Upcoming Australian Conference & Healthcare Gaming/Simulation Symposium

SimTecT will be held in Melbourne, May 12-16. The conference primarily focuses on simulations, and the Australian military is a major player. There will be a strong serious games element. Speakers will include Jan Cannon-Bowers over at U. Central Florida; Clint Bowers, also from UCF; Elyssebeth Leigh over at University of Technology, Sydney; and Robert Carpenter, Deputy Director, Simulation Development, Army Simulation Wing, Land Warfare Development Centre in the Australian military.

On May 16, Elyssebeth Leigh notes the day will be devoted to Serious Games in Healthcare:

Technologies and techniques which games employ to deliver serious messages can be leveraged to achieve low cost, high impact solutions across the healthcare and other sectors. This symposium will introduce participants to opportunities and issues that serious games offer – for training, therapy and testing. It brings together experts from the US, experienced Australian practitioners, game developers, educators and healthcare professionals.

Program includes:
Interactive plenary sessions; Facilitated de-brief sessions of the plenaries; Forum - The way forward in gaming in healthcare.

Georgia Tech Presents: Living Worlds IV - Interplay

Living Game Worlds IV: Interplay - NEW DATES - December 1-2, 2008

Living Game Worlds IV will focus on the theme of networked play and
engage dialogues on the rapidly growing domain of multiplayer games and
virtual worlds, including online networked entertainment as well as
pervasive, mobile and tangible gaming. The symposium will explore
various aspects of networked play from historical, cultural,
technological and design perspectives, as well as current and future
trends such as user-created content and the rising use of virtual worlds
in the workplace.

Keynotes: Raph Koster, Christopher Klaus, plus a "Pioneers" panel
featuring some of the people who made it all possible, including:
Richard Bartle, Brian Green, Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer, and
Pavel Curtis.

Confirmed sponsors:
Turner Broadcasting
Georgia Film, Video and Music Office

About Living Game Worlds:
Living Game Worlds is an annual symposium presented by the Experimental
Game Lab, the School of Literature, Communication and Culture and the
GVU Center of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Each year, Living
Game Worlds brings together luminaries from academia, industry and the
arts to explore topics related to research, design and cultural
practices of digital games.

For details and registration, visit http://gameworlds.gatech.edu
For sponsorship info, contact celia.pearce at symbol lcc.gatech.edu

US Dept. of Ed Funds Study of ‘Wii-hab’ Potential for Brain Injuries

Speaking of teen driver safety, Wesley Battles is one fortunate crash victim. The 16 year-old smacked into a tree, broke several bones, and suffered neck and brain injuries. He woke up in a hospital two days after the accident with paralysis on one side of his body. Wesley’s dad is Dr. Bruce Battles, a physician specializing in brain injury rehabilitation. Dr. Battles turned to the Nintendo Wii to help his son recuperate.

“When I first started it, I could barely hold down the controller to push the button,” said Wesley. “I actually had to use two hands to hold down the button.”

“After a week of just playing the Wii I could move all my arm and have full movement,” Wesley said.

His father believes the Wii helped strengthen his motor skills and cognitive reasoning.

“It’s amazing what a 16-year-old body can do with a positive attitude,” Bruce said.

Playing video games also made the rehab process fun — and gave him the chance to beat many of his favorite games …

Thanks in no small part to the successful “Wii-hab” experience with his son, Dr. Battles has received a grant from the US Dept. of Education to study effects of videogame therapy on patients with brain injuries. Dr. Battles is hoping to find the Wii games help brain injury patients “improve their range of motion, social skills, and improve short term memory.”

References:
Donatelli, E. (2008, February 27). Video game system helped teen quickly recover from paralyzing car crash injuries. [Online.] Retrieved February 27, 2008 from http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=7931844&nav=0RZF

Free Drivers’ Ed Game Teaches Safe Habits

Anybody old enough to remember those drivers ed simulators in the trailers? These things would sit in high school parking lots across America, and countless teens drove down “video lanes” to gain experience before getting behind a real wheel. (Alas, I missed out on the video drivers’ ed simulators. We started behind the real wheel with a very nervous instructor who I recall being heavy on her passenger-side brake.)

Last summer I blogged about a German study researching whether race car simulations lead players to drive more aggressively. Now comes word that Chrysler has sponsored development of a youth-oriented driver training videogame to promote safe driving.

The Road Ready Teens program is designed to help with the transition from book study to actual driving. It represents part of a safe driving push by Chrysler.

The free video game is one part of the program. The game assimilates situations on the road from driving under the influence to driving in the rain.

“Your cell phone will ring and you get points deducted if you take it while you’re driving,” said Marshall Taliaferro [Marshall’s father, Will Taliaferro, is one of the game’s designers]. “I don’t answer the phone while I’m driving either.”

The program also provides an online driving contract for the family to agree upon.

It’s a good idea, and absolutely brilliant to present the concepts within a videogame, which is called Road Ready Streetwise. Here’s the key quote from Chrysler:

“Those first years on the road are very stressful for parents and teens because they don’t know what to do. They don’t know the right and wrong,” said Kristen Kreibich-Staruch of Chrysler Vehicle Safety and Planning.

Access the safety program and find a link to the game over at roadreadyteens.com.

References:
Video game teaches teens to drive. (2008, February 27). NBC4.com. [Online.] Retrieved February 27, 2008 from http://www.nbc4.com/traffic/15422534/detail.html

Neural Interfaces Hyped at GDC

I blogged about brain computer interfaces (BCIs) back in October. At that time, researchers were starting to demonstrate some interesting applications, such as using them to control avatars in Second Life. Now that GDC is upon us, neural interfaces are causing quite a stir. Robert Rice (no relation), writes in his excellent VW/MMORPG blog about the warm reception BCIs are receiving at GDC. And yet, notes Rice, they are really neither new nor revolutionary. The only thing different about them now is they are cheap to produce. He also notes Emotive System’s unit doesn’t really read emotions at all; it’s simply an inexpensive EEG unit.

The technology doesn’t read your mind. Do I need to repeat that? It doesn’t read your mind. It doesn’t connect to your brain, and it has no idea what you are thinking or feeling … What it does do, is measure electric signals, of which there are different types, locations, and strengths, that can be assigned (think key binding in your favorite FPS) to particular inputs.

 

So yes, it is absolutely possible to use this tech to do basic control of a game, but not much beyond that. You have to learn basic biofeedback techniques (breathing, concentration, temperature, and brainwave *type* generation) which is fairly easy to do with a decent feedback loop and sensitive equipment.

It’s a good read, and provides a realistic take on what might be a future wave of interface options for gaming systems. That said, it’s a cool concept, and perhaps an incremental step toward a more refined, sophisticated, yet inexpensive BCI. As I pointed out in October, the really exciting thing about this is the potential for inexpensive assistive technology for the physically disabled. We’ll see where it all leads.

Different ways to control videogames, beyond the traditional joystick, are riding a wave started by the Nintendo Wii’s controller. There were earlier efforts like force-feedback products and virtual gloves, but none attained the popularity of the Wii input devices.

Talking about the Wii is a good excuse to run another LOL cat:

 

CFP: Computer Games & Their Applications

The following call for papers was shared by Rosario De Chiara over at Universita’ degli Studi di Salerno, Italy.

Computer Games and their applications (CGa)The industry of computer games is a flourishing reality since several

decades. Several issues on their future are going to be presented and

discussed at the symposium since the availability of hardware and

software platforms is widening their use, breadth, capabilities and

(of course) impact on increasingly large audiences. Moreover, computer

games engines offer, nowadays, also a mature environment for non-ludic

applications that can leverage on their graphical capabilities to

offer interactive virtual environments for educational applications.

The advantage is that the overall result is available on standard PCs,

that make any result immediately available to a large audience.

The interest of the research in non-ludic applications is witnessed by

the rapidly growing industry that features the use of interactive

games technology within non-entertainment sectors; the trend is

showing an organized industry of developers using cutting-edge

entertainment technologies to solve problems in areas as diverse as

education, health-care, national defense, homeland security,

analytics, corporate management and more. Several commercial games are

used for purposes that are not entertainment related, such as SimCity

and Civilization, but many titles are built with an educational

purpose in mind, such as Virtual University, 3D Driving Academy etc.

We want to provide an opportunity to researchers in the field to

discuss and present their research. The objective of the symposium is

to cover state-of-the-art results, present and discuss key research

issues and outline future directions of computer games and their

applications in any field, not necessarily bound to entertainment. The

setting of the symposium would encourage and stimulate discussions

among the researchers and the audience.

Papers presenting original research within the theme of "Computer

Games and their applications" are being sought. Suggested topics

include (but are not limited to):

    * Exploring new game genres for future Games

    * Exploring new hardware (Multicore-CPU, GPU, Cell) for future Games

    * Development tools and techniques for games

    * Games and Accessibility

    * Educational games

    * Game-engine based reconstruction of cultural heritage

    * Game-based Policy/management environment

    * Authoring environment

    * Game-engine based cooperative multi-user environment

    * Game-based application for Public-health

    * Games in the mobile and ubiquitous setting

    * Location-based games

IMPORTANT DATES:

Submissions due:         March 15, 2007

Important Dates:         <http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV07/DATES.htm>

Camera-ready:            April 20, 2007 (accepted submissions)

Texas Students to Explore Science in Online Virtual World

Lee Wilson over at Headway Strategies has written another fine article on educational gaming. Recently, Technology & Learning published a two part article by Wilson on the myths surrounding educational videogames. Formerly a senior exec over at Harcourt, Pearson, and Chancery Software, Wilson runs a consulting firm in Austin and writes The Education Business Blog. He is quite knowledgeable when taking the pulse of ed tech, and I quote him in an upcoming article of my own coming out in the next couple months. Right now, Wilson says, the cutting edge of ed tech is in online virtual worlds.

The March issue of Cable in the Classroom Magazine includes an article by Wilson entitled Virtual Worlds = Virtual Learning. In it, Wilson describes how Whyville.net is being leveraged by the Texas Workforce Commission to engender positive attitudes toward science in school kids and perhaps help instill the notion of pursuing science as a career. The TxWC is partnering with Whyville to create the Whyville Bioplex, with the goal of reaching “25,000 students with a biotech experience in their middle school career-education class in the next year.”

Whyville is a STEM-based academic virtual world (VW), where students can login and play at educational games with other kids around the country. I’ve encouraged teacher use of Whyville in my district, and listed it on my Top 10 Free Educational Videogames.

Wilson summarizes the benefits of using VWs for science exploration and gives a brief history of Whyville in the article. Here’s his summary paragraph:

The scientific method is an active practice. We do lab work to move beyond theory—to teach students how to be scientists. Virtual worlds allow us to safely take students to the frontiers of science where the really interesting questions await. By exposing them to the reality of science, we can engage a new generation of minds in this great endeavor.

ExerGaming Kicks into High Gear with New Study & Product

There was discussion this week on the Serious Games listserv about ME2, a virtual world from Irwin Toy aimed at kids that links to a real world pedometer (tagline: You are the power!). The more exercise, running and walking the kids do in RL, the more points they earn to use in the game. Scott Traylor over at 360KID wrote up the details here.

In other news, a pilot study has come out of New Zealand showing that exergaming titles are just as good as casual exercise. No surprise there, but it’s nice to see the empirical data bear out common sense and provide argument ammo against doubters.

The 12 week initial pilot study by Dr. Ralph Maddison over at Auckland U. worked with 21 children age 10-14, and measured energy expenditure via oxygen masks. The follow up looked at 20 new subjects, upgrading half of their PlayStations with the EyeToy. This time body mass indices were measured and advanced pedometers were used over 12 weeks.

Children in the eye toy group performed significantly more physical activity, despite spending less time overall playing video games.

“We need to look at different ways, because of the increase of obesity in New Zealand, to increase activity in children,” Dr Maddison said.

Dr Maddison’s team is now seeking a further 330 children, aged between 10 and 14, for an expanded six-month study funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

Playing is playing, and exercise is exercise even in front of a video screen. I do think the idea of linking a pedometer to a virtual world is a good idea, one springing naturally from the Webkinz linkage of RL objects to the VW. Seems this could herald a bevy of new ideas linking the virtual with RL objects and activities.

References:
Borley, C. (2008, February 22). Video games good as exercise: Study. New Zealand Herald. [Online.] Retrieved February 23, 2008 from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?
c_id=204&objectid=10493847

ED-MEDIA 2008, Final Call

> Please forward to a colleague <

http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm
_______________________________________________________________

ED-MEDIA 2008

World Conference on Educational Multimedia,
Hypermedia & Telecommunications

June 30-July 4, 2008 * Vienna, Austria

FINAL CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

** Submissions Due: April 7, 2008 **

Organized by
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
http://www.aace.org
______________________________________________________________

** What are your colleagues saying about the international ED-MEDIA
conferences? **
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/testimonials.htm

COLOR POSTER–ED-MEDIA 2008 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Available to Print & Distribute (PDF to print; 200kb)
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/ed08poster.pdf

>> CONTENTS & LINKS (details below) <<

1. Call for Papers and Submission & Presenter Guidelines:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/submitguide.htm
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/PresenterLounge

2. Major Topics: www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/topics.htm

3. Presentation Categories: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/categories.htm
4. Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/corporate.htm

5. Proceedings & Paper Awards: http://www.aace.org/pubs
6. For Budgeting Purposes: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/rates.htm

7. Vienna, Austria: http://www.aace.org/conf/Cities/Vienna/
8. Deadlines: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/deadlines.htm

INVITATION:
ED-MEDIA 2008–World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications is an international conference, sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). This annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and
telecommunications/distance education.

ED-MEDIA, the premiere international conference in the field, spans all disciplines and levels of education and attracts more than 1,500 attendees from over 60 countries. We invite you to attend ED-MEDIA and submit proposals for presentations.

This Final Call for Presentations is offered for those who were:
- unable to meet the first deadline for submissions in December, or
- were not ready to present a finished paper or project, or
- have a work-in-progress topic to present, and
- do not yet have a proposal accepted for presentation.

All presentation proposals are peer-reviewed and selected by three
reviewers on the respected Program Committee for inclusion in the
conference program, Proceedings (book and CD-ROM formats) and
EdITLib (Education and Information Technology Digital Library),
http://www.EdITLib.org

We invite you to attend the ED-MEDIA Conference and submit proposals for
these presentation categories: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/categories.htm

> Full & Brief Papers
> Best Practices
> Panels
> Best Practices
> Roundtables
> Symposia
> Student Panels (NEW)
> Posters/Demonstrations
> Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations

These Final Call presentation categories have been quite popular especially for the efficient
exchange of information about on-going research, applications, and projects.

Call for Presentations:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm

Submission Guidelines and Form:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/submitguide.htm

Presentation and AV Guidelines:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/PresenterLounge

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES:
* Keynote Speakers
* Invited Panels/Speakers
* Papers
* Panels
* Best Practices
* Symposia
* Demonstrations/Posters
* Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations
* Tutorials/Workshops
* Student Panel Dissertation Help Sessions
* Roundtables

TOPICS:

The scope of the conference includes, but is not limited to, the following major topics as they relate to the educational and developmental aspects of multimedia/hypermedia and telecommunications.

For ALL subtopics, please see:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/topics.htm

1. Infrastructure: (in the large)
2. Tools & Content-oriented Applications
3. New Roles of the Instructor & Learner
4. Human-computer Interaction (HCI/CHI)
5. Cases & Projects
6. Special Strand: ** Universal Web Accessibility **

PRESENTATION CATEGORIES:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/categories.htm
The Technical Program includes a wide range of interesting and useful activities designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information.

CORPORATE SHOWCASES & DEMONSTRATIONS:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/corporate.htm

Companies have the opportunity to demonstrate and discuss their educational technology products and services in through Corporate Showcases and Demonstrations/Literature.

PROCEEDINGS & PAPER AWARDS:
http://www.aace.org/pubs
Accepted papers will be published by AACE in the Proceedings Book and on CD-ROM.
Proceedings in this series serve as major resources in the multimedia/ hypermedia/telecommunications community, reflecting the current state of the art in the discipline. In addition, the Proceedings also are internationally distributed through and archived in the Education and Information Technology Digital Library, http://www.EdITLib.org

Selected papers may be invited for publication in may be invited for publication in AACE’s respected journals especially in the
- Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia (JEMH),
- International Journal on E-Learning (IJEJ), or
- Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR).

All presented papers will be considered for Best Paper Awards within several categories.
Award winning papers may be invited for publication in the AACE journals.

FOR BUDGETING PURPOSES:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/rates.htm

The conference registration fee for all presenters and participants will be approximately $395 U.S. (AACE members), $450 U.S. (non-members). Registration includes proceedings on CD, receptions, and all sessions except tutorials.

All conference sessions will be held at the Vienna Univ. of Technology. Guest rooms at numerous hotels near the conference in different price ranges will be reserved for conference participants.

Vienna, Austria:
http://www.aace.org/conf/Cities/Vienna

Vienna is an ideal-typical European city similar to Barcelona, London, Milan, Paris or Rome, but unlike the others it is very compact and easy to negotiate. Vienna is referred to by many as a
unique onion, with each of the urban layers surrounding the oldest historic center being equally important to the overall flavor of the city. The Austrian capital therefore embraces all the traditions of a European city, from Roman foundations through to Gothic, Baroque and
Historicism. Tourists are eager to visit Vienna because of the city’s exciting combination of the royal-imperial flair of the past with the latest trends, the responsible cultivation of a precious heritage and charming traditions.

A natural paradise including forests, grassland, parks and gardens
cover some 20,000 hectares or about half of the city, and then there
is the Danube and other stretches of water on top of that. The Vienna
Woods are not only the green lung of the city, but provide visitors
with footpaths and mountain-bike trails of all distances. Vienna is
fully geared to pedal power with almost 1,000 kilometers of urban
cycle paths. A number of places in the city such as the vast
(6,000,000sqm) Prater park, a former imperial hunting ground in the
rambling Danube wetlands, are best explored by bike anyway. The
Danube Island is another vast area for outdoor pursuits. It has
numerous bathing areas, cycle paths, playgrounds and sports
facilities. And on the still waters of the New Danube you can go for
a dip or a swim, or get into a rowing boat, sailboat or even onto water-skis.

For further Vienna information see:
http://www.austria.info/ or http://www.austria.info/

DEADLINES:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/deadlines.htm

Final Call Submissions: April 7, 2008
Final Authors Notified: April 14, 2008
Proceedings File Due: May 2, 2008
Early Registration: May 2, 2008
Hotel Reservations: As early as possible;
Rooms limited June 28-30
Conference: June 30-July 4, 2008

CFP: Serious Games On the Move, Cambridge England, June 23-24 2008

Serious Games On the Move Call for Papers

(See the complete CFP here.)

This conference offers a platform for serious games researchers and developers to share results of their work with a range of interested practitioners and decision-makers, including those in the education and training industry, games industry, funding and government bodies. Our aim is an exciting and compelling conference that will stimulate debate on the design and deployment of serious games, including mobile learning games.

important dates for submissions - 2nd call

    * Submission deadline: 31 March 2008

    * Notification to authors: 30 April 2008

    * Author registration (early bird rate): 15 May 2008

      Final camera-ready full submission: 15 May 2008

    * Conference: Cambridge, UK, 23 - 24 June 2008

Submitted papers must be in English, unpublished and not submitted for publication elsewhere. We invite the following types of contributions:

    * Keynotes - Leading games designers and educationalists who are experts in the field of serious games will be invited. Abstracts will be included in the conference proceedings.

    * Full Papers - These will concern work in progress and/or original research results. Length: 8 pages maximum (5,000 words).

    * Short Papers - These will be for example work in progress reports or will reflect on and discuss new trends and developments. Length: 4 pages maximum (2500 words).

    * Posters - These will be maximum 1 page (600 words) + the actual poster to be presented at the conference.

    * Workshops - Proposals of maximum 300 words are invited.

    * Panels - Proposals for discussions on relevant topics are invited: maximum 300 words.

Selected papers from the conference will be published with ISBN by Springer, Vienna and in a special issue of the Networks series published by INSPIRE. Authors will receive complimentary copies. Additional hard copies will be available to order. In addition, INSPIRE will publish the proceedings on a CD-ROM that will be distributed to delegates in the conference pack at pre-conference registration.