Tim Marsh - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tim Marsh

Computer, 2000

and addresses the challenges involved in its acquisition, storage, query, and analysis.

AAAI 2000 Spring Symposium Series “Smart Graphics, 2000

Many usability problems are associated with navigation and exploration of virtual space. In an at... more Many usability problems are associated with navigation and exploration of virtual space. In an attempt to find methods that support navigation within virtual space, this paper describes an investigation of cinematography conventions. In particular, this will focus on ...

It is widely thought to more or less a degree, that a sense of presence may be induced in users o... more It is widely thought to more or less a degree, that a sense of presence may be induced in users of new and emerging media technologies, such as, the Internet, digital television and cinema (supporting interaction), teleconferencing and 3D virtual reality systems. In this paper, it is argued that presence presupposes that participants are absorbed in the illusion of interacting within the visual spaces created by these media. That is, prior to the possibility of any inducement of presence, participants need to be absorbed in the illusion conveyed by the media. Without this, participants' attention is broken and the illusion is lost. Hence, the potential to induce presence in participants ceases. To encourage participants to lose sight of the means of representation and be drawn into the illusion conveyed by these media, this paper proposes the development of design principles to increase participants' experience. In an attempt to inform design principles, this paper focuses on another artificial although highly successful visual medium -film. By way of example, this paper concentrates on one medium, virtual reality, and proposes design principles that attempt to maintain the illusion of interacting within 3D virtual space. This attempts to provide a platform through the resourceful blend of hardware and software Virtual Reality (VR) enabling technologies on which to support a well designed virtual environment and hence, from which the inducement of presence in participants may develop.

In this short position paper, we outline some of the findings following research on A. N. origina... more In this short position paper, we outline some of the findings following research on A. N. original activity theory including powerful and largely sidelined concepts, and propose extensions to bridge conceptual gaps. In particular, this work has focused on framing of activity through lenses and spheres, and on the relationship between object(ive) and motive and how they coincide or merge [1]. These provide fresh perspectives to reason about and inform design of today's rapidly evolving human technologically-mediated interactions and gameplay for experience and to provide a framework for writing, design fiction and inspiration for envisioning of future interactions and technologies. To illuminate this approach we have been focusing on the creation, modelling and shaping of narratives, scenarios, stories -in-game or interactions with and between applications and multiple platforms / transmedia.

In this chapter, Xi and Marsh explore the area of persuasive technology and games and their effec... more In this chapter, Xi and Marsh explore the area of persuasive technology and games and their effectiveness in informing users/players about savings and money management and in persuading users/players to take actions to save. They found that players were able to identify the triggers within the persuasive technology and persuasive game that inform them about savings and provide examples of these money lessons in their daily lives.

We describe the Ministry of Education's (MOE) English Language Oracy Portal project that aims to ... more We describe the Ministry of Education's (MOE) English Language Oracy Portal project that aims to make learning English engaging and effective through the introduction of game-based learning and interactive storytelling/storybooks incorporating automated speech-assessment-feedback mechanisms in Singapore schools. In particular, we describe pilot studies and trials with 720 students and their teachers from twelve schools, and report the most important findings to inform development to make improvements and recommend strategies for their integration in the curriculum and classroom for the final rollout in primary and secondary schools across Singapore.

Building on A.N. Leontiev's original activity theory, we propose extensions to bridge conceptual ... more Building on A.N. Leontiev's original activity theory, we propose extensions to bridge conceptual gaps to operationalize an activity-based scenario / narrative approach leading to a universal framework to inform design and reason about the user experience of entertainment through engagement in task-based, as well as improvised, extemporaneous and serendipitous interaction and gameplay.

This paper discusses the conceptual, practical and ethical considerations towards the development... more This paper discusses the conceptual, practical and ethical considerations towards the development of a framework of experience to inform design and assessment of serious games. Towards this, we review the literature on experience in interaction design, HCI, and games, and identify that the dominant focus for design has been, and still remains, on positive and fun experience. In contrast, anything other than positive experience is often loosely and sometimes inappropriately lumped together under the broad label "negative experience" which can imply bad experience and something to be avoided, while at the same time suggesting it's not useful to design. While work in HCI and the games literature begins to address experience beyond positive, it just scratches the surface. By turning to drama, performance, literature, music, art and film that has shaped experiences and emotion beyond the positive and fun for many years, we describe what experience beyond positive looks like, show how it is not always "uncomfortable" and how it can be classed as entertainment, and argue for the more appropriate term "serious experience". We propose that the focus for design of interaction and serious games should be an appropriate rhythm between positive and serious experience. Finally, we discuss the importance of the take-away message and positive and serious experience in serious games to linger or resonate post-encounter for players in order to encourage reflection and fulfill purpose, and describe associated ethical concerns and make recommendations for designers, evaluators and practitioners in order to safeguard players/users.

ABSTRACT We describe a continuous and unobtrusive approach to capture data amassed from user-play... more ABSTRACT We describe a continuous and unobtrusive approach to capture data amassed from user-player interactions with virtual or game environments. Central to this is a tool called ISIS (Immersidata analySIS) to query and identify data of interest and to index events within video recordings of game sessions. Analysis of the associated data and video clips help us to understand user-players’ behaviour and experience to assess and inform the design and development of games. ISIS supports six queries to identify: actions and activities, breaks in interaction caused by reflection or ineffective and problematic design, navigation problems caused by user disorientation, and events or tasks that are the most difficult to perform in a game. In the development of an educational serious game, we illustrate how our approach can help inform redesign.

To improve the learning factor of serious games, we introduce an affection layer which improves t... more To improve the learning factor of serious games, we introduce an affection layer which improves the emotional intelligence of a game character. As the components of that layer we propose modules which can be integrated in a game engine in order to enhance the verisimilitude of the virtual world. The proposed architecture can be integrated in several games to improve their emotional abilities which can lead to developing believable characters in the game environment. We believe that such ability increase the motivation for the user to learn since possibilities and situations would be much pragmatic.

Computer, 2000

and addresses the challenges involved in its acquisition, storage, query, and analysis.

AAAI 2000 Spring Symposium Series “Smart Graphics, 2000

Many usability problems are associated with navigation and exploration of virtual space. In an at... more Many usability problems are associated with navigation and exploration of virtual space. In an attempt to find methods that support navigation within virtual space, this paper describes an investigation of cinematography conventions. In particular, this will focus on ...

It is widely thought to more or less a degree, that a sense of presence may be induced in users o... more It is widely thought to more or less a degree, that a sense of presence may be induced in users of new and emerging media technologies, such as, the Internet, digital television and cinema (supporting interaction), teleconferencing and 3D virtual reality systems. In this paper, it is argued that presence presupposes that participants are absorbed in the illusion of interacting within the visual spaces created by these media. That is, prior to the possibility of any inducement of presence, participants need to be absorbed in the illusion conveyed by the media. Without this, participants' attention is broken and the illusion is lost. Hence, the potential to induce presence in participants ceases. To encourage participants to lose sight of the means of representation and be drawn into the illusion conveyed by these media, this paper proposes the development of design principles to increase participants' experience. In an attempt to inform design principles, this paper focuses on another artificial although highly successful visual medium -film. By way of example, this paper concentrates on one medium, virtual reality, and proposes design principles that attempt to maintain the illusion of interacting within 3D virtual space. This attempts to provide a platform through the resourceful blend of hardware and software Virtual Reality (VR) enabling technologies on which to support a well designed virtual environment and hence, from which the inducement of presence in participants may develop.

In this short position paper, we outline some of the findings following research on A. N. origina... more In this short position paper, we outline some of the findings following research on A. N. original activity theory including powerful and largely sidelined concepts, and propose extensions to bridge conceptual gaps. In particular, this work has focused on framing of activity through lenses and spheres, and on the relationship between object(ive) and motive and how they coincide or merge [1]. These provide fresh perspectives to reason about and inform design of today's rapidly evolving human technologically-mediated interactions and gameplay for experience and to provide a framework for writing, design fiction and inspiration for envisioning of future interactions and technologies. To illuminate this approach we have been focusing on the creation, modelling and shaping of narratives, scenarios, stories -in-game or interactions with and between applications and multiple platforms / transmedia.

In this chapter, Xi and Marsh explore the area of persuasive technology and games and their effec... more In this chapter, Xi and Marsh explore the area of persuasive technology and games and their effectiveness in informing users/players about savings and money management and in persuading users/players to take actions to save. They found that players were able to identify the triggers within the persuasive technology and persuasive game that inform them about savings and provide examples of these money lessons in their daily lives.

We describe the Ministry of Education's (MOE) English Language Oracy Portal project that aims to ... more We describe the Ministry of Education's (MOE) English Language Oracy Portal project that aims to make learning English engaging and effective through the introduction of game-based learning and interactive storytelling/storybooks incorporating automated speech-assessment-feedback mechanisms in Singapore schools. In particular, we describe pilot studies and trials with 720 students and their teachers from twelve schools, and report the most important findings to inform development to make improvements and recommend strategies for their integration in the curriculum and classroom for the final rollout in primary and secondary schools across Singapore.

Building on A.N. Leontiev's original activity theory, we propose extensions to bridge conceptual ... more Building on A.N. Leontiev's original activity theory, we propose extensions to bridge conceptual gaps to operationalize an activity-based scenario / narrative approach leading to a universal framework to inform design and reason about the user experience of entertainment through engagement in task-based, as well as improvised, extemporaneous and serendipitous interaction and gameplay.

This paper discusses the conceptual, practical and ethical considerations towards the development... more This paper discusses the conceptual, practical and ethical considerations towards the development of a framework of experience to inform design and assessment of serious games. Towards this, we review the literature on experience in interaction design, HCI, and games, and identify that the dominant focus for design has been, and still remains, on positive and fun experience. In contrast, anything other than positive experience is often loosely and sometimes inappropriately lumped together under the broad label "negative experience" which can imply bad experience and something to be avoided, while at the same time suggesting it's not useful to design. While work in HCI and the games literature begins to address experience beyond positive, it just scratches the surface. By turning to drama, performance, literature, music, art and film that has shaped experiences and emotion beyond the positive and fun for many years, we describe what experience beyond positive looks like, show how it is not always "uncomfortable" and how it can be classed as entertainment, and argue for the more appropriate term "serious experience". We propose that the focus for design of interaction and serious games should be an appropriate rhythm between positive and serious experience. Finally, we discuss the importance of the take-away message and positive and serious experience in serious games to linger or resonate post-encounter for players in order to encourage reflection and fulfill purpose, and describe associated ethical concerns and make recommendations for designers, evaluators and practitioners in order to safeguard players/users.

ABSTRACT We describe a continuous and unobtrusive approach to capture data amassed from user-play... more ABSTRACT We describe a continuous and unobtrusive approach to capture data amassed from user-player interactions with virtual or game environments. Central to this is a tool called ISIS (Immersidata analySIS) to query and identify data of interest and to index events within video recordings of game sessions. Analysis of the associated data and video clips help us to understand user-players’ behaviour and experience to assess and inform the design and development of games. ISIS supports six queries to identify: actions and activities, breaks in interaction caused by reflection or ineffective and problematic design, navigation problems caused by user disorientation, and events or tasks that are the most difficult to perform in a game. In the development of an educational serious game, we illustrate how our approach can help inform redesign.

To improve the learning factor of serious games, we introduce an affection layer which improves t... more To improve the learning factor of serious games, we introduce an affection layer which improves the emotional intelligence of a game character. As the components of that layer we propose modules which can be integrated in a game engine in order to enhance the verisimilitude of the virtual world. The proposed architecture can be integrated in several games to improve their emotional abilities which can lead to developing believable characters in the game environment. We believe that such ability increase the motivation for the user to learn since possibilities and situations would be much pragmatic.