Charlene Jennett

“I want to be a captain! I want to be a captain!”: gamification in the old weather citizen science project

Gamification is increasingly implemented in citizen science projects as a means of motivating and sustaining participation. In a survey and subsequent interviews we explored the appeal of gamification for participants in the Old Weather project, and its impact upon data quality. We found that the same competitive mechanisms which some volunteers found rewarding and motivating were either ignored by other participants, or contributed to a decision to discontinue participation. We also identified an opportunity to use gamification to exploit the narrative appeal of a project such as Old Weather. In contrast to previous citizen science research, much of which focuses on how to support the most active or prolific contributors, we offer new design recommendations which recognise varying levels of engagement with a project.

Do games attract or sustain engagement in citizen science?: a study of volunteer motivations

Increasingly, games are being incorporated into online citizen science (CS) projects as a way of crowdsourcing data; yet the influence of gamification on volunteer motivations and engagement in CS projects is still unknown. In an interview study with 8 CS volunteers (4 from Foldit, 4 from Eyewire), we found that game elements and communication tools are not necessary for attracting new volunteers to a project; however they may help to sustain engagement over time, by allowing volunteers to participate in a range of social interactions and through enabling meaningful recognition of achievements.

Too close for comfort: a study of the effectiveness and acceptability of rich-media personalized advertising

Online display advertising is predicted to make

From urban planning and emergency training to Pokémon Go: applications of virtual reality GIS (VRGIS) and augmented reality GIS (ARGIS) in personal, public and environmental health

29.53 billion this year. Advertisers believe targeted and personalized ads to be more effective, but many users are concerned about their privacy. We conducted a study where 30 participants completed a simulated holiday booking task; each page showing ads with different degrees of personalization. Participants fixated twice as long when ads contained their photo. Participants reported being more likely to notice ads with their photo, holiday destination, and name, but also increasing levels of discomfort with increasing personalization. We conclude that greater personalization in ad content may achieve higher levels of attention, but that the most personalized ads are also the least acceptable. The noticeability benefit in using someones photo to make them look at an ad may be offset by the privacy cost. As more personal data becomes available to advertisers, it becomes important that these trade-offs are considered.

Removing the HUD: The Impact of Non-Diegetic Game Elements and Expertise on Player Involvement

The latest generation of virtual and mixed reality hardware has rekindled interest in virtual reality GIS (VRGIS) and augmented reality GIS (ARGIS) applications in health, and opened up new and exciting opportunities and possibilities for using these technologies in the personal and public health arenas. From smart urban planning and emergency training to Pokémon Go, this article offers a snapshot of some of the most remarkable VRGIS and ARGIS solutions for tackling public and environmental health problems, and bringing about safer and healthier living options to individuals and communities. The article also covers the main technical foundations and issues underpinning these solutions.

Was I There?: Impact of Platform and Headphones on 360 Video Immersion

Previous research has shown that player involvement can be influenced by a range of factors, from the controllers used to the perceived level of challenge provided by the game. However, little attention has been paid to the influence of the game interface. Game interfaces consist of both diegetic (that can be viewed by the player-character, e.g. the game world) and non-diegetic components (that are only viewed by the player, e.g. the heads-up display). In this paper we examine two versions of a first-person shooter game to investigate how immersion is influenced through interacting with a diegetic and non-diegetic interface. Our findings suggest that the removal of non-diegetic elements, such as the heads-up display, is able to influence immersion in expert players through increasing their cognitive involvement and sense of control. We argue that these results illustrate the importance of considering the role of expertise in relation to how particular design choices will influence the player experience.

Would You Sell Your Mother’s Data? Personal Data Disclosure in a Simulated Credit Card Application

Virtual reality industries claim that 360 videos are a powerful tool for creating empathy because they are an immersive medium, and wearing headphones is encouraged for the full immersive experience. To investigate these claims, we carried out a 2x2 between subjects lab study (n=40) to explore whether 360 viewing platform (magic window / google cardboard) and headphone use (with / without) have an effect on Film-Immersion for the 360 video Fire Rescue. Our results reveal a significant interaction effect: headphones increased immersion for google cardboard, but decreased immersion for magic window. However, not all dimensions of the immersive experience were affected. This suggests that head-mounted displays increase presence, but do not necessarily lead to more empathy and greater interest in the 360 video. Thematic analysis of interview data suggests contributing factors such as fear of missing out (FOMO). These findings have implications for film makers and researchers of 360 videos.

MOODs: building massive open online diaries for researchers, teachers and contributors

To assess the risk of a loan applicant defaulting, lenders feed applicants’ data into credit scoring algorithms. They are always looking to improve the effectiveness of their predictions, which means improving the algorithms and/or collecting different data. Research on financial behavior found that elements of a person’s family history and social ties can be good predictors of financial responsibility and control. Our study investigated how loan applicants applying for a credit card would respond to questions such as “Did any of your loved ones die while you were growing up?” 48 participants were asked to complete a new type of credit card application form containing such requests as part of a “Consumer Acceptance Test” of a credit card with lower interest rates, but only available to “financially responsible customers.” This was a double-blind study—the experimenters processing participants were told exactly the same. We found that: (1) more sensitive items are disclosed less often—e.g., friends’ names and contact had only a 69 % answer rate; (2) privacy fundamentalists are 5.6 times less likely to disclose data; and (3) providing a justification for a question has no effect on its answer rate. Discrepancies between acceptability and disclosure were observed—e.g., 43 % provided names and contact of friends, having said they found the question unacceptable. We conclude that collecting data items not traditionally seen as relevant could be made acceptable if lenders can credibly establish relevance, and assure applicants they will be assessed fairly. More research needs to be done on how to best communicate these qualities.

Usability and Interaction Dimensions of Participatory Noise and Ecological Monitoring

Internet-based research conducted in partnership with paid crowdworkers and volunteer citizen scientists is an increasingly common method for collecting data from large, diverse populations. We wanted to leverage web-based citizen science to gain insights into phenomena that are part of peoples everyday lives. To do this, we developed the concept of a Massive Open Online Diary (MOOD). A MOOD is a tool for capturing, storing and presenting short updates from multiple contributors on a particular topic. These updates are aggregated into public corpora that can be viewed, analysed and shared. MOODs offer a novel method for crowdsourcing diary-like data in a way that provides value for researchers, teachers and contributors. MOODs also come with unique community-building and ethical challenges. We describe the benefits and challenges of MOODs in relation to Errordiary.org, a MOOD we created to aid our exploration of human error.

Federated identity to access e-government services: are citizens ready for this?

The integration of sensors in smartphones has transformed personal mobile phones, from tools primarily meant for communication purposes, into instruments that can sense or collect information about the surrounding environment (Lane et al. 2010). There are several mobile apps that allow ordinary members of the public (non-professionals) to collect fine-grained data about their environment and to contribute to real research. By involving citizens in environmental monitoring activities this helps to raise their awareness of environmental issues (Becker et al. 2013). However there are also challenges in the use of such apps. The lower-end sensors for mobile phones do not give the same level of data accuracy as specialised devices. The data is being collected by ‘inexpert’ citizens, which may add to perceptions of the data being inaccurate. Also, in order to apply complex statistical models, the data needs to be collected in mass quantities. This raises two questions about the citizens involved: (1) what is their experience of using the app and (2) what factors motivate them to participate?