreal', players could interact with characters according to their needs during social distancing.
ABSTRACT
Monitoring the SaO2 levels and other respiratory function parameters after recovering from COVID-19 can have essential meaning in the assessment of the efficacy of using physiotherapy methods, including classical massage. Purpose of the research was to assess the influence of an individual classical back massage session as well as the effects of an entire 8-session back massage therapy on SaO2, HR and spirometry parameters in a patient after recovering from COVID-19, with constant monitoring of massage areas' temperature changes. Data and methods. The study comprised a case study of a patient who recovered from COVID-19. The patient was subjected to a classical back and spine massage therapy utilising all the basic techniques. The design was based on the results of the following tests: lung x-ray, SaO2, HR, spirometry parameters, and the 6-minute walking distance test. The degree of the influence of the classical massage techniques was monitored using the infrared thermography. Results. Continuous oxygen saturation monitoring during the massage sessions enabled to observe a decrease in the level of this parameter during utilisation of rubbing and tapotement on muscles of both the right and the left side of the back. During the usage of the intense massage techniques SaO2 dropped maximally to 92-93%. Such decrease was noted after massaging the right as well as the left side of the back, during every massage session. I addition it was found that in the case of the patient who recovered from COVID-19 changing the body position from sitting down to lying down after the massage session the level of tissues saturation decreased. The observed changes in the VA/Q ratio that occurred in response to the 8-session massage therapy lasting for 3 weeks might indicate that better conditions for ventilation and oxygen perfusion at the alveolar surface were reached. This translated in the patient who recovered from COVID-19 into 2% increase in oxygen saturation level after completing the massage therapy. Conclusion. Utilising the intense rubbing and tapotement techniques has to be carefully considered due to their significant influence on decrease in the level of saturation.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 affected our lives intensly. That state of affairs made humans helpless. They had been depressed and experienced loneliness. At that time many human beings were determined to play video games just to loosen up their minds. Many games changed into an additional source of revenue wherein during COVID-19 they were playing while earning money. With these advantages, there were also some poor effects was accrued. A number of players remained playing video games post COVID-19. The carried out survey is based on the social video games results on players' well-being and additionally on the effects of gamers' health and their sensible lifestyles. We are going to investigate the behavior of gamers engaged with video games during the COVID-19 lockdown and the video games affects on their well-being, the time they served in playing video games, and the consequential effect on their behavior and social and mental well-being. The results provide a start line for empirically grounded discussions on video games at some stage in the pandemic, their use, and potential outcomes. Different agegroups of players have been investigated. Most players are between 18 and 30 years. A number of the gamers during lock down played a few hours but most of players were males who spent most of their day playing video games. However, now the ratio of playing video games is reduced as examined with past circumstances. Roughly we can say that the condition as a whole is better, the reason why players enforced video games in their post COVID-19 practical life1. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Scientific misinformation has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic. To reduce the impact of false information, serious games are emerging that aim to make young people media and digitally literate through gamification. The main objective of this work is to analyse the potential of the Go Viral! edugame in terms of its journa-listic quality and design in order to detect the advantages of its implementation in different social contexts. The methodology used is based on a discursive and content analysis used in the study of other newsgames. The results indicate that this game, based on psychological inoculation, effectively allows the user to know how misinformation is created in networks, how it is increased by echo chambers and what tools are necessary to create a network community from the point of view of from the disinformer's point of view, thanks to the transmission of data, contextualization, awareness, interaction and stimulation to action. Although its journalistic quality is limited;the content, the architecture and the design indicate advantages that favor the reduction of disinformation noise as mechanisms to bury the echo chambers created in social networks. Although it cannot be presented as a single effective vehicle to combat scientific misinformation, it can become a valid instrument alongside others such as awareness campaigns, educational resources launched by institutions and the regulation of digital platforms.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this qualitative exploratory single-case study was to explore the perceptions and social interactions of participants in an online role-playing game campaign. Six participants were recruited from social media groups. All participants were over age 18years and had 3 or fewer years of experience playing the traditional role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Game play was conducted, managed, and observed through a virtual tabletop simulator during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. Methods triangulation including semistructured interviews, journal prompts and entries, and observations were used to gather data from the study participants and game manager. Narrative data were coded and analyzed weekly to monitor for saturation and other quality controls. The data provided information from the perspectives of the game players leading and cooperating as a team. Data analysis resulted in three main themes (skill identification, social interactions, and leadership skills) and nine subthemes (weakness identification, problem identification, problem resolution, teamwork, delegation, conflict resolution, decision-making, emotional response, and empathy) demonstrating new learning capacities that were transferred socially to various life interactions. Results indicated that the participants gained the ability to recognize learned skills and how to transfer the new knowledge and skills from the campaign to their personal, social, and work lives. Study results increased the body of contextual knowledge on how professionals may view learning from gamification and role play opportunities and their recognition and perception of how to obtain new and transferable skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
To discuss the decision-making scheme of crowding risk management during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper constructs an evolutionary game model based on the changes of pedestrian and government strategies, and simulates the strategy selection under different states. The results show that under the condition of pedestrian rationality, when the difference between the benefits and costs of the government's active response strategy is less than the benefits of inaction, the government will choose the strategy of inaction. If the benefit of rational action is less than the additional benefit of irrational action, pedestrians will choose irrational action. By establishing the replication dynamic equations of governments and pedestrians, the stability strategy of the system is analyzed. It is found that the values of R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7 will affect the strategy choices of the players, and how to measure the benefits and costs under different circumstances becomes the key to the problem. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the risk control decision of human crowding during the COVID-19 epidemic. © 2023 SPIE.
ABSTRACT
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, governments were forced to adopt lockdown policies to effectively control the pandemic. These restrictions increased anxiety, depression, and lifestyle changes. This systematic review aims to analyze changes in dietary patterns in the worldwide population during the COVID-19 lockdown. 11 studies were selected from the 1412 founds after searching in three databases. Searching keywords were: "Change dietary”, "COVID-19 dietary” "Confinement dietary”. Inclusion criteria were: studies that collected people's dietary patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown and recorded the consumption of food groups and the variations in lifestyle habits. This research found that people increased their consumption of food. People increased their sedentary hours, slept more but exercised less, leading to gain weight during the lockdown, as well as a poorer sleeping quality and higher anxiety levels.Alternate : Debido a la pandemia de COVID-19, los gobiernos se vieron obligados a tomar medidas de confinamiento para controlar eficazmente el contagio. Sin embargo, después de un tiempo de control al poblado, estas restricciones hicieron la gente tener más ansiedad y depresión, incluso cambiar el estilo de vida.
ABSTRACT
In 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, the COVID-19 pandemic led to unexpected behavioral restrictions, allowing only the individual training of the athletes. The purpose of the present study was to record the effects of a home-based training program on physical performance at a semi-professional level, after the Covid-19 confinement, in terms of external load. Twenty soccer players from one semi-professional team participated in this study. The data was collected by GPS devices, with an accelerometer and gyroscope, and a sampling rate 10Hz. The external load is evaluated by the total distance, the high-intensity runs, the sprint distance as well as the number of accelerations and decelerations. Three matches before and twelve games after the lockdown were analyzed and compared. During the confinement period, the players performed 5-6 training sessions per week. This period lasted over 4 four months. The training sessions were monitored by a free smartphone application. Similarly, the players communicated with the technical staff with a free internet application. The results showed significant increases (p < 0.05) in the total distance covered during the matches after the intervention. No significant increase in high-intensity runs and the number of accelerations were found (p > 0.05). The present data suggest that an intervention monitored by a free application could improve athletic performance at the semi-professional level, even after long-term abstinence from team training such as quarantine or off-season periods. These data might provide affordable solutions to the semi-professional soccer teams, which could be used during the off-season period leading to reduce detraining effects and higher performance in the forthcoming championship.
ABSTRACT
According to literature reports, the injury rate of the athletes in Olympic Winter Games recent years was as high as 10%-14%. Combined with the background of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the medical insurance work of the 24th Olympic Winter Games held in Beijing had put forward more complicated requirements and more severe challenges. In order to better optimize anesthesia management, this article summarized the perioperative treatment of athletes in Olympic Winter Games, the safety protection strategy of medical staff under general anesthesia, and the potential impact of peri-operative drugs on athletes. Anesthesiologists, as the core members of the rescue team, should be familiar with the particularity of operative anesthesia of athletes, sum up relevant experience to ensure the safety of perioperative patients. So all kinds of technical measures should be taken in the process of operation to minimize the indoor pollution caused by the patient's cough. For example, all the patients should wear N95 masks from the ward to the operating room, and after the operation, wear the N95 masks back to the ward. Although the International Olympic Committee had banned more than 200 drugs for participants and athletes who had to strictly follow International Olympic Committee requirements during anesthesia, the athletes were no longer participating in this Olympic Winter Games, so opioids (sufentanil and remifentanil) and glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) could be used according to the actual needs of surgery and anesthesia. Five athletes in Yanqing competition area underwent surgical anesthesia in Peking University Third Hospital Yanqing Hospital. All the five patients received general anesthesia, of whom four underwent orthopaedic surgery and one underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. General anesthesia with laryngeal mask airway was the first choice in the five patients. And the pain after orthopaedic surgery was severe and nerve block technique could effectively relieve the pain after surgery. Three patients received ultrasound-guided nerve block analgesia, the postoperative analgesia lasted 36 h. After the operation, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) was infused intravenously in the ward and all the patients recovered uneventfully. As the core member of the trauma rescue team, anesthesiologists should be familiar with the particularity of the athletes' surgical anesthesia, do a good job in medical security, and summarize relevant experience to ensure the life safety of the perioperative patients.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in dietary and lifestyle habits among children and adolescents. This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with unhealthy dietary habits among 1,475 primary and secondary school students from 2021 to 2022.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected primary and secondary schools participating in a project promoting online health education and promotion named GoSmart using self-administered questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the demographic and lifestyle habits associated with various unhealthy dietary habits. This study was approved by Survey and Behavioural Research Ethics (SBRE) [Reference No.: SBRE-21-0052] and funded by Quality Education Fund (QEF#2019/0883).ResultsThe prevalence of inadequate consumption of vegetables and fruits was high among both primary (81.5%) and secondary school students (89.5%) and associated with physical inactivity in both primary (aOR=3.35, 95%CI: 1.41-7.97, p=0.006) and secondary students (aOR=4.30, 95%CI: 1.51-12.25, p=0.006). A substantial prevalence of breakfast skipping was observed among primary students (22.9%) who spent two or more hours on video games or social media (aORs=1.84-2.27);and among secondary students (23.7%) who consumed two or more hours on social media, alcohol consumption, and consumption of unhealthy food (aORs=1.42-2.79). Consumption of unhealthy food was reported by 43.9% and 48.2% for primary and secondary students respectively, with primary and secondary students who spent two or more hours on video games or social media (aORs=1.62-2.27) and secondary students who perceived themselves as underweight (aOR=1.79, 95%CI: 1.13-2.83, p=0.012) having a higher frequency of consumption.ConclusionsThere was a high prevalence of unhealthy dietary habits among schoolchildren in Hong Kong. Alarming results were observed with physical inactivity being associated with a higher risk of unhealthy dietary habits among primary and secondary students, which may increase the risk of obesity. Moreover, the apparent interrelationship between unhealthy habits highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to promoting healthy habits through education in this population.
ABSTRACT
The lockdown due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on daily routines and habits. New lifestyle behaviors contributed to the onset and course of mental diseases, including addictive problems. The objective of this work was to describe changes in health status during lockdown in the general population, including potentially addictive behaviors, and explore possible contributing factors. The analyzed data comprised a population-based sample of 240 individuals (73.3% women, mean age 43.8 years old). Assessments included sociodemographics and self-reports for health state and addictive behaviors. The risk of perceived worsening physical and psychological state was 21.7% and 20.0%, respectively, after the lockdown. The risk of requiring a new treatment for physical and psychological illnesses was 10.4% and 4.2%, respectively, while 2.5% of the participants started using illegal drugs and 9% initiated video game use. Finally, the statistical predictors of health worsening during the lockdown were the presence of anxiety symptoms, being unmarried, having low education levels, experiencing fears related to COVID-19 infection, and having family conflicts. This research identified vulnerability factors contributing to changes in physic and mental health, as well as those associated with addictive behaviors during lockdown. These results should be considered in further stressful situations to design personalized preventive and therapeutic plans. © Author(s).
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This essay analyzes the 2007 board game Pandemic in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The essay explores the connections between the reality of Pandemic and the play of COVID-19. To do this, it uses Ian Bogost's interpretation of systems (both real and imagined) to invite a dialectic of reality and game simulation. The interaction of such systems, in a game whose theme became real, highlights a major tenet of game studies—the borders between reality and games are thin, blurred, and mobile, if they exist at all. Games, in their simulation of the real, are mimetic, and, in turn, reality has become gamified. The essay examines the board game and highlights its mechanics, which include cooperation and mitigation of risk. It also explores how the game and reality blur their borders in this instance of play, inviting further study into the ramifications of simulated games and the fantasy of the real. © 2023 Regents of the University of Colorado.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators observed increased student stress and disconnection in formal learning environments, whereas young people turned to playing, gaming and collaborative writing to cultivate connections during this upheaval. Using Thiel's previous theoretical work, Woodard and colleagues explore playful dramatizing, multimodal composing and science learning through one fourth-grade girl's video about food chains. [...]Beauchemin and Qin take up affect as relational and performed forces that emerge from the inbetweenness among people, objects and material and discursive contexts. [...]in "Press Play,” community leader Karl André St-Victor describes how playful practices at Chalet Kent, a community youth center in Montréal, sustain strong senses of belonging and companionship among youth and center staff.
ABSTRACT
With the expanding popularity of Location-Based Games and the rise of advertising therein, there exists a need to comprehend the impact of Location-Based Game Advertising (LGA). This paper seeks to identify what makes positively affective LGA, leveraging Pokémon GO as a probe. Researchers conducted twenty-seven (n=27) semi-structured interviews with Pokémon GO players to reveal lived experiences regarding LGA. Our findings highlight the following direct implications for LGA: (1) LGA act as a digital billboard, conveying qualitative alongside locative information, and (2) well-received LGA enhances the player's agency. We additionally identify findings that have auxiliary implications to LGA: (3) positive memorability occurs when points of interest match physical reality, and (4) ludic engagement is a mediating factor in the memorability of locations. This research demonstrates that LGA in Location-Based Games is surprisingly well-received. However, developers must provide extra consideration to the player's agency for such techniques to be effective. © 2023 ACM.
ABSTRACT
Governments and health agencies around the world have been at the forefront of managing the COVID-19 pandemic. To control the spread of the outbreak, mandatory safety protocols have been put into effect. Despite the continuous development and strict enforcement of these preventive guidelines, non-compliance with these mandatory safety protocols has been reported. Getting the message to the public is one of the key challenges in convincing people to follow mitigation policies. In this study, we employed the media of video games to advocate for COVID-19 safety protocols. We developed a video game called "Corona Larona"that features microgames with action gameplay playable on a mobile platform. Our video game concentrated on several preventive measures such as physical distancing, hand washing, wearing face masks as well as basic knowledge about the virus using in-game multiple choice questions. To our knowledge, this is the first video game dedicated to the COVID-19 outbreak and the mandatory safety protocols. In a time when many people play video games to survive their current situation, the Corona Larona game is a strategic example of using and maximizing this form of media for a more noble purpose. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Introduction. Persistent negative mental-emotional experiences and the body's responses to stress may have a negative impact on physical condition and mental-emotional status of students and provoke behavioral disorders. Health-enhancing recreational physical activity helps to cope with the negative influence of stress factors. The study was focused on the prediction of stress-related conditions in students and their prevention through healthenhancing recreational physical activity (HRPA). The aim of the study was to develop predictive models for assessing stress-related conditions among students and to identify the opportunities for their prevention through engagement in health-enhancing recreational physical activity based on the assessment of the relationship between physical activity and emotional status. Material & methods. The study involved 573 higher education students from various regions of Ukraine. The following methods were applied: surveying, statistical analysis using non-linear estimation methods and statistical classification methods based on data mining and machine learning methods, such as neural networks. Results. Statistically significant (p<0.05) logistic binary models were developed and scientifically substantiated, which can be used to predict stress-related conditions among higher education students based on data about their HRPA and behavioral characteristics in a long-term stressful situation. According to the survey data, the military conflict on the territory of Ukraine has provoked the emergence of emotional distress in 80.8% of respondents. It was found that regular engagement in HRPA and an active lifestyle allows predicting the maintenance of emotional well-being among students with a probability of 78.0%. Conclusions. The behavioral disorders in higher education students combined with lack of HRPA during the period of armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine significantly increase their risk of anxiety, aggressiveness, depressive states, and mood swings as well as lead to deterioration in physical condition and mental-emotional status. An active lifestyle, regular engagement in health-enhancing recreational physical activity, and cessation of bad habits increase students' adaptability to the impact of stress factors.
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As with many other male-dominated sports, for over a century of its history, Australian Rules Football organizations resisted and undermined women's participation in the game. The first league for women footballers commenced in Victoria in 1981. Since then, the growth in women's participation has been substantial, and in 2017, a professional women's Australian Football League (AFLW) commenced. The next phase of the participation of women in football is approaching, and heralds an opportunity for women to (re)gain power within the sport. In October 2019, thirty percent of women players rejected the proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement from the Australian Football League (AFL), with the underlying sentiment of wanting a stronger voice in the vision for the future of their game. This paper examines how changing participation rates in community football can transform the narrative of women's football from one of subsidized welfare to women players being necessary for the survival of football.
ABSTRACT
One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the adaptation of most of the activities remotely or virtually, in the case of medical appointments, in the different specialties other than emergencies produced by COVID-19. Most of them continued in the format through online appointments. One of the important processes in medical evaluations is related to the so-called specialist boards, where special cases are evaluated, for which several physicians must be connected online, in addition to being able to make reports jointly. In this paper we develop a methodology to perform medical meetings of specialists, using a platform dedicated to the use in video games, through the DISCORD tool interconnectivity from various devices is performed, the results demonstrate the interactivity and applicability of the methodology, so it can be applied in different processes where interconnectivity between different devices and the concurrence of several users is required. We present a methodology to configure virtual appointment rooms, the results allow us to verify that the methodology can be replicated and scaled according to the needs. © 2022 ACM.