Violent Video Games Associated with Physical Aggression

Although most researchers on the subject agree that playing violent video games appears to increase physical aggression, a vocal minority continues to dispute this. To examine issues raised by the counterclaims on this topic, Dartmouth researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 24 studies from around the world from 2010 to 2017 with over 17,000 participants, ages nine to 19 years-old. The studies all examined how violent video game play affected changes in real-world physical aggression over time, ranging from three months to four years. Examples of physical aggression included incidents such as hitting someone or being sent to the principal's office for fighting, and were based on self-reports by children, parents, teachers and peers.

Dartmouth's study examined three specific critiques of the literature on video game play and aggression. In addition to providing evidence that violent video game play is associated with increased aggression over time, the study also reports that this effect appears to be significantly different for various ethnic groups: the largest effect was observed among white participants, with some effect noted among Asians and no effect observed among Hispanics. Although speculative, the authors suggest that this effect may reflect a greater emphasis on maintaining empathy toward victims of aggression among Eastern and Hispanic cultures in contrast to an emphasis on rugged individualism in Western cultures.

More information:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181001154033.htm

Brain-to-Brain Social Networks

Physicists and neuroscientists have developed one of the world’s first brain-to-brain network, using electroencephalograms (EEGs), which record electrical activity in the brain, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which can transmit information into the brain, to allow people to communicate directly with each other’s brains. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle announced last week that they successfully used their interface, which they call BrainNet, to have a small group of people play a collaborative Tetris-like game using with their minds.

To demonstrate that their network works, researchers set up a game with two people who could see falling blocks on a screen and the field at the bottom that they needed to fit into, determining whether they needed to be rotated. They sent signals to a receiver, who could only see the top of the screen, so they could see the blocks but not whether they needed to be rotated, relying on signals from the senders. The receiver was in another room to prevent any conventional communication, and used the information from the senders to decide how to play each new piece.

More information:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/brain-to-brain-social-networks-coming-soon-732136/

ICL 2018 Summer School Talk

On the 28^th September 2018, I gave a talk at the 3^rd summer school for the Terpsichore EU project entitled 'Intangible cultural heritage summer school: The impact of preserving traditional dances using digital era’s tools'. The summer school aimed in introducing the audiences to the world of intangible cultural heritage, emphasizing in folkloric dances.

 

The title of the my presentation was 'Serious Games for Cultural Heritage' and it was divided into three parts. The first part covered theories and approaches for serious games. The second part introduced technologies used for serious games. The final part presented relevant case studies that I have worked over the past 15 years.

More information:

http://icl-conference.org/current/summer_school.php

Euronews Futuris iMareCulture Documentary

A few days ago, Euronews - Futuris presented a documentary for the iMareCulture project I am working with colleagues around Europe and not only. The sunken ruins of ancient cities, the monuments of lost civilisations, may reappear before our eyes thanks to new technologies of augmented reality. Two thousand years ago, a now-flooded coastal area near Naples was a fashionable Roman resort, Baiae. Nowadays, you have to dive to see the remains of the luxurious villas. And soon, to make your diving experience even better, you could take your tablet along. The tablet, safely carried in a waterproof case, picks up acoustic signals from underwater beacons. 

This helps two different AR apps to precisely position itself on a map, guiding the diver to the most interesting underwater sites, like a floor mosaic from a submerged Roman villa that would otherwise be hidden from view by sand. The first app is based on acoustic tracking while the second one on QR codes and in both cases the divers can travel through the virtual city while exploring its submerged ruins. Beyond the popularisation of historical heritage, the virtual reality technologies allowed the researchers to develop a professional simulator that teaches proper excavation techniques at an underwater archaeological site.

More information:

https://www.euronews.com/2018/09/17/virtual-reality-brings-sunken-civilisations-to-life

Editorial Computers & Graphics 2018

A few days ago, the Foreword to the Special Section on Serious Games and Virtual Environments was published by Computers & Graphics (C&G). It features extended and revised versions of select best technical papers presented at the 9th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications (VS-Games 2017), 6–8 September, Athens, Greece. VS-Games 2017 was jointly organized by the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, and the Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCI Lab), Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Czech Republic and was awarded technical sponsorship by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

The terms Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications cover a broad range of applications ranging from simulations to computer graphics applications. VS-Games 2017 addressed some of the significant challenges of these areas covering both educational and technological issues. Three papers have been selected and reviewed based on their relevance to the general field of computer graphics. In particular, topics included: eye-tracking, motion capturing, multimedia, brain-computer interfaces and virtual environments. All three papers were reviewed again by three anonymous experts before they could be accepted for publication in Computers & Graphics.

More information:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0097849318301055