August 2015
Gamification, Pandemics, Appropriate Technologies, Classroom Strategies, Rapid Games Prototyping, Data Visualisation, Pattern Recognition, Robot Trust and Big Data Analytics

Welcome to the GAETSS August 2015 E-Newsletter. This newsletter is a mixed bag of new presentations, ideas and opportunities that have arisen over the last month during a trip to Asia for 3 conference events.

· Gamification is Child’s Play

· Gamification and the Development of Appropriate Technologies

· Gamification and Pandemics Webinar

· The Education Game – Gamification inside and outside the Classroom

· Gamification and Rapid Serious Games Prototyping – 3D Hive and Data Analytics

· Featured Recent Events

· Thaisim 2015

· Singapore Serious Games Conference SGC2015

· Malaysia HFEM Seminar – Humanising the Future

· Featured Upcoming Events

· Sept 7-9 iED 2015 Immersive Education Initiative Conference Paris

· October 5-9 Digital Earth 2015

· October 8-9 The 9^th European Conference on Games Based Learning ECGBL 2015

· Oct 20 Westminster Forum on Video Games Industry

· Calls for Papers

· Recent Articles and Presentations

· Future Events Listing

Gamification is Child’s Play

Kids gamifying a train journey in Malaysia

Whilst I was in Malaysia for the HFEM Seminar on Humanising the Future, I had a practical demonstration of gamification delivered by 2 young children in my carriage. The KTM train from Serdang to KL Sentral is a 25 minute journey only punctuated by the occasional buzz of conversation on the more crowded peak time trains but my attention was caught by shrieks and screams from the end of the carriage where 2 young children were using the carriage as a playground. Their uninhibited behaviour without any interventions from their parents or disapproving passengers reminded me that we are all born with an instinct to play and to find entertaining ways to explore the world around us.

These two young children gamified their train journey into a fun experience by “repurposing” the support rails as climbing poles and the strap hangers as an adventure playground. I was fascinated to watch how they watched each try new games that tested their abilities and built their relationships with each other and the world around them.

It reminded me of a presentation that I saw at the Gaminomics Conference in London earlier this year when a presenter used the film Mary Poppins to bring home the point that “fun” can be injected into every human activity with a little bit of imagination. I would perhaps replace “fun” with “emotional engagement” in my approach to “serious” gamification applications but the principle is the same. Robert Louis Stevenson said “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive” meaning that the human spirit always needs new goals and destinations to strive for.

There is also a Taoist saying that “the journey is the reward” and the intrinsic motivation in gamifying every activity in our lives brings this philosophy to reality – for these 2 children, the journey was the rewards – it was child’s play for them but most adults either forget how to gamify their lives or are too inhibited to risk trying.

You can watch a short video of the children gamifying the journey at http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/gamification-is-childs-play

Gamification and the Development of Appropriate Technologies

I have been collaborating with Professor Chung Won Cho on the writing of various articles on Gamification and the bridging of Arts and Science. Most recently I have written a piece about the synergistic relationship between Gamification and the development of Appropriate Technologies. Below is an extract from the article which is expected to be published next year :-

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Gamification and Appropriate Technologies
Driving Human Development and Societal Change

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Abstract

This paper discusses the synergistic relationship between Gamification and Appropriate Technologies as a combinatorial approach to solving societal and business problems. It tries to break down the constituent components of Gamification and demonstrate how Gamification can drive the development of appropriate technologies and how appropriate technologies can amplify the effectiveness of Gamification strategies.

Introduction and Background

Gamification is a relatively new word being used to describe the process of applying games psychology and mechanics to real world non-game situations and problems. Gamification is a life skill which can be applied to influence attitudes, behaviours and motivation and thereby create an ecosystem of win-win relationships that help to sustain the achievement of desired outcomes and objectives.

The mechanics of the Gamification Cycle encourage the development of appropriate technologies to solve problems or achieve objectives whilst appropriate technologies can also enhance the effectiveness of Gamification elements and thus create a synergistic virtuous circle that can sustain these processes.

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Gamification and Pandemics Webinar

Webinar Screenshot and example initiatives to tackle serious pandemic problems

Whilst I was at the Thaisim conference in Bangkok, I was invited to talk about serious games for Pandemics as part of a webinar organised by the APAN network on the problems encountered in Korea by the MERS virus. Frequent international travellers will have noticed that in many airports in Asia there are video cameras and notices about pandemics like Ebola and MERS. This webinar was put together to use web conferencing technologies to bring subject matter experts from across Asia together to share ideas an experiences.

The Vidyo Desktop platform web conferencing software allowed participants across Asia to connect via an audio/video link and share presentation files. The agenda for the event included the following speakers :-

1. Sung-il Cho (Korea): “2015 MERS epidemic and public health response in Korea”

2. David Wortley (UK): “Serious games, Simulations and Gamification Solutions and Trends for Viruses and Epidemics”

3. Ji-Young An (Korea): “A Model Explaining and Predicting Information and Communication Technology Acceptance by Healthcare Consumers”

4. Jeonghoon Moon (Korea): “Collaborative platform service for medical healthcare”

5. Joey Kwong (China): “Cochrane, Evidence-Based Medicine, and the Evolution of Health Care Practice”

It was interesting to me to listen to Sung-il Cho talking about the spread of MERS within Korea, its morbidity rates and the difficulties in containing the spread of the disease. My presentation looked at the potential of gamification strategies and role playing games to spread awareness and influence behaviours. By coincidence, I also came across a public awareness campaign in Kuala Lumpur designed to prevent the spread of Dengue. Gamification strategies based on games psychology and mechanics have the potential to significantly improve the cost effectiveness of such campaigns by focusing on the Gamification Cycle of Challenge, Response, Measurement and Feedback.

My presentation can be downloaded at http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/serious-games-for-pandemics

The Education Game – Gamification Inside and Outside the Classroom

Modern Classroom Education faces many unprecedented challenges and opportunities as a result of rapid developments in digital communication technologies since the birth of the Internet in the early 1990s. Since that time, the generation of students known as "Digital Natives" have been born into a world where desktop and home computers are commonplace, video games are available in homes as well as arcades and mobile phones are becoming ubquitous. As a consequence, for the first time in history, children have access to electronic devices which they can explore and interact with, sharing their experiences and problems with their peers.

The culture in Thailand and across the ASEAN region views the teachers as important figures in society and my keynote presentation on the Education Game looked at the impact of technology on knowledge professionals such as teachers and asked the question “Are Teachers an Endangered Species?” because of the fast moving world we live in and the ready access to facts and information via internet and mobile technologies. I made the argument that simple use of Gamification both within and outside the classroom can help teachers to shift their role from “Sage on the Stage” to “Mentor in the Middle”.

This paper and presentation examine the impact of digital technologies on teaching roles and practices in the classroom and illustrates how the concept of "Gamification" can provide a modern day solution to traditional teaching best practices.

My presentation is available for download at http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/the-education-game and the associated paper can also be downloaded from http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/the-education-game-paper

Gamification and Rapid Serious Games Prototyping – 3D Hive and Data Analytics

3D Hive is a serious games rapid prototyping platform developed by Playware Studios in Singapore. It is similar in principle to the Thinking Worlds Platform in that it is designed to enable any to develop their own short “Gamelet” applications without any games development or programming skills through the use of “Drag and Drop”. 3D Hive is free to download for both Windows and Mac platform and includes a library of content assets such as 3D worlds, objects and characters. Games can be developed and played on the same machine free of charge but there are charges for publishing and hosting games for multiple users.

I have seen 3D Hive in use at 2 events over recent months and have been impressed by what can be achieved with 3D hive in relatively short timescales. In the Asian Eco-Challenge finals in Korea earlier this year, young students between 11 and 16 years old were given the challenge of designing a game to teach other children about water resource management. They only had 2 days to design and develop the gameplay and demonstration with impressive results. A similar contest took place in Singapore at the Serious Games Conference held at Nanyang Technological University where the contestant were teams from the medical profession tasked to design, develop and present a health related game in 2 days, again with impressive results.

The other very significant benefit of a 3D Hive Playware hosted solution is that the data can be captured from the gameplay in order to both assess player competencies and behaviours as well as providing feedback on the learning outcomes.

If you would like to know more about 3D Hive, please email me at Send me information about 3D Hive

Featured Recent Events

Thaisim 2015

Delegates and Presenters at Thaisim2015

The Thaisim annual conference on games and simulations in education is one of the most anticipated events in my calendar because, apart from the warmth and hospitality of my hosts in Thailand, it always brings new ideas and insights from the organisers, presenters and participants. This year, in Bangkok, Thaisim 2015 proved no exception. The conference itself had been preceded by an ISAGA workshop in which participants across the ASEAN region developed their own learning games and tested them out amongst each other. The day before the conference was a special “respect” ceremony in which hundreds of students took part in a ritual to welcome new students to Thonburi University and pay respect to both teachers and mothers.

The conference began with a “Games Jam” organised by David Crookall of Nice University who engaged the delegates in playing a game based on Lego bricks which required collaboration, negotiation, critical thinking and teamwork. David used the game to illustrate the importance of Debriefing in the learning process. David’s opening session was followed by Willy Kriz, the driving force behind ISAGA. His fascinating presentation was an appreciation of the role of Play in Human development and illustrated how the principles behind many well-known games such as “Snakes and Ladders” are really a mirror of life.

I have posted images from the conference, including shots of some presentation slides at https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwortley/albums/72157657019255111

Singapore Serious Games Conference SGC 2015

Images from the SGC 2015 Conference

The Singapore Serious Games Conference SGC 2015 took place at Nanyang Technological University and ran concurrently with the ICORR Rehablilitation Robotics Conference, the i-CREATe International Convention on Rehibilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology and a showcase exhibition of both commercial and student solutions to health management. This exhibition and showcase included live demonstrations of Imaginary’s “Rehab@Home” application on the Taggle Platform. The exhibition was graced by the Princess of Thailand on the last afternoon and she showed a keen interest in all the assistive technology solutions.

The Serious Games Conference began with a Plenary Session from Peter Ho, Senior Fellow from the Civil Service College in Singapore. Peter spoke about the importance of Pattern Recognition in shaping our behaviours and responses to situations. Games and Gamification supported by big data capture, analytics and visualisation can play a major role in identifying the patterns which shape our behaviour and using feedback mechanisms to create more effective learning and development of better pattern recognition. This idea fits very well with role playing games such as those designed to tackle pandemics because the players are exposed to the key patterns they need to recognise and respond to in an emergency. Peter also presented the awards for the best 3D game development in three categories that used the 3D Hive platform.

The Plenary Lectures on Day Two of the conference came from Scott Nicholson via a skype connection with his home in Canada. Scott specialises in Participatory Games Design and he illustrated his talk with case study examples of different types of participatory games design. David Gibson from Curtin University spoke about the role of Serious Games in Harness Big Data and discussed the exciting project at Curtin University in Australia designed to use the Internet of Things and Big Data to personalise education for the masses. Big Data capture and analytics will be used to develop a deep understanding of student behaviours and profiles so that the best possible education experience is achieved.

My presentation was on Gamification and Wearable Technologies in Healthcare and can be downloaded from http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/gamification-and-wearable-technologies.

I have posted images from the conference, including shots of some presentation slides at https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwortley/albums/72157654884579354

Malaysia HFEM Seminar – Humanising the Future

Images from the HFEM Ergonomics Seminar – “Humanising for the Future”

My trip to Asia concluded with participation in an Ergonomics seminar held near Kuala Lumpur and organised by my friends Professor Halimahtun Khalid and Fauzi Yahaya from MIMOS. There were some excellent presentation which included a talk by Professor Ravi Goonetilleke from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He spoke about the challenge of big data visualisation and how artistic creativity and an understanding of human perception can affect our understanding and response to data. Prof Ravi showed some insightful examples of airport departure displays which illustrated the benefit of organising the data display and improving the impact and effectiveness. His presentation linked very well with Peter Ho’s presentation an games and pattern recognition and also David Gibson’s presentation on games and big data.

Prof Halimahtun Khalid talked about her recent research project award to study the influence of Trust in Human-Robot interactions and once again the notion of the use of games technologies like the Microsoft Kinect to recognise patterns in facial expressions and postures and determine their influence on trust.

I have posted images from the conference, including shots of some presentation slides at https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwortley/albums/72157657397163582

Featured Upcoming Events

September 7-10 iED Immersive Education Initiative 2015, Paris

iED Paris Conference

Building on the success of the previous 9 years of Immersive Education (iED) conferences, the world's leading experts in immersion convene September 7-10 in Paris for IMMERSION 2015. Hosted by Paris-Sorbonne University ("the Sorbonne") in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and the global Immersive Education Initiative, IMMERSION 2015 has a special focus on Arts & Culture.

IMMERSION 2015 addresses the personal and cultural impact of immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (e.g., Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard), augmented reality (AR), holograms and holography (e.g., Microsoft HoloLens), wearable computing (e.g., Google Glass, Samsung Gear, Apple Watch), mechanical and neural brain interfaces, cybernetics, affective computing (systems that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human feelings and emotions), neuro-gaming technologies that are used to create adaptive and radically compelling game experiences, 3D printing, personal robotics, telepresence, virtual worlds, simulations, game-based learning and training systems, and fully immersive environments such as caves and domes.

As a special event that is open to the public, the first two days of IMMERSION 2015 will feature general-interest keynote addresses, talks, panel discussions and exhibits. The event concludes with hands-on workshops and a 2 day technical (research) conference specifically for researchers, academics, teachers and corporate trainers.

For only the second time since its inception the global iED Summit features an exciting new module-based conference format and price structure. The IMMERSION 2015 modules are: The Age of Immersion, Arts & Culture, Forms and Functions of Immersion, Bringing the Past to Life, Immersive Education and Business & Law. - See more at: http://summit.immersiveeducation.org

October 5-9 Digital Earth 2015, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Towards a One-World Vision for the Blue Planet

Digital Earth concerns the integrated use of digital technologies to monitor, map, model, and manage our planet’s environments. The Digital Earth vision was first proposed by Al Gore in 1998, and has evolved to keep pace with rapid developments in earth-sensing, cloud computing, and Big Data. ISDE now espouses a more dynamic view of Digital Earth as the digital nervous system of the globe, using sensor networks and situation-aware systems to inform in real-time about events on or close to the Earth’s surface.

The ISDE Video Competition for Young People

The 9^th International Symposium for Digital Earth is running a competition for young people :-

The Video competition is organized by the ISDE Young Scientist Committee. We will start the 1st competition in 2015 and the winners will be announced in Canada, during the 9th ISDE Symposium.

Aim: We wish to promote the creative representation of the Digital Earth in virtual form by young people, in order topublicize and promote the vision and capabilities of Digital Earth. We aim to involve more young people in Digital Earthactivities, and thereby increase the popularity of the ISDE. The best videos will be distributed by electronic media to everybody interested in the development of the ISDE.

Award: The ISDE will award the winner(s) every two years, during the ISDE Symposium.

For more details visit http://www.digitalearth-isde.org/news/744

At Digital Earth 2015 up to 1,000 scientists, engineers, technologists, and environmental managers from around the world will meet to share concepts, research findings, technologies, and practical applications relating to the Digital Earth vision. Our conference will include themes from the entire spectrum of the Digital Earth vision, and will highlight applications related to Nova Scotian expertise in ocean and atmospheric sciences.

Register for ISDE 2015 at http://digitalearth2015.ca/

October 8-9 The 9^th European Conference on Games Based Learning ECGBL 2015

At ECGBL this year we want to learn more about games and the effectiveness of learning activities.

• What games are best suited to different subjects and what works within the context of different learning environments?
• How can games and game based technology help us give a better and more profound learning experience?
• Who are the gamers of today?
• What games do they play?
• What can we learn from the games that they play?
• How can we bring this knowledge into the learning context?
• The technology is available, but is the knowledge within the educational sector good enough to exploit the possibilities of games for better learning experiences?

To learn more about the conference, go to http://academic-conferences.org/ecgbl/ecgbl2015/ecgbl15-home.htm

October 20^th Westminster Forum Briefing on Video Games Industry, London, UK

The UK video games industry: technology, policy priorities and new avenues for growth

TUESDAY, 20^TH OCTOBER 2015

CENTRAL LONDON

THIS EVENT IS CPD CERTIFIED

Following further investment announced in the recent budget, delegates will discuss priorities for policy to build on growth in the UK industry - including issues of funding, tax incentives and ensuring the UK skills base continues to develop. Further sessions examine technological developments, including opportunities created by the rollout of virtual reality games consoles. The agenda will also examine the commercial opportunities for large businesses and SMEs, at a time of growth in mobile gaming, convergence between devices and increasing extension of franchises into new mediums, including films and television.

To learn more, visit http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/forums/event.php?eid=1079

Calls for Papers

Below is a selection of current calls for Papers, Posters and Articles that may be of interest :-

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GALA (Games and Learning Alliance) Conference 2015 in Rome, Italy. The Games and Learning Alliance conference (GALA 2015) is an international conference dedicated to the science and application of serious games. The conference aims at bringing together researchers, developers, practitioners and stakeholders. The goal is to share the state of the art of research and market, analysing the most significant trends and discussing visions on the future of serious games. See http://www.galaconf.org/

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The 1st ICA European Symposium on Cartography (EuroCarto 2015), which will take place in Vienna on November 10-12, 2015.

EuroCarto 2015 aims to bring together cartographers, GI scientists and those working in related disciplines with the goal of offering a platform of discussion, exchange and stimulation of research and joined projects.

The call for papers is currently open. The deadline for Full paper submissions is June 1, 2015, and work in progress submissions is June 29, 2015. High-quality submissions are intended to be published in the International Journal of Cartography and in a book of the series Lecture Notes on Geoinformation and Cartography by Springer. More information can be found at http://eurocarto.org/.

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Second Call for Abstracts and Special Sessions 9th Symposium of the International Society for Digital Earth

DIGITAL EARTH 2015 "Towards a One-World Vision for the Blue Planet"
Halifax, NS, CANADA, October 5-9

Interested contributors should submit their abstract or proposal for a special session by April 17. Submission details can be found under the Program menu tab at digitalearth2015.ca. Abstracts and proposals will be promptly considered by the Scientific Program Committee

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Recent Articles and Papers

A comprehensive list of archived articles, presentations and videos can be accessed at my website – http://www.davidwortley.com/listing.html

The most recent updates are shown below :-

Date	Article/Presentation Title	Comments
August 2015	Singapore Serious Games Conference Presentation on Wearable Lifestyle Technologies View Presentation	This slide presentation was delivered at the Singapore Serious Games Conference. It looks at the implications for business and society of the rapid development of disruptive technologies such as wearable devices, big data analytics and artificial intelligence
August 2015 2015	Gamification and Pandemics Slide Presentation View Presentation	The slide presentation was delivered as part of an APAN network webinar to discuss the impact of MERS in Korea and the potential of Gamification and enabling technologies to address these challenges
August 2015 2015	The Education Games – Using Gamification in the Classroom View Presentation View Conference Paper	This presentation and paper were prepared for the Thaisim 2015 conference in Bangkok. It seeks to explain the role of gamification in the classroom and provides some simple examples that can be used by any teacher or educator.

Upcoming Events Listing

Below is a list of forthcoming conferences – also accessible at http://www.davidwortley.com/events.html

Date	Event Name / Description	Location	Web URL
Sep 5	London Futurists - Digital Disruption within Education	London, UK	http://www.meetup.com/London-Futurists/events/223622855/
Sept 7-10	IED 2015 – Immersive Education Initiative	Paris, France	http://immersiveeducation.org/events
Sep 8	Next Steps for Creative Industries in Scotland	Edinburgh, Scotland	http://www.scotlandpolicyconferences.co.uk/forums/agenda/creative-scotland-agenda.pdf
Sep 8-9	EEE 2015 2nd International Conference on E-Commerce, E-Business and E-Service	Singapore	http://www.eee-conf.net/
Sep 16-18	SG 2015 Serious Games Conference	Novedrate, Italy	http://sgamesconf.org/2015/show/home
Sep 24-25	Immersive Technologies and Learning Session at CEEC 2015	Colchester, Essex	http://immersivelrn.org/ilrn-essex-ceec-2015
Sep 24-25	Innovation in environmental education: ICT and intergenerational learning	Firenze, Italy	http://involenconference.com/
Oct 1-2	7th International Conference on Science in Society	Chicago, USA	http://science-society.com/the-conference
Oct 5-9	DIGITAL EARTH 2015 "Towards a One-World Vision for the Blue Planet"	Halifax, Nova Scotia	http://digitalearth2015.ca/
Oct 8-9	9th European Conference on Games Based Learning ECGBL 2015	Steinkjer, Norway	http://academic-conferences.org/ecgbl/ecgbl2015/ecgbl15-home.htm
Oct 20	Westminster Forum - Conference on UK video games: policy, funding, technology, skills and areas for growth	London, UK	http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/forums/book_event.php?eid=1079
Oct 26-28	29TH EUROPEAN SIMULATION AND MODELLING CONFERENCE - ESM'2015	Leicester, UK	http://www.eurosis.org/cms/?q=taxonomy/term/368
Nov 2-3	Games for Health Europe	Utrecht, Netherlands	http://www.gamesforhealtheurope.org/conference
Nov 3-5	WISE 2015 - World Innovation Summit on Education	Doha, Qatar	http://www.wise-qatar.org/apply-attend
Nov 10-11	SAI Intelligent Systems Conference 2015 (IntelliSys 2015) -	London, UK	http://saiconference.com/IntelliSys2015/
Nov 26	Media for the Millennials: youth audience insights, content innovations and strategic priorities	London, UK	http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/forums/agenda/media-millennials-2015-agenda.pdf
Dec 2-4	GAMEON'2015, the 16th annual GAMEON Conference on Simulation and AI in Computer Games	Amsterdam, Netherlands	http://www.vu.nl/en/
Dec 3-5	Segamed 2015	Nice, France	https://segamed.wordpress.com/editions/2015-2/edition-2015/
Dec 11-12	GALA - Games and Learning Alliance Conference	Rome, Italy	http://www.galaconf.org/
Jan 26-27	iLearning Forum	Paris, France	http://www.ilearningforum.org/en
Feb 18-19 2016	Twelfth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society	Buenos Aires, Argentina	http://techandsoc.com/the-conference

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 Wishes for a Better Future for all Mankind

David Wortley FRSA

Founder and CEO

GAETSS – Gamification and Enabling Technologies Strategic Solutions

Shaping the Future of Business and Society through Human Development and Motivation

Mobile Phone : +447896659695 (UK)

Email : david@gaetss.com

Skype: davidwortley

Web: http://www.gaetss.com

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