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
With the COVID-19 pandemic, people's real-life interactions diminished, and the game-based metaverse platforms such as Minecraft and Roblox are on the rise. The main users of these platforms are teenagers, they generate content in a virtual environment, which can significantly increase the activity of the platform. However, the experience of User-Generated Content in the metaverse is not very good. So what kind of support do users need to improve the efficiency of generating content in the metaverse? To investigate teenage users' preferences and expectations of it, this paper interviewed 72 teenagers aged 12-22 who are familiar with the metaverse game, and distilled 4 suggestions that can help promote metaverse users to generate content. © 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 emergence of online learning has become important during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the advent of internet technology. The unpreparedness of planning and implementing online learning has caused many problems during the pandemic such as limited or monotonous academic materials as well as difficulty in organizing activities and student involvement. Online learning is also more stressful because students are stuck in private academic processes in the absence of challenging and fun activities leading to knowledge development difficulties. Therefore, this study aims to develop and analyze the feasibility of a gamification model for case and project-based online learning in universities. This analysis used the research and development (R&D) method with the experimental procedure containing model development as well as product validation and testing. In the validation process, two learning design and media experts as well as 76 students participated with a descriptive statistical analysis used to analyze the data. The results of the learning design experts' assessment showed a score of 4.35, learning media experts' assessment showed a score of 4.90 and the average score of the students' assessment was 4.33. Based on the results, the developed learning model was feasible to use in university academic processes. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that we are stronger when joined around a shared vision. A challenging task in hospitals is to define the scenarios and face change in a manner that benefits the patients, clinical practices and themselves institutions. Game theory provides frames of study for healthcare decision-making at high levels as the government and professional societies. This allows us to study and incorporate this theory to define and approach solutions that can hold the different health systems feasible and wholesome. This chapter presents a conceptual framework that sheds light on medical tutoring in a hospital. Intensive care units are the focus of this study because they have a relevant role in this scenario. The new educational challenges in critical care services must face from a perspective that provides a proper response to changing actuality. This is done through enhanced practice to make decisions using game theory. The principles of this theory predict human behaviour, helping with decision-making and describing how determined results can appear that are not optimal for the entire group. The implementation of critical thinking between an intensive care unit and another service is studied. The results obtained agree with the expected behaviour. The study indicates that game theory provides a framework which manages educational collaboration between clinical units in the hospital. It can get suitable models for strategic interactions that frequently occur in education training and application in medicine. The chapter studies the environments wherein the theory has been applied and the upcoming challenges in this sector. © 2023 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Understanding a concept that people cannot observe directly in real life is always challenging in education. It could be even more difficult for public health education topics such as viruses or bacteria. However, public health education is critical for understanding the knowledge of the virus in the age of COVID-19. Thus, this paper proposes a distributed mixed reality environment to enhance public health education in the internet of things (IoT) context. We introduce the design methodology based on the mixed reality interaction characteristics, the implementation, and the initial evaluation. © 2023 Author(s).
ABSTRACT
After the epidemic of COVID-19 has been basically under control interiorly, China is under the situation of regular epidemic prevention and control. Hence a reflection on the problems about the risk of gaming disorder in the epidemic period can be helpful to mental health professionals who prevent and control gaming disorder. The authors clarified the improper publicity of the gaming industry and false media report, and also reviewed the trend of game using was rapidly rising and game market was rapidly expanding. Consequently, as the author addressed, the health risks due to excessive gaming patterns were increasing. This review also pointed out and analyzed some new trend of the expansion of female game users during the epidemic, and the further in-depth integration of games and gambling. Finally, some advice was provided to the mental health workers to cope with the increasing risk of gaming disorder during a post-epidemic era.Copyright © Chinese Journal of Psychiatry 2021.
ABSTRACT
There is an increasing interest for people to meet and interact in virtual online environments, including Gather.Town, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic world. We present a scoping review of 11 empirical studies in Gather.town - a 2D Metaverse using a game-like interface with video-chat in which people can create their own virtual spaces and act as avatars to interact with each other for various purposes. To identify knowledge gaps, we summarized the included articles in terms of their application contexts, research issues, research methods, and key findings. We found that most of them were conducted in educational settings with a focus on students' learning experiences and perceptions. The findings of the reviewed studies generally suggested that the use of Gather.town benefited users' engagement. However, the available evidence was mostly based on short interventions (e.g., one session) and self-reported measures (e.g., surveys and interviews). This review concluded by presenting several research gaps for future research (e.g., studies with a longer duration and using more objective measurements of learning achievement and work results). © 2023 IEEE.
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
With rapid proliferation of digitalization and compulsion by COVID-19 pandemic, learning formats have been changing from face-To-face to online. Online education enables learners to take courses from anywhere, anytime, but it can also cause some problems for learners who struggle to maintain motivation. In addition, for STEAM education, it is important to engage in hands-on activities, but the ongoing pandemic has made it difficult for students to gather in one place to perform such activities. Incorporating gamification into online education can potentially motivate students and make STEAM education more interactive. On this premise, we have developed PhyGame as a learning system to help high-school students learn Physics. The system includes common game elements such as badges and leaderboards, and interactive simulation of Physics concepts embodying game-like charm. It also includes three modes of learning that allow students to adjust the difficulty according to their own learning levels, and a function that automatically saves learning log. For evaluation, PhyGame was used by students (N=23) at a high school in central Tokyo. The students rated the system on a scale of 1 to 10, and the main results are as follows: (1) Using PhyGame made learning enjoyable (mean score: 7.74);(2) PhyGame provided a good UI/UX (mean score: 7.83);(3) The overall experience with PhyGame was satisfactory (mean: 7.00). Our evaluation results show that interactive and gamified learning systems like PhyGame have a positive impact on user engagement and motivation. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
A new pattern of oil trade has emerged under the influence of geopolitics and the COVID-19 pandemic. To explore China's oil security in these changed times, this study takes the new pattern of global oil trade as the background and adopts the oil trade models of Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, and China itself. Since Saudi Arabia's oil trade with China and India has been safe and stable for long, this study uses evolutionary game theory to make a quantitative analysis of the energy competition between China and India and the energy cooperation between China and Russia. The research results reveal the following: 1) The continued increase in India's Russian oil imports will pose a threat to China's oil security. When India's oil imports from Russia reach 16.5%, it will change the oil trade structure of the four countries and become a crucial threat to China and 2) Russia's willingness to export has a direct impact on the results. As Russia's willingness to export declines, it will affect the results and pose a threat to China's oil security. This study is of great significance as it provides meaningful insights to ensure China's oil security in the post pandemic era with key changes in the world's oil trade pattern. © 2023 Science Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The resumption of production after the "suspension” caused by the COVID-19 has emerged as an urgent problem for many enterprises and the government. The resumption of production is actually a dynamic evolution problem from 0 to 1 (100%). This paper constructs a general game model and a dynamic replication system for the resumption of production and government support, and gives theorems for the construction of the model. It analyzes the evolution mechanism and scenario conditions for the convergence of enterprise strategies to the "resumption of production” strategy, takes the resumption of production of hog farmers as an example to carry out a study on the regulation of countermeasures to resume hog production, and explores systemic countermeasures and suggestions for the rapid convergence of farmers' strategies to the "resumption of work and production” strategy. The study found that the production resuming behavior system dynamics evolution game regulation model provides a systematic model and method for the study of resumption countermeasures, a general regulation model for the resumption ratio from 0 to 1 (100%), and a systematic idea, method and model for exploring the "precise strategy” system to promote the rapid resumption of production. © 2023, Science Press (China). All rights reserved.
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
Objective: In this study, it was aimed to examine the risk of sleep disturbance in children and its relationship with computer game addiction during the Coronavirus disease-2019 lock down. Materials and Methods: In our cross-sectional observational study, 343 children and their mothers who applied family medicine clinics of a tertiary hospital between 1 October 2020 and 1 January 2021 were included. A structured questionnaire including the socio-demographic data of the mother and the child, and the Children's Sleep Disturbance Scale and the Children's Computer Game Addiction Scale were applied. Results: One-hundred sixty-five (48.1%) girls and 178 (51.9%) boys aged 8-12 years and their mothers participated in the study. The risk of sleep disturbance was observed at a rate of 74.1% (n=254) and it was strongly correlated with computer game addiction (p<0.001, r=0.787). Game addiction scores of boys (58.66±16.68) and primary school children (60.37±16.41) were higher than game addiction of girls (52.91±17.57), and of secondary school children (55.06±17.39) (p=0.023, p=0.040, respectively). Computer game addiction score (61.89±14.77) of children with sleep disturbance risk was significantly higher (p<0.001) than children without sleep disturbance risk (38.79±11.84). Among the children with a risk of sleep disturbance, the proportion of time spent on the computer compared to the pre-pandemic period (70.1%), the proportion of going late to bed-time (70.0%), and the proportion of being own computer or tablet (71.7%) were found to be higher than the proportions in children (48.3%, 58.4%, 37.1%, respectively) without sleep disturbance (p<0.001, p=0.004, p<0.001, respectively). The level of computer game addiction was significantly increased in children who spent less time with their mothers (58.68±16.97) and less time for games (58.05±18.11) compared to other children (p=0.002). In the logistic regression analysis, it was shown that the game addiction score was 1.128 times higher in children with sleep disturbance risk [Odds ratio=1.128 (1.094-1.162;p<0.001)]. Conclusion: Our study showed that three of four children had a risk of sleep disorders during the pandemic period and were associated with an increased level of computer game addiction and drew attention to the importance of the time spent with the mother. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Amaç: Bu çalışmada, Koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 kapanma döneminde çocuklarda uyku bozukluğu görülme riski ve bilgisayar oyun bağımlılığı ile ilişkisini incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Gözlemsel kesitsel tipte olan çalışmamıza üçüncü basamak bir hastanede aile hekimliği polikliniklerine 1 Ekim 2020-1 Ocak 2021 tarihleri arasında başvuran 343 çocuk ve annesi dahil edilmiştir. Anne ve çocuğun sosyo-demografik verileri ile Çocuklar Íçin Uyku Bozukluğu Ölçeği ve Çocuklar Íçin Bilgisayar Oyun Bağımlılığı Ölçeği'ni içeren yapılandırılmış soru formu uygulanmıştır. Bulgular: Çalışmaya 8-12 yaş arası 165 (%48,1) kız ve 178 (%51,9) erkek çocuk ve anneleri katılmıştır. Uyku bozukluğu riski %74,1 (n=254) oranında gözlenmiş ve bilgisayar oyun bağımlılığı ile yüksek düzeyde ilişkili olduğu saptanmıştır (p<0,001, r=0,787). Uyku bozukluğu riski saptanan çocukların bilgisayar oyun bağımlılığı skoru (61,89±14,77), uyku bozukluğu riski olmayan çocuklardan (38,79±11,84) anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek (p<0,001) gözlenmiştir. Uyku bozukluğu riski olan çocuklar arasında, pandemi öncesine göre bilgisayar başında geçirdiği süre artan çocukların oranı (%70,1), yatağa yatış zamanı geciken çocukların oranı (%70,0) ve kendine ait bilgisayar ya da tableti olan çocukların oranı (%71,7), uyku bozukluğu riski olmayan çocuklardaki dağılıma göre (sırasıyla %48,3, %58,4, %37,1) daha yüksek saptanmıştır (sırasıyla p<0,001, p=0,004, p<0,001). Bilgisayar oyun bağımlılık düzeyi, annesi ile daha az zaman geçiren (58,68±16,97) ve oyun için kendisine daha az zaman ayrılan çocuklarda (58,05±18,11) diğer çocuklara göre anlamlı düzeyde artış gözlenmiştir (p=0,002). Lojistik regresyon analizinde uyku bozukluğu riski olan çocuklarda oyun bağımlılık skorunun 1,128 kat daha yüksek olduğu gösterilmiştir [Odds oranı=1,128 (1,094-1,162);p<0,001)]. Sonuç: Araştırmamız pandemi dönemi her dört çocuktan üçünde uyku bozukluğu riskinin olduğunu, bilgisayar oyun bağımlılığı düzeyi ile arttığını göstermiş ve anne ile geçirilen sürenin önemine dikkat çekmiştir. (Turkish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Turkish Sleep Medicine is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Procurement of game animals is a major source of revenue for hunting clubs in Poland. For several years, the game meat buying market has been showing an upward trend, but this situation is also influenced by random factors that negatively affect the value of the game meat buying market. For several years in our country we have been struggling with the ASF virus, and since 2020, negative effects in the economy related to the occurrence of the SARS-CoV virus have been observed, also affecting the hunting sector with its activities. The aim of the study was to analyze the dynamics of game meat procurement in Poland in the years 2009-2021. The data concerned the three most important species, namely deer, roe deer and wild boar. The analysis covered the quantity of game meat, procurement value and the average price of game meat depending on animal species. The conducted research confirmed an upward trend in the volume and value of game meat procurement for all the analysed game species. Similarly, the average procurement prices of roe dee and wild boar meat with the exception of red deer, showed an upward trend. The study confirmed the negative impact of the ASF virus and the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the game meat buying market in Poland.
ABSTRACT
The results of a comparative analysis of the functional features of the QAnon theory and the conceptual signs of ARG (games in alternative reality) are displayed. The signs of ARG are designated and given as elements of the reference game model, the basis for comparison. The authors found that the QAnon conspiracy theory, the history of its emergence and development features is of a synthetic nature: ARG elements are present in modified form. They transform the roles of developers and participants. The QAnon quest structure was visualized, the gameplay based on experiencing the state of apophenia – a painful search for a connection between random phenomena or events – was described. The similarities of QAnon with religion and at the same time political ideology based on the mechanics of the game were identified, which explains its popularity. The relevance of the topic is due to the steady growth in the number of conspiracy theories and their followers since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic against the backdrop of audience distrust in the media. The authors demonstrate how QAnon, not being essentially a game in an alternative reality, but using game technologies and eschatological narratives about the Great Tribulation and Judgment Day, achieves high efficiency in shaping public opinion. © 2023, RUDN University. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
We are moving toward a future in which digital practices are becoming more ubiquitous. Also, there is evidence to suggest that innovative digital practices are changing the face of 21st-century learning environments. Critical to 21st-century teaching and learning success is continued emphasis on learner preferences, shaped by innovative digital technology-driven learning environments alongside teacher awareness, knowledge, and preparedness to deliver high-impact instruction using active learning pedagogies. Thus, the purposeful and selective use of digital learning tools in higher education and the incorporation of appropriate active learning pedagogies are pivotal to enhancing and supporting meaningful student learning. "Innovative Digital Practices and Globalization in Higher Education" explores innovative digital practices to enhance academic performance for digital learners and prepare qualified graduates who are competent to work in an increasingly global digital workplace. Global competence has become an essential part of higher education and professional development. As such, it is the responsibility of higher education institutions to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and competencies required to compete in the digital and global market. Covering topics such as design thinking, international students, and digital teaching innovation, this premier reference source is an essential resource for pre-service and in-service teachers, educational technologists, instructional designers, faculty, administrators, librarians, researchers, and academicians.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic imposes serious short-term and long-term health costs on populations. Restrictive government policy measures decrease the risks of infection, but produce similarly serious social, mental health, and economic problems. Citizens have varying preferences about the desirability of restrictive policies, and governments are thus forced to navigate this tension in making pandemic policy. This paper analyses the situation facing government using a game-theoretic epidemiological model. Methodology: We classify individuals into health-centered individuals and freedom-centered individuals to capture the heterogeneous preferences of citizens. We first use the extended Susceptible-Exposed-Asymptomatic-Infectious-Recovered (SEAIR) model (adding individual preferences) and the signaling game model (adding government) to analyze the strategic situation against the backdrop of a realistic model of COVID-19 infection. Findings: We find the following: 1. There exists two pooling equilibria. When health-centered and freedom-centered individuals send anti-epidemic signals, the government will adopt strict restrictive policies under budget surplus or balance. When health-centered and freedom-centered individuals send freedom signals, the government chooses not to implement restrictive policies. 2. When governments choose not to impose restrictions, the extinction of an epidemic depends on whether it has a high infection transmission rate; when the government chooses to implement non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs), whether an epidemic will disappear depends on how strict the government's restrictions are. Originality/value: Based on the existing literature, we add individual preferences and put the government into the game as a player. Our research extends the current form of combining epidemiology and game theory. By using both we get a more realistic understanding of the spread of the virus and combine that with a richer understanding of the strategic social dynamics enabled by game theoretic analysis. Our findings have important implications for public management and government decision-making in the context of COVID-19 and for potential future public health emergencies.
ABSTRACT
Individual and societal reactions to an ongoing pandemic can lead to social dilemmas: In some cases, each individual is tempted to not follow an intervention, but for the whole society, it would be best if they did. Now that in most countries, the extent of regulations to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission is very small, interventions are driven by individual decision-making. Assuming that individuals act in their best own interest, we propose a framework in which this situation can be quantified, depending on the protection the intervention provides to a user and to others, the risk of getting infected, and the costs of the intervention. We discuss when a tension between individual and societal benefits arises and which parameter comparisons are important to distinguish between different regimes of intervention use.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Cooperative Behavior , Pandemics/prevention & control , Game Theory , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
The outbreak of pandemics such as COVID-19 can result in cascading effects for global systemic risk. To combat an ongoing pandemic, governmental resources are largely allocated toward supporting the health of the public and economy. This shift in attention can lead to security vulnerabilities which are exploited by terrorists. In view of this, counterterrorism during a pandemic is of critical interest to the safety and well-being of the global society. Most notably, the population flows among potential targets are likely to change in conjunction with the trend of the health crisis, which leads to fluctuations in target valuations. In this situation, a new challenge for the defender is to optimally allocate his/her resources among targets that have changing valuations, where his/her intention is to minimize the expected losses from potential terrorist attacks. In order to deal with this challenge, in this paper, we first develop a defender-attacker game in sequential form, where the target valuations can change as a result of the pandemic. Then we analyze the effects of a pandemic on counterterrorism resource allocation from the perspective of dynamic target valuations. Finally, we provide some examples to display the theoretical results, and present a case study to illustrate the usability of our proposed model during a pandemic.