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Low back pain (LBP) is a common cause for disabilities and reduced autonomy in older adults. Exercise therapy has shown to be effective in the reduction of the symptoms of LBP with bridging exercises as a commonly used intervention. Exercise therapy can be supported with biofeedback-based methods in order to further improve motor control. The availability of relatively inexpensive devices like the Nintendo Wii opens up new methods for the treatment for biofeedback-based exercises for patients with LBP. We conducted a 3-armed randomized controlled trial (biofeedback, standard care and control) with 62 older adults aged 66 to 89 years and an intervention period of twelve weeks with 2 sessions/week. Primary outcome was the perceived disability using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Additionally, we evaluated usability and user acceptance of the feedback system. The biofeedback group demonstrated significantly lower levels of perceived disability compared to the control group. Additionally, the Biering-Sørensen test was significantly better in the standard care group compared to both other groups. Usability and user-acceptance for the biofeedback system was low, mostly because of connectivity and comfort problems during exercising. The biofeedback system was able to significantly improve perceived disability and back extensor muscle endurance in older people with subacute low back pain. As the user-acceptance issues were mostly based on technical reasons, higher levels of comfort and dependability of the system could provide an effective method to perform bridging exercises to alleviate the consequences of episodes of low back pain.

In collaborative learning scenarios, the role of the instructor is vital. This aspect directly carries over to the concept of collaborative multiplayer Serious Games, where a group of players is learning together using a Serious Game. In this paper, the authors propose a novel approach for integration and support of instructors in collaborative multiplayer Serious Game scenarios. Their approach considers instructor tasks and responsibilities. It defines an interface for 3D action adventure-like games, defining relevant game information and adaptation access. It further includes a Game Mastering framework for orchestrating and adapting such games at runtime via an instructor. The concept was implemented on top of an existing Serious Game (Escape from Wilson Island) and evaluated in a user-centric study with N=40 participants (age m=23.39; SD=3.05). Results show that an instructor using our framework in a collaborative learning scenario can positively influence players' game experience (p<.05) and success towards the intended goals, as well as recognize and counteract problems at runtime.

For adaptation and personalization of game play sophisticated player models and learner models are used in game-based learning environments. Thus, the game flow can be optimized to increase efficiency and effectiveness of gaming and learning in parallel. In the field of gaming still the Bartle model is commonly used due to its simplicity and good mapping to game scenarios, for learning the Learning Style Inventory from Kolb or Index of Learning Styles by Felder and Silverman are well known. For personality traits the NEO-FFI (Big5) model is widely accepted. When designing games, it is always a challenge to assess one player's profile characteristics properly in all three models (player/learner/personality). To reduce the effort and amount of dimensions and questionnaires a player might have to fill out, we proved the hypothesis that both, Learning Style Inventory and Bartle Player Types could be predicted by knowing the personality traits based on NEO-FFI. Thus we investigated the statistical correlations among the models by collecting answers to the questionnaires of Bartle Test, Kolb LSI 3.1 and BFI-K (short version of NEO-FFI). A study was conducted in spring 2012 with six school classes of grade 9 (12-14 year old students) in two different secondary schools in Germany. 74 students participated in the study which was offered optionally after the use of a game-based learning tool for peer learning. We present the results statistics and correlations among the models as well as the interdependencies with the student's level of proficiency and their social connectedness. In conclusion, the evaluation (correlation and regression analyses) proved the independency of the models and the validity of the dimensions. Still, especially for all of the playing style preferences of Bartle's model significant correlations with some of the analyzed other questionnaire items could be found. As no predictions of learning style preferences is possible on the basis of this studies data, the final recommendation for the development of game-based learning application concludes that separate modeling for the adaptation game flow (playing) and learn flow (learning) is still necessary.

Der Wissensaustausch Lernender untereinander ist für E-Learning-Systeme und computer-gestütztes Lernen generell ein wichtiger Baustein zur Förderung der Motivation, der Lernzielerreichung sowie der Verbesserung der Problemlösekompetenz. Die positiven Effekte dieses Austausches hängen jedoch stark von der Eignung der Lernpartner in einer gebildeten Lerngruppe ab. In diesem Artikel werden Kriterienkategorien vorgestellt, die ein Gruppenformationsalgorithmus für Lerngruppen berücksichtigen sollte, sowie die existierenden algorithmischen Lösungen verwandter Arbeiten. Für die gleichzeitige Berücksichtigung aller dieser Kriterien wird der Algorithmus GroupAL vorgestellt. Dieser erlaubt beispielsweise die Verwendung mehrdimensionaler Kriterien, die wahlweise homogen oder heterogen ausgeprägt sein sollen, sowie die Bildung einheitlich guter Gruppen einer gesamten Kohorte von Lernenden. Die GroupAL-Architektur ermöglicht die Verwendung verschiedener Algorithmen zur Gruppenformation und definiert ein normiertes Gütemaß für Lerngruppen, welches den Vergleich verschiedener Gruppenformationen über Kriterienvariationen und Kohortenänderungen hinweg erlaubt. Die abschließend dargestellte Evaluation zeigt, dass GroupAL unter den gewählten Bedingungen bessere Ergebnisse liefert als bisherige Ansätze und umfassendere Anwendungsmöglichkeiten zur Lerngruppenbildung bietet.

Intelligent environments and smart applications require creating engaging interactions with their users, which on one side requires sensing and understanding human behavior, and on the other side carefully engineered application interfaces to keep these interactions sustained and useful over longer periods. Playful interactions and serious games incorporate elements of play for this purpose. As a fundamental human activity, play engages people at every age. This thematic issue explores how novel technologies can fuel fun and entertainment in ambient intelligence applications, and the societal implications and possibilities thereof.

ZusammenfassungDer Erfolg von Smartphones und Tablet-PCs hat den Markt der mobile digitalen Spiele nachhaltig beeinflusst, sowohl auf Hardware- als auch auf Softwareebene. Aktuell findet ein Verdrängungsprozess statt, in dessen Rahmen Smartphones andere Geräte für mobiles Spielen vom Markt drängen. Gleichzeitig ermöglichen Smartphones aber auch eine ganz neue Art von digitalen Spielen. In diesem Beitrag betrachten wir die möglichen Implikationen dieser Tatsache auf den Bereich des Serious Gaming.

Der Erfolg von Smartphones und Tablet-PCs hat den Markt der mobile digitalen Spiele nachhaltig beeinflusst, sowohl auf Hardware- als auch auf Softwareebene. Aktuell findet ein Verdrängungsprozess statt, in dessen Rahmen Smartphones andere Geräte für mobiles Spielen vom Markt drängen. Gleichzeitig ermöglichen Smartphones aber auch eine ganz neue Art von digitalen Spielen. In diesem Beitrag betrachten wir die möglichen Implikationen dieser Tatsache auf den Bereich des Serious Gaming.

The genre of educational adventure games is a common and successful choice in game-based learning. The games combine captivating narratives that motivate players to continue playing with game mechanics that are conductive to learning: the gameplay is slow-paced, allowing players to learn at their own pace, and focused on puzzles that can be infused with educational content. While educational adventure games are well suited for learning in most settings, their creation is often challenging for non-technical experts. Furthermore, existing game editors do not account specifically for adaptive adventure games, which can maximize the learning effectiveness of the games by catering to the players’ needs. To address these two challenges, we present a game model for this genre and use this model to build an authoring tool that lowers the threshold for adventure game creation and supports adaptive educational games. The implementation of this concept was evaluated in several studies.

Viele Museen suchen heutzutage neue Methoden und Wege, um Museen attraktiver zu gestalten und weitere Museumsbesucher und Zielgruppen anzusprechen. Eine Ausprägung davon stellen Science Center oder Themenparks dar, aber auch Kinder-, Kunst- und Technikmuseen mit digitalen Museum Guides oder „Exponaten zum Anfassen”. Basierend auf diesem Trend haben das ZGDV Darmstadt und die Bauhaus-Universität Weimar unabhängig voneinander multimediale Museumsanwendungen entwickelt, die insbesondere das jüngere Publikum in die Museen locken als auch „etablierte” Museumsgänger durch einen digital erweiterten Wissens- und Erlebnisraum ansprechen soll. Die Fallbeispiele des ZGDV „DinoSim Senckenberg”, „art-E-fact” und das innovative Präsentationssystem „iPX” repräsentieren interaktive Museumsanwendungen zur wissenschaftlich-technischen Simulation von Dinosaurier Laufstudien und der Exploration von Gemälden und Kunstobjekten sowie des menschlichen Körpers innerhalb der seitens des Heinz Nixdorf Museumsforum initiierten Sonderausstellung „Computer.Mensch” direkt vor Ort im Museum; „DinoExplorer Senckenberg” bietet eine virtuelle Umgebung zur spielerischen Exploration von Museumsräumen und Exponaten in Form einer emulierten Museumsrallye. Das digitale Osmantinum spricht den Literatur interessierten Besucher an und ist als mobiles Informations- und Führungssystem auf der Basis eines PDA's konzipiert, ohne die besondere Stimmung der Museumsräume zu stören.