Sources and uncertainties of future global drought risk with ISIMIP2b climate scenarios and socioeconomic indicators.

The severity of potential drought impacts is influenced not only by physical characteristics, such as precipitation, soil moisture, and temperature but also by local socioeconomic conditions that influence a region's exposure and vulnerability. This study aims to demonstrate projected future global drought risk, which is quantified based on indicators representing three risk components, namely, hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Drought hazard is evaluated using the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index. Drought exposure considers population and agricultural land use, and drought vulnerability accounts for gross domestic product, total water storage, and water consumption. This global-scale study was conducted for the historical and future periods of 1975-2005 and 2070-2099, respectively, and employed three combined scenarios consisting of Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) with datasets from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP2b). To evaluate the proposed approach, the results obtained for the historical period were compared with drought records. The projections suggest that in addition to increasing drought hazards caused by climate change, populous regions, or areas heavily dependent on agriculture are at a higher risk than other regions because of high water consumption levels. The contributions analysis indicates that agricultural land use is the largest contributor to drought risk, except for Africa, where the population makes the largest contribution. Model uncertainty of the General Circulation Models (GCMs) and Hydrological Models (HMs) is dominant compared to the RCP and SSP scenarios, with uncertainty from the GCMs the most dominant. This study provides possible depictions and their uncertainties of future drought risks and can assist decision-makers in developing better adaptation and mitigation strategies for climatic, environmental, and socioeconomic changes.

Mobile Game Design Guide to Improve Gaming Experience for the Middle-Aged and Older Adult Population: User-Centered Design Approach.

BACKGROUND: The number of older adult gamers who play mobile games is growing worldwide. Earlier studies have reported that digital games provide cognitive, physical, and socioemotional benefits for older adults. However, current mobile games that understand older adults' gameplay experience and reflect their needs are very scarce. Furthermore, studies that have analyzed older adults' game experience in a holistic manner are rare. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to suggest mobile game design guidelines for adults older than 50 years from a holistic gaming experience perspective. Adopting a human-centric approach, this study analyzes middle-aged and older adults' gameplay experience and suggests practical design guides to increase accessibility and satisfaction. METHODS: We organized a living laboratory project called the "Intergenerational Play Workshop." In this workshop, 40 middle-aged and older adults (mean age 66.75 years, age range 50-85 years) played commercial mobile games of various genres with young adult partners for 1 month (8 sessions). Using a convergent parallel mixed-method design, we conducted a qualitative analysis of dialogue, game diaries, and behavioral observations during the workshop and a quantitative analysis of the satisfaction level of the game elements for the mobile games that they played. RESULTS: This project was active from April 2019 to December 2021, and the data were collected at the workshops from July 1 to August 28, 2019. Based on the identified themes of positive and negative experiences from the qualitative data, we proposed 45 design guides under 3 categories: (1) cognitive and physical elements, (2) psychological and socioemotional elements, and (3) consumption contextual elements. Our empirical research could reaffirm the proposals from previous studies and provide new guidelines for improving the game design. In addition, we demonstrate how existing commercial games can be evaluated quantitatively by using the satisfaction level of each game's elements and overall satisfaction level. CONCLUSIONS: The final guidelines were presented to game designers to easily find related information and enhance the overall understanding of the game experience of middle-aged and older adults.