dimea conference 2008
TRANSCRIPT
1DIMEA 2008
Exploring Gaming Mechanisms to Enhance Knowledge Acquisition in Virtual Worlds
ELIOS Lab
Riccardo BertaELIOS Lab, DIBE, University of Genoa
2DIMEA 2008
Travel in Europe (TiE) project
Travel in Europe (TiE): European project co-funded by Culture 2000 programme
Implement an innovative mean to promote and divulgate the European heritage
The main target audience: high-school students aged 14 to 18
An easy-to-access online environmentUsers will live challenging and compelling game experiences by interacting with virtual representations of European heritage
The project exploits the concept of travelEngaging by itselfSupports geographic contextualization
3DIMEA 2008
Pedagogical foundations
Constructivistic learning philosophiesConstructing knowledge by situating cognitive experiences in real-world, authentic activities
Three main modalitiesLearn by doing (or playing) inviting players to operate in the virtual field, observing
attentively the documents– pictures, sketches, graphics, texts, etc.
Learn by thinkingstimulating reflection, critical reasoning and
concatenation of experiences
Learn through social interaction inviting players to play together for cooperative purposes
and to comment on their experience during the game.
4DIMEA 2008
Vision
A player of TiE moves in a 2D space representing the map of EuropeThe player visits some cities and regions that are reconstructed in 3DHe faces 2D trials (microGames: mGs) embedded in the 3D reconstructions to obtain scores
mGs will concern the local artistic heritage and will be contextualizedE.g. an art game concerning the Van Cleve’s “Adoration of
the Magi” picture will be played in the 3D reconstruction of the San Donato church in Genoa’s historical center, where the picture is conserved
5DIMEA 2008
2D Europe Map
6DIMEA 2008
3D world
7DIMEA 2008
Reconstructing 3D cities for educational/cultural purposes
Trade-offPhotorealismHighly impressiveCulturally correct and meaningful experience
– The player as a sort of art/history detective
Models’ weight and complexityAllow interactive real-time online exploration
8DIMEA 2008
TiE 3D worlds
3D models of urban environments completely geo-refereced
Extensibility/Compatibility with various GISs
Point of Interests (PoI)High-detail, rigorous reconstructions of a buildingCathedral, theather, Renaissance palace
Random Building Areas (RBA)Dynamically built using a statistical template-based algorithmExploit a statistical description of the architectonic parametersUse a limited set of textures that are instances of architectonic
features representative of that area (e.g windows, portals, etc.)
9DIMEA 2008
PoIs
10DIMEA 2008
RBA
11DIMEA 2008
TiE 3D worlds
Architectonic-style likelihood principleAllows users to live experiences similar to a real visit of a city limiting the effort in 3D modelling:Like in a real visit: a visitor perceives the
feeling of being in a precise place but usually does not perceive/remember the particulars of each distinct building
12DIMEA 2008
mGames
mGs are a sort of “links” in the “hypertext” represented by the 3D environment
e.g. mGs as “portals” to live a short adventure in the past times in the same place
Joining the spatial knowledge acquisition potential of 3D with the possibility of getting more in depth information
“digital analogy” of a visit of a city/regionTypically enhanced by visits at museums, etc
13DIMEA 2008
mGames typologies
Observation gamesThe sight as a sense to investigate and explore the local environmentExploit the “knowledge in the world” in order to develop the cognition activityStimulate spatial processing skills
Reflection gamesFavor reflection, analysis of questions and possible answers considering available clues and concepts previously learned
Arcade gamesStimulate similar skills as observation gamesAnimated graphics and engaging interaction, which helps to create a convincing and pleasant experienceConvey educational messages which are easily memorized by players.
14DIMEA 2008
mGame example
15DIMEA 2008
Support for User Generated Contents
Microgames instances can be created from templates and users can use their own contents
Whole games can be created over the environment
Treasure-hunt
Role-playing
Simple visit
Visual development by pedagogical experts thorugh a Creative Toolkit
16TiE Presentation
The TiE creative toolkit
TiE Game Designer ToolkitTiE Game Designer Toolkit
Place APlace BPlace C….
Available Places
Microgames B.1Microgames B.2Microgames B.3….
Available Microgames
Place Preview
File Edit View Insert Tools Help
TiE Game Title: Threasure Hant Game
Genova
Longitude, Latitude
….
Name
Position
….
………………………….
Palazzo Ducale
Longitude, Latitude
….
Name
Position
….
PuzzleType
………………………….
Microgame Preview
Generate GameXML
TiE Game Design
2D Europe Map Browse...
Deploy GameTest Game
Deselected cities
Selected citiesAdd Remove Add Remove
17TiE Presentation
Conversational Virtual Humans
The player can interact in natural language with Conversational Virtual Humans (CVHs)
Information and hints about the surrounding environment and game mechanics
CVHs have roles that characterize their kn. basisPoliceman, handicraftsman, expert of art, disguiser
Feature a personality and express emotions also in relation with learning goals, and social interaction aspects
Acquiring knowledge through a smart dialog with CVHs is necessary to advance levels
18DIMEA 2008
CVHs
19TiE Presentation
Social Interaction
Social interaction as a hook for fidelizationChat-like interfacesGeneric chattingCooperation in games and explorationLocation-aware chatting
– Contact list based on proximity
20DIMEA 2008
Conclusions and Future Works
Project started in Nov 2006
User needs analysis performedStudents, teachers, art experts from 8 countries
Design deliverableGame engine, cultural environment mechanisms, MMORG architecture, trial games
Content Collection (semi-automatic)Rules for 3rd parties to provide maps and pictures from the cities to be implemented
Contents for the trial-games
Implementation has started, and we have a demo that include some cities