Augmented reality (AR) shopping has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, we still lack a profound understanding about how and through what aspects AR shopping solutions can support purchase decisions. While traditional online shopping platforms largely offer product reviews as ancillary information that help customers evaluate products, we can observe that AR shopping environments largely lack such potentially useful cues while products are being viewed as 3D representations. Therefore, grounded in cognitive load and information richness theory, the present study seeks to move towards a design concept for embedding contextual ancillary information (e.g., product reviews, star ratings, etc.) in AR shopping environments. We derive 5 design principles for embedding ancillary information within AR representations that aim to foster users' decision-making (e.g., decision comfort, informativeness, etc.) while accounting for potential drawbacks of embedding heightened degrees of digital information in AR environments (i.e., cognitive load). Finally, we discuss a prototypical implementation and outline plans for an experimental evaluation of the prototype.
As cities worldwide face unprecedented challenges including rapid urbanisation, climate change, and growing social inequities, digital platforms have emerged as critical environments for engaging citizens in participatory planning. Within such platforms, gamification approaches are adopted to increase engagement. However, no comprehensive assessment of these platforms exists. Through a scoping review of 46 platforms from academic and grey literature, we identify four categories: (1) location-based mobile apps for geospatial data collection, (2) web-based participatory mapping systems, (3) 3D and Virtual reality environments, and (4) AI-powered image generation systems. Our thematic analysis across six dimensions - (a) purpose in urban planning, (b) participation mode, (c) accessibility and reach, (d) location, (e) data dimensions, and (f) gamification features - reveals critical gaps: while feedback mechanisms appear almost universally, advanced gamification remains limited. In addition, many platforms fail to progress beyond prototypes and lack incentives for sustained participation and collecting community-informed data for emergent fields of urban planning, such as the integration of nature-based solutions (NBS). Technical requirements often contradict inclusivity goals, potentially excluding underrepresented populations. Based on these findings, we present 19 design guidelines addressing engagement sustainability, inclusive accessibility, balanced gamification implementation and support of community-based planning. This comprehensive framework informs developers, planners, and researchers in creating more effective gamified digital platforms for democratic and sustainable urban futures.
In this work-in-progress paper, we present a reflective design account of the heritage computer game Les lumieres de Val-Jalbert (The Lights of Val-Jalbert), currently in development. A part of our research-creation project, this realistic 3D game seeks to offer an engaging, interactive pre-visit experience of the Val-Jalbert Historical Village as it was in 1959, an abandoned ghost town. The design draws on historical facts, testimonials, and faithful references to the real site, alongside the authors' interpretation. Employing Champion's theory of "culturally significant presence", we analyse the first-iteration design of the narrative, visuals, and projected experience to guide future development and contribute to discussions on digital and virtual gamification in cultural heritage.
Metacognition is a key component of self-regulated learning, yet students often approach reflective activities as routine requirements rather than opportunities for exploration. An open, exploratory mindset can deepen metacognitive reflection, and the curiosity and flexibility of a playful stance may help scaffold this process. This study investigates whether gamification can elicit a playful stance toward reflection, thereby shaping the experiential quality of metacognitive prompts. Two types of gamified prompt designs-one structured ( ludus) and one open-ended (paidia)-were compared to a non-gamified control in an online flipped classroom platform. The study also examines whether trait curiosity moderates the relationship between the design condition and perceived playfulness. A between-subjects quasi-experimental design was used across three university courses, with curiosity measured before and playfulness after exposure. By focusing on experiential outcomes rather than learning performance, this work isolates the affective mechanism through which gamification may influence reflective learning. Findings from this work-in-progress study aim to clarify whether gamified reflection designs evoke playfulness and how learner traits shape this experience. More broadly, this work supports efforts to design educational technologies that not only motivate learners but also cultivate the reflective mindsets essential for self-directed learning.
Digital Educational Escape Rooms (DEERs) have gained increasing attention as an engaging form of game-based learning. However, existing solutions often rely on web-based point-and-click interfaces that offer limited immersion, or on virtual reality implementations that require substantial development effort and specialized hardware. This work introduces a DEER-Toolkit integrated into a self-developed 2D multiplayer dungeon crawler game environment, designed to balance accessibility, interactivity, and educational value. The toolkit provides configurable puzzle mechanics, collaborative gameplay elements, and lightweight learning analytics to support facilitation and post-play reflection. To illustrate its capabilities, a short cybersecurity-themed DEER scenario is presented, designed for one to three players and playable within ten minutes. The demonstrator highlights how narrative framing, interactive object-based puzzles, and adaptive scaffolding can support active learning in a compact format suitable for classroom or workshop use. Future work focuses on developing authoring tools to enable educators to create their own scenarios and on evaluating the toolkit's effectiveness in authentic teaching contexts.
Live-streaming platforms have become an important medium for online learning, especially amid growing demand for interactive remote education. However, conventional text-based interactions on these platforms often perpetuate learner passivity and limit collaborative agency, hindering sustained engagement and knowledge retention. To address this gap, we present Quiz Traveller, an audience-participation game (APG) for world history learning that employs multi-player single-character control (MSCC), a crowd-sourced interaction mechanism popularised by Twitch Plays Poke-mon, as its core interaction paradigm. The game enables learners to collectively steer gameplay (e.g., navigating quizzes, solving historical challenges) via real-time chat commands, implementing two control modes: Anarchy (sequential command execution) and Democracy (voting-based aggregation). We evaluated this game through a single-group study (N = 25) using parallel-form pre- and post-tests (i.e., to measure short-term knowledge retention) and the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) (i.e., to assess subjective engagement and experience). Results from the single-group pre-test and post-test evaluation reveal substantial improvement in short-term knowledge retention (i.e., enhanced quiz performance). GEQ responses indicate moderately positive ratings for competence, performance, and positive affect, alongside lower scores for flow and immersion, and minimal negative affect. Our work demonstrates that Quiz Traveller, an educational game employing MSCC mechanics, achieves substantial learning gains whilst maintaining positive player experience, providing proof of concept that MSCC-based games warrant further investigation in educational live-streaming. This study offers a scalable, chat-native initial design instantiation of MSCC for educational contexts for educators and platform designers, providing a concrete foundation for future mechanism-focused research whilst offering practical implications for game-based learning in remote and hybrid education settings.
Narratives have been proposed as a promising means to enhance engagement, motivation, and learning. However, their specific effects and mechanisms in gamified learning environments remain insufficiently explored. This pilot study aimed to investigate whether an additional, minimal narrative frame could improve cognitive and motivational outcomes in a learning task. We further examined whether exposure to the narrative would increase narrative transportation and flow and how these states correlate with learning performance and motivation. Fifty-six participants were included in the preliminary data analysis and were randomly assigned to one of four task versions, differing in gamification (gamified vs. non-gamified) and narrative framing (low vs. high). While no significant group differences were observed, positive associations were found between narrative transportation, flow, and both cognitive and motivational outcomes. Building on these findings, we designed an upcoming full-scale study to implement a visually and conceptually even richer narrative by integrating comic strips into the gamified learning task, aiming to enhance absorption, narrative transportation, and emotional engagement while maintaining low cognitive load.
Virtual reality (VR) has become a powerful medium for learning, design, and play, yet the illusion of reality often ends where the sense of touch disappears. While vision and sound can simulate presence, the absence of tactile feedback limits how real virtual objects can feel. This work presents a controlled experiment design that examines how glove-based haptic feedback influences multisensory experience. Participants engage with three instruments representing pressing, plucking, and patting actions across three environments: a physical baseline, VR without haptics, and VR with glove-based haptic feedback. The study applies validated measures including NASA-TLX, Affect Grid, GAMEX, Sensory Perception Item (SPI) set, Attitude to Play Music, Intention to Use, and the Video Game Demand Scale (VGDS). We isolate how tactile realism relates to workload, affect, engagement, and memory in multisensory virtual environments. The framework provides a reproducible method for examining how touch changes not only what users do in VR but how real those actions feel.
This paper presents ongoing work to conceptualize the technical layer of gamification; an often-overlooked aspect in current research. Preliminary findings reveal notable terminological inconsistencies and emphasize the need for systematic stakeholder engagement. We propose a modular framework for "gamification technology" and define it as the hardware and/or software modules that operationalize gameful design into gameful experience. The framework aims to transform ambiguous, overlapping terms into a structure that links design intent to technical implementation. It introduces shared vocabulary through capability-based modules for the technical layer. This work aims to spark discussion and invite feedback from the community to conceptualize the technical layer, refine the framework, and guide future evaluation and empirical validation.
This study investigates a gamified real-time assistance concept for forest harvesters, integrating augmented reality (AR) and LiDARbased data visualization through a head-up display (HUD). The approach draws from gamification principles-enhancing engagement, feedback, and situational awareness-to support operator decision-making and ergonomics. A field test was conducted in Ilomantsi, Finland, employing a John Deere 1170G harvester equipped with an external LiDAR scanner and an in-cabin holographic HUD. Real-time tree detection and diameter estimation were achieved through LiDAR data processing with a YOLO-based convolutional neural network. The system successfully projected tree positions and estimated diameters onto the HUD during the felling of 60 trees. Operator workload, assessed using the NASA-TLX method, indicated low cognitive strain and positive usability feedback. The results demonstrate the feasibility of real-time holographic visualization in dynamic forest environments but highlight calibration and information flow challenges. Further improvements are needed in system setup, eye-position alignment, and data visualization to optimize ergonomic benefits and decision support in mechanized harvesting operations.
We introduce the concept of anti-gameful systems; designs that emphasize discipline, obligation, and non-negotiable workflows instead of playfulness or voluntary engagement. Unlike non-gameful or de-gamified systems, anti-gameful design is constructive: it deliberately resists motivational aesthetics to enforce compliance and predictability in contexts where correctness and safety are critical. Drawing on Foucault's disciplinary power and Weber's bureaucracy, we outline key contrasts between gameful and anti-gameful elements. To illustrate this emerging concept, we present a demonstration case: a dual-function office robot that alternates between gameful wellness support and anti-gameful fire emergency guidance. Finally, we propose a research agenda for defining measurable constructs, developing evaluation instruments, and identifying domains where anti-gameful systems may be preferable. This work invites discussion and collaboration to refine the preliminary concept and explore its implications.
Virtual environments can provide an engaging setting for physical exercise beyond traditional indoor contexts. We present a virtual yoga application that enables users to practice yoga in an immersive simulated forest environment using virtual reality. The application is based on motion capture data from a professional yoga instructor and uses avatar-led guidance to support beginner-friendly exercise. The design combines yoga practice with a calm virtual nature setting to create an approachable and engaging VR sports experience.
The paper presents Beetle Migration Game, a work-in-progress serious game designed with the ecological principles of bark beetle migration and forest resilience. We document a design approach that incorporates More-than-Human principles and non-anthropocentric perspectives that recognize the entanglement and agency of all species within the game mechanics and systems. This methodology utilizes a lightweight annotation process to ensure ecological logics are made explicit, aiming to shift serious games from individual achievement and maximizing rewards towards fostering ecological thinking and awareness. The paper details the game design process, including the player's role as a steward in managing a forest ecosystem facing beetle infestations, and discusses the potential for this More-than-Human approach to encourage players to focus on ecological interdependencies rather than isolated, exploitation-based goals. We carry out a preliminary user study with 65 participants and identify 2 directions for future work.
Understanding complex system dynamics is a skill needed to tackle today's sustainability wicked problems. Although educational efforts to introduce systems thinking into curricula continue to grow, several challenges remain for teaching and developing a nuanced understanding of the different systems' components, the cause-andeffect interplay among them, and how these convey impacts, often unexpected, that ought to be considered. Global supply chains are an example of a complex system that affects our everyday lives, highlighting the need to develop and hone systems thinking skills among students who may one day be responsible for managing them. Game-based learning (GBL) has proven to be a valuable approach for experiencing and reflecting on the consequences of one's choices across a wide array of educational contexts, including systems thinking and supply chain management. Therefore, this ongoing study aims to examine how a GBL environment designed to teach sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) can enhance systems thinking literacy using a mixed-methods approach. In particular, the present manuscript describes the rationale and methodology for a quantitative experiment (n=250) conducted in a lecture setting. Additionally, we outline the planned next steps, which include a qualitative study to validate and further strengthen the results.
The positive effect of haptic information in enhancing communication has been shown in team sports and more recently its effects have also been studied with esports teams. Dismounted soldiers use, among other methods, hand-arm signals and also touch for communicating. In the current study we test the user experiences of a wearable smart textile, a smart sleeve, with dismounted soldier fire teams The smart sleeve was originally developed for esports teams, but it could possibly be used for communication in the military context. Technologically mediated touch could communicate and coordinate movement and other combat actions and manoeuvres. We studied user experiences and collected future development ideas with interviews in an outdoor live-firing exercise of three-person fire teams. The potential for silent communication was identified by the participants, but the durability of the technology raised some concerns. The results encourage the further studying of haptic communication methods for the dismounted soldier.
Social media is experiencing a rapid diversification of entertainment content, reshaping individual perceptions and the social construction of gender roles and stereotypes. Gaming-related content is now prevalent across asynchronous (e.g., YouTube) and synchronous (e.g., Twitch) platforms. However, the enduring male predominance in this field continues to reproduce gendered representations, reinforcing stereotypes that portray female content creators as less suited to gaming and lacking competitiveness or technical expertise. This study will be conducted on 128 participants and adopts a 2x2 between-subjects experimental design to examine how expertise and toxic attitude influence stereotypes toward female gaming content creators. The protocol integrates neurophysiological measures to assess engagement and implicit responses, alongside survey data capturing how different conditions affect perceptions of female gamers. Based on theoretical expectations, it is hypothesized that the absence of expertise will strengthen stereotypes of female gamers, whereas an toxic attitude may reduce them. When expertise and toxicity co-occur, however, the stereotype is expected to be disrupted, revealing a complex interplay between competence, behavior, and social judgment. The expected results will offer insights into how gender stereotypes in gaming are constructed, deepening understanding of how social media reshapes female representation in digital cultures.
In this work in progress, we present the preliminary design of a user experience (UX) support tool that integrates an archive of methods, metrics, and models to assist researchers and practitioners in planning and evaluating gamified systems. Addressing fragmented guidance on gamified UX evaluation, the tool offers structured access to research designs, evaluation methods, validated questionnaires, and a conceptual model linking UX constructs and metrics. We created a low-fidelity interactive prototype and conducted a qualitative evaluation with 17 participants (15 of whom had experience with HCI/UX or user research), who explored the prototype through task-based scenarios and provided open-ended feedback. Thematic analysis indicates that the tool aligns with its objectives and is perceived as useful. However, it also highlights the need to clarify the target audience, reduce textual overload, strengthen process-oriented guidance and decision support, and adopt a more minimalist visual design. We outline planned refinements and a systematic evaluation to consolidate the tool as a decision-support environment for gamified UX evaluation.
Gamification has been widely adopted in education to enhance motivation, engagement, and persistence, yet it is often implemented as a superficial reward layer rather than as a structured redesign of how learners progress through a course. Learning paths define how activities, content, and challenges unfold and adapt for the learner. As such, they are central to instructional design and provide a powerful leverage point for gamification to deepen engagement and meaning in learning. This review examines the role of gamification in shaping learning path design within educational settings. Drawing on a systematic approach informed by PRISMA guidelines, we identified 35 pertinent studies and conducted an in-depth analysis of their learning path architectures, personalization mechanisms, embedded game elements, and documented outcomes. Our review shows that gamified learning paths often share a layered structure: a core progression sequence, grouped into larger units and smaller tasks, with difficulty levels and optional activities added on top. Most systems use fixed or semi-adaptive paths, where personalization is mainly controlled by the system and students have limited choice. The game elements used are mostly performance-focused, such as points, levels, and leaderboards, linked to challenge-based tasks, whereas narrative and identity-building elements are rarely included. We explain how different combinations of structure and game elements influence visibility of progress, learner agency, and alignment with learning goals. Based on these findings, we propose design guidelines and a research agenda that encourage clearer terminology, stronger theoretical grounding, better reporting, and a shift away from reward-focused designs toward adaptive, explainable, and pedagogically coherent gamified learning paths.
As ethics increasingly permeates organizational practice, culture and decision-making, the demand for ethics literacy training that goes beyond compliance and rule adherence continues to grow. Traditional corporate ethics programs often emphasize avoiding reputational risks and adhering to internal policies, overlooking the subtle, everyday interpersonal dilemmas employees face in decisions about, for example, employees' recognition, promotion, or accountability. These programs also lack interactivity and emotional engagement, limiting the development of reflective and autonomous moral reasoning. This study investigates gamification as an innovative approach with the potential to address the aforementioned challenges and enhance ethics literacy within organizational settings. A business educational game was developed, incorporating five realistic workplace dilemmas and focusing on role-playing as a key gamification feature for ethics literacy. Two mechanisms, role switching and reflective perspective shifting, are experimentally tested in a 2 (changing roles: yes vs. no) x 2 (shift of perspective: selfimmersed vs. self-distanced) between-subjects online experiment involving approximately 200 employees. We expect to obtain empirical evidence on how these mechanisms influence engagement, learning strategies and ethics learning outcomes. Theoretically, the research integrates perspectives from gamification, moral development, business management, and educational psychology; practically, it provides design principles and a scalable ethics training tool applicable in both corporate and academic environments.
We present HereSay, a gamified mobile crowdsourcing application that transforms urban observation into engaging gameplay whilst collecting valuable data for participatory planning. The app addresses the challenge of sustaining citizen engagement in urban planning through five integrated gamification mechanics: progressive unlocking, daily streaks, experience points, levels and leader-boards. Unlike traditional planning tools that solely rely on functional categorisation, HereSay adds affordance-based prompts to capture how citizens actually perceive and use urban spaces, with particular emphasis on urban landscape perception. Built using Flutter and Firebase for cross-platform accessibility, the application requires only standard smartphone capabilities. Initial evaluation with seven users demonstrates strong engagement with gamification features and successful motivation to explore urban spaces. The application showcases a scalable solution for inclusive citizen participation that bridges the gap between informal experiential knowledge and structured planning data.
