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Nuketris

Nuketris. An example of Inclusive Gaming. Michael Reid Ryerson University. Agenda. Motivation Literature Nuketris Study Method Results Improvements Future Work. Motivation. IMAGINE. Accessibility as social responsibility Edutainment In-game history informs while entertaining

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Nuketris

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  1. Nuketris An example of Inclusive Gaming Michael Reid Ryerson University

  2. Agenda • Motivation • Literature • Nuketris • Study • Method • Results • Improvements • Future Work

  3. Motivation

  4. IMAGINE • Accessibility as social responsibility • Edutainment • In-game history informs while entertaining • Game follows historical events • Promotes nuclear awareness • Designed to provoke thought about nuclear proliferation

  5. Motivation • Video games are primarily designed for output in the visual-domain • Secondary outputs are typically treated simply as an enhancement • e.g. force-feedback joysticks, 3d surround sound • We present an example of an inclusive game, and preliminary results from a study

  6. Literature

  7. What is a “game”? • An activity whose goal is intrinsic to the activity itself • vs. work-related activity • Challenge is implied • the best tools often compromise the challenge • Fun

  8. Flow • Zen-like state of total engagement; being “in the zone” • Optimal state of “intrinsic motivation” • Csikszentmihalyi, 1990 • Characterized by eight factors: clear goals, intense focus, loss of self, distorted time, direct feedback, challenge, control, instrinsic reward

  9. Accessible Visual Interfaces • Musical program auralisation (Vickers 2002) • Used musical motifs to communicate program structure • Cooperative towers of Hanoi (Winberg 2004) • Sighted + visually impaired collaborate to solve a puzzle

  10. Nuketris

  11. The Approach • Software based solution • Written in Java to be made available as an applet over the web • 2D visuals • Audio a combination of sound effects and synthesized soundscapes in a stereo field

  12. Demo • Video clip

  13. Nuketris • Game objective is to manage nuclear stockpiles avoiding nuclear disaster • "Tetris" without borders • Pieces correspond to nuclear arms belonging to a specific nation • Levels correspond to events in nuclear history

  14. Edutainment • Game-progress accompanied by historical narrative • A summarized look back at the proliferation of nuclear weapons • Introduces historical developments that are dealt with in game-play • e.g. new nuclear nation, diplomatic crisis

  15. Visuals • Game field wraps around the Earth • Pieces are lined-up visually to the field below • Overlays used to convey status information

  16. Audio • Position & orientation conveyed through synthesized soundscape • Pieces are "lined-up" to the best sounding location • Text-to-speech and sound effects used to convey status information Video showing effect of soundscape to different orientations Video showing gameplay and status sounds

  17. Audio Design • Event/Status • New pieces • Score • Next level Game World Audio Output • Text to speech • Sound effects • Melodic motifs Tonal Mixed Atonal

  18. The Study Pic of usability lab

  19. Method • Usability study to measure playability and ability to engage a variety of players • Think aloud protocol • Pre-study questionnaire • Game playing session • Post-study questionnaire • Designed to rate eight factors pertaining to flow

  20. Subjects • 8 sighted, 1 blind • Data collection is still in progress • All in the 18 – 24 demographic • 2 play games frequently, 4 occasionally, 2 seldom • Varying degrees of knowledge of nuclear proliferation

  21. Results – Sighted subjects • X subjects experienced flow according to Csikszentmihalyi’s criteria • Y subjects interested in educational component • All subjects felt challenged • Z subjects learned something new about nuclear proliferation

  22. Results – Blind subject • Able to avoid harmful positions • Able to identify optimal position of piece • Did not make use of orientation hints • Did not make use of tonality cues • Reported confusion at several moments • Reported some aesthetic concerns about chosen sounds • Felt that tactile feedback would have enhanced understanding

  23. Problems – Sighted subjects • Visual distortion caused by curvature of Earth • X subjects • Connection between

  24. Problems – Blind subject • Information overload in the audio field • Many simultaneous sounds could not be interpreted • Synthesized soundscape grew annoying • Hard to develop a mental model of the game world

  25. Future work • Finish data collection • Extend to persons with motor disabilities

  26. Questions?

  27. References Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York: Harpers Perennial. Vickers, Paul (2002) “Musical program auralisation: a structured approach to motif design,” Interacting with Computers (24)5, pp 457-485 Winberg & Bowers (2004) “Assembling the senses: towards the design of cooperative interfaces for visually impaired users.” Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Chicago, IL

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