David Furió

The effects of the size and weight of a mobile device on an educational game

In this paper, we present an educational game for an iPhone and a Tablet PC. The main objective of the game was to reinforce childrens knowledge about the water cycle. The game included different interaction forms like the touch screen and the accelerometer and combined AR mini-games with non-AR mini-games for better gameplay immersion. The main differences between the two devices were screen size and weight. A comparative study to check how these differences affect different aspects was carried out. Seventy-nine children from 8 to 10 years old participated in the study. From the results, we observed that the different characteristics (screen size and weight) of the devices did not influence the childrens acquired knowledge, engagement, satisfaction, ease of use, or AR experience. There was only a statistically significant difference for the global score in which the iPhone was scored higher. We would like to highlight that the scores for the two devices and for all the questions were very high with means of over 4 (on a scale from 1 to 5). These positive results suggest that games of this kind could be appropriate educational games and that the mobile device used may not be a decisive factor.

Lessons learnt from an experience with an augmented reality iPhone learning game

In this paper, we present an augmented reality (AR) iPhone game for learning multiculturalism and solidarity. The subject was chosen based on a study in which participated 150 professionals. The game was designed following different design principles. The game includes several interaction forms (physical manipulation, touch-screen and accelerometer interaction). Eighty-four children from 8 to 10 years old participated in a study for checking different aspects of the game. In this paper, four of these aspects are presented: the easiness of use, the preferred interaction method, the predisposition of using AR at school for learning, and the preference about the game. From the results, 49% of participants considered that the AR device was extremely easy to play with. For interaction, the children preferred the use of the accelerometer (39%), followed by the use of AR (27%) and the tactile screen (27%). The majority of participants (91%) appreciated the possibility of incorporating AR in their learning activities at school, and 81% of the participants preferred the experience offered by the AR game over the traditional game. Finally, based on this experience, we refine several design principles for mobile AR learning games for children.

Bet without Looking: Studying Eyes-Free Interaction during Live Sports

This paper presents a comparison study of three different interaction methods for an eyes-free interaction with a second screen application while watching a TV broadcast. These interaction methods were used in WeBet, a touch-based mobile game that prompts users to bet if a goal is about to happen during a football match. WeBet is one of the prototypes we have been developing to increase the remote users’ emotional levels during live sports broadcasts, so that they feel like if they were scoring a goal with their team. However, that can only be achieved the second screen application does not require the users’ attention when a goal (key moment) is just about to happen, otherwise they would be frustrated to miss that exciting moment. To this end, we conducted user tests that allowed us to determine the usage patterns and users’ preferences regarding three different interaction methods, as well as to identify important refinements to be considered in future developments.

Effect of collaboration and competition in an augmented reality mobile game

Greenet is an augmented reality mobile game developed for children for learning about how to recycle. In this paper we present a study involving 28 primary school students, to explore the extent to which collaboration and competition affect perceived learning and potentially lead to a change of attitude and behaviour. In this study, students in sessions of 4 were asked to play recycling games in 3 conditions: by themselves, in a team, and in a team while in competition with another team. Our results show that collaboration and competition promotes a positive change of attitude and behaviour. This study suggests that competitive/collaborative mobile phone based games provide a promising platform for persuasion.