This document is the Gamification and Immersive Technology Strategies December 2013 E-Newsletters with updated information on Gamification, Recent Events, New models and theories and Upcoming events
Dec 2013 Gamification and Immersive Technology Strategies E newsletter
1. Welcome to the December 2013 Gamification and Immersive Technology Strategies Newsletter. I would like to take this
opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and peaceful festive season and a successful coming year.
In this Newsletter
Gamification Developments and Insights
Horizon 2020 Conference Review
ImReal Final Workshop
Oman Competitiveness Forum Review
Gamification and Profiling
Gamification for Health
Calls for Papers
Upcoming Conferences and Seminars
Slideshare Archives
Gamification Developments and Insights
Xbox One and PS4 Head to Head
December is a traditional time of peace and goodwill to all men – unless you happen to be competing head to head in the race for
the usual Christmas present buying race. This year it brings together Microsoft and Sony in the battle for hearts, minds and wallets
with Microsoft opting for a strategy which positions Xbox One as a flexible multi-functional home entertainment solution which
could open up multiple opportunities in a wide range of application areas whilst Sony seems to be targeting hard-core gamers with
the ultimate in high fidelity games console experience. Both companies are arguably adopting high risk strategies although I
suspect that both products will do extremely well and could benefit from their product differentiation in the sense that, with
different target users, they will not be involved in a “winner takes all” contest.
The continued and accelerating pace of “smart” technologies designed to make life as easy as possible for the consumer, giving us
supposedly more control over our lives with ever more choice of increasingly personalised online services worries me. These
emerging technologies are what we demand to enrich our lives but the embedding of human intelligence in technology inevitably
reduces the demand on and/or opportunity for the use of our own problem solving skills. Over the last month I have listened to a
number of people in a range of different contexts express similar concerns. Most recently, in a break-out session during the Oman
Competitiveness Forum, a delegate criticised the lack of challenge in his child’s education and drew a parallel with his lack of
opportunity to diagnose and fix faulty air conditioning in his home because the manufacturers make it cheaper to replace the
whole unit. In Vilnius a few weeks earlier I had listened to the inventor of the Raspberry Pi explain that his motivation for
developing the Pi was to provide children with the same excitement and challenge he had experienced with the very basic BBC
Micro rather than just picking up a phone or tablet so intuitive that there is little scope for challenge or problem solving.
Bread and Circuses
These comments and similar remarks expressed with increasing frequency and nostalgia for “the good old days” makes me
convinced that human beings need constant challenge in their lives to grow and develop and that this basic human need provides
some explanation for the explosion in demand for games. We live in a paradoxical world where we simultaneously need both
security and risk. Throughout history, civilisations have recognised this. In Roman times, the expression “bread and circuses” was
used to describe the politics of the time and today the same metaphors can still be applied to describe how we still respond to this
paradoxical mix of basic needs and excitement. I do not wish to make any political points in making this observation except to say
that my worry is that we are coming to rely too heavily on technology to provide today’s “bread and circuses”. Although the
technology train has now left the station and cannot be stopped, we should be more concerned with our humanity and take steps
to defend the characteristics of human nature that have brought us thus far.
Horizon 2020 Conference Review
Horizon 2020 opening plenary session
2. The Horizon 2020 conference took place in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a massive event with very large exhibition area and a
bewildering array of parallel break-out sessions and delegate-organised events, all of which were designed to not only launch the
new Horizon 2020 strategy but also create new partnership opportunities between delegates. There were over 3,000 attendees
from across Europe and beyond and I was very pleased to see that a substantial part of the EU’s budget for new projects will be
focused on addressing societal challenges and that gamification is also included in the upcoming calls for proposals.
You can download the Horizon 2020 Work Programme from https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/sites/digitalagenda/files/H2020%20LEIT-ICT%20WP%202014-15%20-%2031%2010%202013.pdf#!
I will be looking to become involved in funding bids related to serious games, gamification and societal challenges so if you are
interested in working with me, contact me on david@davidwortley.com
ImReal Final Workshop
ImReal Final Workshop at the University of Leeds
The final event of the ImReal FP7 European Project took place at the University of Leeds last month and took the form of a series
of presentations by the project partners followed by an exhibition and demonstrations of some of the applications developed. I
have been involved in ImReal in supporting the serious games developer, Milan-based Imaginary at some of the events and
through some dissemination of ImReal’s activities.
The conference in Leeds was very well attended. The ImReal projects is based on the concept of “Augmented Virtuality” and seeks
to provide blended connections between virtual or online learning applications and real world experiences. There were a number
of applications presented including some serious games that support reflective learning with tools to add new content based on
user experiences so that the learning content does not remain static but is continuously informed by new insights.
Oman Competitiveness Forum Review
Oman Competitiveness Forum Opening Plenary
The Oman Competitiveness Forum OCF 2013 took place at the Al Bustan hotel in Muscat at the Beginning of December. I was one
of a number of invited international guests to take part in various thematic plenary and break-out sessions designed to explore
and debate how Oman could take steps to develop its international competitiveness and exploit its natural strengths. The
thematic discussion areas included National Identity and Vision (Branding), Enterprise, Learning, Sustainable Growth and Smart
Communities. I was one of a handful of guests who had previously visited Oman and so knew something of their culture and
infrastructure.
As well as taking part in the panel session and facilitating a break-out session, I was also invited to visit Knowledge Oasis Muscat
(KOM) to see their Incubation centre and National Business Centre. In addition, myself and my colleagues from the Smart
Communities session had private dinner and breakfast meetings with the Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi of ITA, Oman’s Telecomms Agency.
My conclusion from the Forum was that Oman is like a jewel in the desert waiting to discover itself. I observed many of the
elements that are needed to compete in a global society. They have a strong visionary leader, a peaceful and positive society,
many indicators of distinct identity and some important regulatory standards such as National ID cards. Oman is a beautiful
country with very warm and welcoming people who are proud of their heritage.
Whilst there are still some infrastructure strategies that need adjustment, I came away from Oman believing that they have the
potential to occupy an important competitive position in the Middle East with a distinct brand identity. The most important
requirement is to for them to understand their competitive strengths and for a catalyst to stimulate innovative and creative
thinking in education and business.
Gamification and Profiling
The Gamification Profiling Model
The Gamification Profiling Model is a new concept designed to analyse and explore the use of gamification for the profiling of both
activities and human personalities. It is a 3 dimensional model whose axes are Level of Engagement/Motivation, Balance of
Reward Mechanisms (Intrinsic or Extrinsic) and Balance of Locus of Control (External or Internal). My belief is that all human
beings adopt different roles in this model according to the activity and their general personality. If this is true, then not only could
the model be used to profile personality but also shape activities through the use of gamification to change attitudes and
behaviour to achieve an objective.
Gamification could then be understood as a process by which attitudes, behaviours and possibly even personality traits can be
shaped by using the principles, psychologies and methodologies of games.
3. Gamification for Health
Jawbone UP Nutrition Display
I continue to explore the use of my Jawbone UP bracelet for managing my weight and my health. The screenshot above shows a
nutrition display based on the food I ate. Having now reached my target weight, I am concentrating on improving my general
health, but as well as the extra well-being that comes from the satisfaction of losing weight, I have also noticed some additional
effects on my health that were unexpected. Amongst these benefits are improved sleep patterns which in turn lead to more
energy and a sharper mind. Since I have been using the UP bracelet I have gone from regularly interrupted sleep with several visits
to the bathroom to almost sleeping through the whole night with over 50% of my sleep categorised as “deep”.
The developments in the area of health and environmental sensors I can see mas truly transforming society, most importantly in
not only giving citizens more control over their health but, with appropriate public health and environmental policies, more
responsibility for looking after their health and local environment.
Call for Papers
First International Symposium on
Simulation and Serious Games
The International Symposium on Simulation & Serious Games 2014 will take place from 23 – 24 May 2014 at the Kintex Convention
Centre in South Korea.
Organised by the Korea Games Society (KGS), The International Symposium on Simulation and Serious Games is a platform to
gather researchers and academics working with simulation and games technology. Our mission is to foster engagement of
communities so as to be able to make a positive impact that would enrich the lives of communities within the international
education and healthcare landscape. Our theme for the conference is:
"Bridging Communities, Harnessing Technologies and Enriching Lives."
All accepted papers published in the proceedings will be indexed at CrossRef* with DOI.
Accepted papers will also be indexed in ISI Thomson (Web of Science).
*CrossRef is an independent membership association, founded and directed by publishers. CrossRef’s mandate is to connect users
to primary research content, by enabling publishers to work collectively. CrossRef is also the official DOI® link registration agency
for scholarly and professional publications. Our citation-linking network today covers tens of millions of articles and other content
items from thousands of scholarly and professional publishers.
The conference website is at: www.seriousgamesconference.org
The conference welcomes submissions in the following topics, but are not limited to:
A. Learning Pedagogy, Methodologies and
Assessment
D. Computer Games, Multimedia
Relearning via games
Learning analytics
Evaluation of game-based learning
B. Serious Games Applications
Banking and finance
Community engagement
Education curriculum design and
development
Government agencies
Healthcare and wellness
Human resource training and
development
Patient rehabilitation and
physiotherapy
Senior citizens
C. Game Designs, Studies and Theories
Game and gamer psychology
Game storyboarding
Game addiction and prevention
methods
Game gender, age and violence
issues
Gaming and prevention of ageing
diseases
Games for family bonding
Social and Collaborative Games
Games Simulations and Dynamic
Models
Interactive Simulations
Tools and Systems for Games and
Virtual Reality
Intelligent Agents and Gamebots
Gaming – Hardware and
Accessories
Graphics & Visualisation
Texture and Shader Programming
Stereographics in Real Time
Cinematography
Audio Techniques for Racing Games
Interactive Dynamic Response for
Games
Mapping the Mental Space of Game
Genres
Cultural and Media Studies on
Computer Games
Experiential Spatiality in Games
Game Development Contract
Outsourcing
Project Funding and Financing
Social/Humanities Aspects of
Games
Mobile and Multiuser Games
Learning to Play or Learning
through Play
Game Security
Games and Intellectual Property
Rights
Laws, Regulations, Certifications
and Policies for Gaming
Censorship of Video Games Content
4.
Artificial Intelligence in the Context
of Gaming
Art, Design and New Media
Education, Training, and
Edutainment Technologies
Human Factors of Games
3D Geometric models
KINTEX is located next to Ilsan, a newly
developed township within Goyang City,
Gyeonggi Province. There are many things
to do in Goyang City. Deogi-dong Fashion
Town located at Deoki-dong, Ilsan Seo-gu.
About 230 famous brand shops of
the outlet sell various cloths at prices
discounted by 30-70% around the year. Also
atHwajeong Rodeo Street, there are lots of
famous brands selling at prices with
discounts from 30-70%. People come here
for shopping not only from Ilsan but also
from
Seoul.
Take this opportunity to visit Korea!
Upcoming Conferences
Below is a list of forthcoming conferences – also accessible at http://www.davidwortley.com/events.html
Date
Event Name / Description
Location
Web URL
Feb 3-5
2014
MESM 2014 - Middle Eastern
Simulation and Modelling
Conference
Muscat, Oman
http://www.eurosis.org/cms/ ?q=node/2713
Feb 6-7
2014
2014 Technology, Knowledge and
Society Conference
Madrid, Spain
http://techandsoc.com/the-conference/
Mar 10- ASTEC 2014 - GAME ON’ ASIA - 5th
12 2014 Asian GAME On Conference
Singapore
http://www.eurosis.org/cms/ ?q=node/2632
Mar 17- SCWS2014 - Science Centre World
19 2014 Summit - Public Engagement for a
Better World
Mechelen, Brussels,
Belgium
http://www.scws2014.org
Mar 19- ABSEL 2014 - Association for
Orlando, Florida, USA http://absel2011.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/absels21 2014 Business Simulation and Experiential
40th-annual-meeting-march-6-8-2013/
Learning
Mar 23- EKnow 2014 - Sixth International
27 2014 Conference on Information, Process
and Knowledge Management
Barcelona, Spain
http://www.iaria.org/confere
nces2014/eknow2014.html
Mar 24- CGAT 2014 - Computer Games and
25 2014 Allied Technologies
Singapore
http://www.cgames.com.sg/ #sthash.gcLLW3fc.dpbs
Mar 30 - Thaisim 2014 - 6th International
Apr 1
Thaisim Conference - Learning with
2014
Simulations and Games
Bangkok, Thailand
http://www.thaisim.org/ts14/
May 23- 1st International Symposium on
24 2014 Simulation and Serious Games
Goyang City, South
Korea
www.seriousgamesconference.org
Jul 5 –
Oregon Youth Jamboree
21 2014
Oregon, USA
http://oregonhibbs.com/2013/09/10/eugene-youthjamboree-faq/
Archived Presentations, Images and Videos
I am archiving as many of my previous presentation, videos and event images as possible. You can access these from my web site
at :- http://www.davidwortley.com/conferences.html or visit my Slideshare page at :- http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/
If you would like any presentations, videos or documents circulated to my network, I am happy to provide this service free of
charge for any material relevant to readers of this newsletter. If you are interested, contact me at david@davidwortley.com.
Best Regards
David Wortley FRSA
Founder of Immersive Technology Strategies
Email : mailto:david@davidwortley.com?subject=General Enquiry
Skype: davidwortley
Second Life : Hobson Hoggard
Web: http://www.davidwortley.com
New Book: www.gadgetstogodbook.com
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