Sean Costain
email: s.costain@griffith.edu.au

Dale Patterson
email: d.patterson@griffith.edu.au

The Active Use of Online Presence, Movies and Gameplay to Improve Classroom Engagement

Keywords: online learning, student engagement, gameplay, social media

The online world is filled with rich interactive games, spaces, motion pictures and personas. Despite a rapid growth in online education, the tertiary classroom looks quite different to the entertaining online world it exists within. The design of mobile online resources, both official and unofficial, plays a key role in student engagement and learning. From the teachers perspective designing an online presence and in particular engaging online learning resources, is critical to the success of the learning environment. This project looked at the use of popular forms of online materials, including gameplay, movies and social media, and whether the application of entertainment centered tools enhanced the learning environment. The results of the 9 year, 984 participant study indicate that the increased and active use of the entertainment based tools had a significant positive effect in terms of student engagement and a significant positive effect on learning outcomes for international students.

Introduction

The online environment, available today to students, offers resources on an enormous scale. Unfortunately the reliability of these resources is less clearly indicated. Prior to the widespread use of the web, the learning and teaching environments used in tertiary education were significantly simpler, both in terms of technology, scale of information and reliability of information. With the addition of mobile online learning resources, online course delivery and social media communications, the tertiary education space is a very different place to that which existed just 25 years ago [START_REF] Allen | Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States[END_REF][START_REF] Kreber | The scholarship of teaching and learning and the online classroom[END_REF]. Today students have immediate access to the pool of rich online resources in a range of interactive forms. Knowledge of facts has become less relevant to these students as they have 24 hour a day, seven day a week, access to information at their fingertips.

The ability to discern valuable information, as compared to the less reliable information, from the mix that exists on the web, becomes a critically important skill for the student [START_REF] Harasim | Learning theory and online technologies[END_REF][START_REF] Hattie | Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement[END_REF]. Aside from pure informational resources, the web also offers a range of richer and more engaging options. These include social media, chat as well as online video and audio tutorials and advice on "how to" complete numerous tasks.

These more interactive and visually richer forms of accessing information appeal to students on many levels, including personal engagement as well as simply being a more entertaining way to obtain the required information [START_REF] Junco | The relationship between frequency of Facebook use, participation in Facebook activities, and student engagement[END_REF][START_REF] Meyer | The influence of online teaching on Faculty productivity[END_REF].

For teaching staff, and those designing learning resources and programs, it is critical to design learning resources that are relevant and effective for the student in this online learning space [START_REF] Allen | Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States[END_REF], [START_REF] Palloff | Lessons from the Virtual Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching[END_REF], [START_REF] Baran | Transforming online teaching practice: critical analysis of the literature on the roles and competencies of online teachers[END_REF], [START_REF] Patterson | Creativity in the Online Classroom: Findings from a Five Year Randomized Control Trial[END_REF]. To achieve this it would seem logical that the teaching staff would look to using the common forms of online resources that students are seeking out, including short entertaining videos, social media interaction and others, as a means to deliver their resources and knowledge.

This research project implemented a study over a nine year period to identify whether the increased use, by teaching staff, of popular forms of entertainment, in the form of movies, interactive gameplay and social media had an impact on the effectiveness of the learning environments they created.

Online Learning Resources

Learning resources come in a range of possible forms and formats. For the purpose of this study the focus was in the online delivery of resources based on popular forms of entertainment. This approach included the use, and comparison of the effectiveness of, several types of formats for this content. Key formats included, long and short video and audio clips, interactive gameplay (in both game and social media platforms) as well as the active and passive use of social media. The short movie format, was a critical element in the trial as these items became the most viewed and used (with more than three times the amount of interaction from participants than any of the other forms). Each of these movies was designed to be much like a short movie trailer only containing key and quite specific pieces of knowledge. These clips were constrained to being no longer than five minutes in length and were designed to be as informal as possible (including showing minor errors and corrections). Several critical additions to each of these resources included the removal of official branding, the inclusion of the person (teaching staff member) in the clips themselves and the publication in personal (non official) locations on the web. The intent of these elements was to help break down the barriers between staff and student and reinforce the links and build rapport between the student and staff.

The same approach was applied to developing the interactive gameplay scenarios and social media interactions. The focus being on short, very specific and helpful "tips" being delivered in a non official format but by a person with whom the student is comfortable, and has trust in the reliability of their information. Interestingly the feedback from the study regarding the interactive gameplay indicated that the teaching staff members willingness to engage in such "play", outside of the content and teaching scope, was the most highly rated item listed in the question asking "Which activity helped you get to know your teacher better?" with 44 percent of participants questioned listing gameplay as the most effective experience. This demonstrated the power of interaction in building relationships, but also shows the ability of a game, though the focus on a separate, and in these cases a shared task, to remove many fears and barriers to communication. The focus on the game play allows communication channels to open (about and in the game) and from that better understanding and ongoing communication was most effectively generated.

With the web itself having so many unreliable information sources, generating trust is critical to the success of this system. Where the textbooks of the past were a known entity with reliable information, the web contains information that is not edited and in many cases is simply incorrect. This leads to a more information wary student. One who seeks the ready accessibility of the Internet resources, but also questions their true value. In reality, this web based collection of information is what the student often consults first, but due to their uncertainty in the information, they will often cross check with multiple sources. Essentially they perform a simple form of peer review before giving trust to the information obtained.

Developing this level of trust in the teaching staff members "unofficial" content is one of the key challenges. Participant feedback from the study indicated the fact that the staff member was open on a personal level, thus enabling students to make the link between their personal "unofficial" identity and their true real world identity made them more confident in the truth and personal reliability of the teaching staff members virtual persona. With confidence transferred to the reliability of the tips and tricks provided through the short videos of that persona. In simple terms there appears, based on the studies findings, value in truth in virtual personas and also value in more personal detail and engagement.

Online Teaching Presence & Persona

The learning environment populated with students today is a rich and highly technology based world. For many teaching staff this in itself is challenging. In many cases students are more comfortable with the technology and communication systems than the staff themselves [START_REF] Palloff | Lessons from the Virtual Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching[END_REF][START_REF] Baran | Transforming online teaching practice: critical analysis of the literature on the roles and competencies of online teachers[END_REF]. The question of how important, in the modern era, an online presence is for an effective teacher is challenging. At its core, teaching involves assisting the student to obtain the knowledge and skills required to understand and successfully deal with challenges. For the modern teacher this means being there to assist with personal face-to-face learning, but also being there to assist with independent learning through online presence, interactive communication and the delivery of engaging learning resources. For the teacher, this makes their online presence a critical element of their professional persona. In the world of online study, a teacher's online presence is often more heavily accessed and utilized than the interpersonal face-to-face engagements. Managing this virtual professional teaching presence, in its many forms and including the use of entertainment techniques to engage and inspire the students, is a skill that has become a valuable skill to all teachers involved in the fast growing online education environment.

The 24/7 nature of online environments makes it almost impossible for any member of teaching staff to be available at all times to students. One of the key techniques pursued in this research was the use of personal entertainment oriented media as a means to capture key elements of knowledge and present them in an engaging and personal online form to students.

One of the key issues with online delivery of materials is the sense of detachment that students feel [START_REF] Patterson | Creativity in the Online Classroom: Findings from a Five Year Randomized Control Trial[END_REF][START_REF] Shaikh | Role of Teacher in Personal Learning Environments[END_REF]. This research experimented with differing levels of "person" in the online personas of teaching staff. The objective was to understand what level of personal link is beneficial in building effective forms of communication. To understand and measure the importance of different features of the staff members online presence, the study developed three levels of online teaching resources or presence.

The first level, the control group, contained staff who had no online presence and delivered learning materials in a classic face-to-face teaching manner. Students knew them as a teacher in class but had no additional "personal" information.

The second level, passive virtual presence, contained staff who had an online presence, delivered materials online, but did not actively engage in the online community or use specific targeted personal short videos, interactive games or active use of social media. Students knew them as a teacher in class and also had a limited amount of additional "personal" information through their professional media profiles.

The third level, the active virtual presence, contained staff that had an online presence, delivered materials online and actively engaged in the online community including the use of specific targeted personal short videos and interactive games scenarios. They also pursued active use of social media to communicate with students. Students knew them as a teacher in class and also had a significant amount of additional "personal" information and contact through their detailed personal social media profiles.

Mixing Online Teaching Presence & Learning Resources

Most professional personas link closely to the topic of the professional work being carried out. In these professional scenarios the separation between the individual's persona and the content of the work can often be blurred. For virtual teaching presence this soft boundary between content and person provides an interesting platform for delivering learning materials. Initially the content builds confidence in the online identity, and draws students to it. Over time the identity becomes trusted and the identity itself can actively drive students to resources.

This research project sought to understand the role of the human element or "person" in the virtual teaching presence. Specifically to experiment with different levels of "person" relative to "content" in the virtual personas and to critically review the impact, positive or negative, that these changes caused. The goal being to identify mechanisms through which improvements could be made to a virtual teaching persona's ability to function as an effective teaching tool.

Experimentation & Analysis

To gain a better understanding of the type of resources that were most effective, an experimental study was carried out using variations on teaching presence (these differing levels incorporate different types of learning resources used). The key purpose of the observational study was to identify whether the entertainment oriented learning resources (movies, games and social media as included in the active virtual presence) had an impact on the learning outcomes or engagement of students when compared to the control and passive presence groups.

The experimental work involved a randomized control trial comparing the different types of teaching presence. The trial involved four teaching staff and 984 students across a period of nine years. The participants were all students involved in tertiary level classes, and were engaged in the study for six-month periods. Participants ranged in age from 17 to 54 years. They came from a range of cultural backgrounds and were taught in the English language (a second language for many of them).

The trial began with each participant being surveyed and then randomly allocated to one of the three levels of teaching presence (control, passive virtual or active virtual). Each participant then undertook their course/project, using the method as appropriate for their group. Interacting with staff, fellow participants and course materials, submitting appropriate assessment items as required. The topic/course content and assessment were consistent for all participants, thus keeping only the delivery method as the altered factor. During the trial they were also surveyed to gain insight into their feedback on how satisfied and engaged they were with the course and its delivery method. The final data element that was collected looked at how the students engaged with the online resources by recording the methods and times at which they accessed the online resources, providing information on which resources and personas were more or less effective in generating engagement and in driving use of the resources.

At the conclusion of the course an assessment was made of the students learning/creative outcomes in the form of examinations and project based work. These assessments were used to measure the effectiveness of the teaching method in terms of learning outcomes. Participant feedback was also collected as a means to measure participant satisfaction and engagement. From this data comparisons between the methods of teaching, with differing types of virtual personas, were developed.

Findings from The Study

The results from the study show that the use of an active virtual presence and in particular the level to which entertainment based techniques were applied, had positive results in terms of the participants experience when compared to the control group. Three key areas of interest were measured, those being learning outcomes, satisfaction and engagement. The active virtual presence group (which included the short movies, game play and social interaction) was significantly more successful in terms of engagement and satisfaction, and achieved positive improvements in learning outcomes for specific groups within the study.

In the key area of learning outcomes, the differing virtual presence did not cause a statistically significant difference across the full group. Overall the learning outcomes amongst students in the control group, averaging 64.7%, were similar to those amongst both the active, averaging 71.4%, and passive virtual presence groups, averaging 67.6%. When reviewed as 95% confidence intervals for the range of participants, these value ranges crossed indicating that there was no statistically significant difference between the learning outcomes from differing "presence" styles. This indicates that the use of entertainment focused learning resources did not cause any significant change to the learning outcomes of the students.

Although there was no statistically significant difference across the full group, there was a difference in learning outcomes for one specific sub group, participants with English as a second language. For participants with language/culture issues their results showed improvement going from 39% in control groups, to 43% in passive virtual presence groups, and most significantly up to 61% in active online presence groups. This improved ability to engage and transfer knowledge to these particular groups, through the use of online entertainment based methods was unexpected and offers potential. With international students playing such a large role in educational classes, these results were an important finding from this study.

In terms of engagement, two key measures were used. Firstly the quantitative data obtained from recording how and when participants accessed the resources. Secondly the feedback obtained in surveys. These results indicated that accesses to resources were higher in the active virtual presence group than any other group. In fact the activity itself played a key role in this. The study showed that an activity (engagement with resources), whether by staff or student, triggered a chain of interactive events. On average a single active interaction in the community learning space, led to an average of more than seven responses and interactions with information. Hence active engagement with the community led to an increase in the use of learning resources as well as increased communication amongst participants.

True identity also played a role, with the personas that incorporated the teachers identity (in a non threatening "unofficial" form) actively into the gameplay and movie content, gaining more engagement and more active response to interactions. Survey responses indicate that this related to a level of knowing the person and feeling a sense of trust and confidence with them. This confidence was critical as it allowed students to feel comfortable enough in the teaching staff, and most importantly the virtual presence of those staff members, to experiment and make mistakes. In simple terms the unofficial elements of the virtual presence gained more interaction, than the official. Participant feedback indicated it was unofficial and more of an open discussion forum which would not have an impact on results or perceptions of their work.

In one class, with 84 students, the social media unofficial group had 76 members join (90% of students in class optionally choosing to join group). During the 24 hours prior to the first assessment item, there were 62 active engagements compared to the average rate of just over one engagement per day. In contrast the number of participants who engaged with the official learning resources in that same 24-hour period was 32, almost half the rate. Clearly showing a preference for the unofficial social media group over the official online learning group. This was interesting as the resources represent contact with the same person, yet the format (of short more personal and unofficial movies) made them more accessible and desirable to participants. This finding was reflected not only in regards to assessment and feedback but also in the key content items. Presentation of short video clips through the unofficial mechanism generated more than twice the amount of views and more than four times the amount of participant interactions than any other type of content item.

The other key area of analysis related to levels of participant satisfaction. In this regard, the control group showed higher levels of community satisfaction than the passive virtual presence group. Although they were learning and interacting, they didn't feel as engaged with the passive virtual presence. The active presence group however was significantly higher, than both the control and passive groups, in terms of satisfaction ratings. This once again indicates that the short videos and interactive games created a higher level of satisfaction amongst the participants.

The participant feedback was for the same course content, assessments, with the same member of teaching staff, with the only difference being a differing set of learning resources (more entertainment based in active group). The results highlight the fact that students in active groups found the online community, mixed with targeted short video, game play and social media interactions more engaging. As a result they were statistically significantly more satisfied than their counterparts in other groups.

Discussion & Conclusions

The results from this and other studies show that an effective virtual teaching presence can achieve more than just a presentation of the resources and a representation of the member of teaching staff [START_REF] Hattie | Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement[END_REF][START_REF] Baran | Transforming online teaching practice: critical analysis of the literature on the roles and competencies of online teachers[END_REF][START_REF] Shaikh | Role of Teacher in Personal Learning Environments[END_REF]. With clever design, particularly through the use of entertainment based content design and delivery, the virtual presence can provide both an identity for the teaching staff member, and also, and perhaps most importantly, provide a mechanism for actively engaging the students in learning activities and delivery of learning resources [START_REF] Patterson | Using Interactive 3D Game Play to Make Complex Medical Knowledge More Accessible[END_REF]. To achieve this involves developing mechanisms to build trust, confidence and communication channels. As the participant responses demonstrated, establishing trust was strongly linked to the amount of true individual personal detail that features in the online presence as well as the early engagement of staff and students [START_REF] Junco | The relationship between frequency of Facebook use, participation in Facebook activities, and student engagement[END_REF], [START_REF] Kim | Investigating factors that influence social presence and learning outcomes in distance higher education[END_REF]. Meeting the teacher in person and linking that back to the virtual identity/persona gave an increased level of confidence. The use of virtual presence in this regard also provides a less intimidating environment than the face-to-face classroom. For some groups, including international students, the ability to engage at a distance enables time to formulate responses and deal with the issues caused through language and culture. As a result international students performed much better in the active virtual presence groups.

Overall the results indicate that the communication channels that were most actively used throughout the study were those of an unofficial form in the format of short personal video tips and tricks delivered through social media platforms.

Teaching involves engagement with the student, helping them to see the relevance of the content to their world, and inspiring them to become passionate about the topic. The somewhat distant and cold world of the Internet presents a challenging problem in terms of how to most effectively engage with students. The raw learning materials and information may be of the highest quality, but without an engaging mechanism to draw the students to them, they will be unsuccessful as teaching and learning tools. This is evidenced in studies such as those by Kim et al. that state, "media integration and instructors quality teaching were significant predictors of both social presence and learning satisfaction" [START_REF] Kim | Investigating factors that influence social presence and learning outcomes in distance higher education[END_REF].

Results from this study demonstrate that the active use of learning resources formatted along the lines of entertainment pieces, and delivered through trusted virtual presence that is "unofficial" in form, are more effective in terms of engagement and satisfaction. Specific groups were also more effective in terms of learning outcomes.


Reem Altamimi
email: reem.altamimi@uon.edu.au

Geoff Skinner
email: geoff.skinner@newcastle.edu.au

Keith Nesbitt
email: keith.nesbitt@newcastle.edu.au

A Focused Review and Initial Conceptual Design for Merging Exergame and Activity Monitoring Technologies

Keywords: Physical Activity, Exergames, Activity Monitoring Technologies

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Introduction

Physical activity in children is an important issue that has previously been considered in the literature [START_REF] Department | and Sports: Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General Executive Summary[END_REF][START_REF] Hoos | Physical Activity Pattern of Children Assessed by Triaxial Accelerometry[END_REF]. The implication of physical activity on children and adolescents' health and development is the driving reason behind this interest. Regular participation in physical activity has been found to reduce the risk of many diseases including heart disease and diabetes and also improves physiological and psychological function [START_REF] Department | and Sports: Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General Executive Summary[END_REF]. Unfortunately, it has been identified that when indoors, children spend large amounts of their time engaged in sedentary or light level physical activities and when outdoors spend less that 15% of their time engaged in vigorous physical activity [START_REF] Kawahara | Daily Inhalation Rate and Time--Activity/Location Pattern in Japanese Preschool Children[END_REF]. Another study confirmed that children approximately 20% of their time engaged in high-intensity physical activity [START_REF] Hoos | Physical Activity Pattern of Children Assessed by Triaxial Accelerometry[END_REF]. Yet educating young children about the importance of regular physical activity remains a key in helping to reduce levels of inactivity in adulthood [START_REF] Department | and Sports: Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General Executive Summary[END_REF][START_REF] Hoos | Physical Activity Pattern of Children Assessed by Triaxial Accelerometry[END_REF].

One factor that contributes to a healthy, active life-style is ensuring children adhere to the daily recommendations for physical activity which is 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for children and adolescents [START_REF] Department | and Sports: Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General Executive Summary[END_REF], [START_REF] Strong | Evidence Based Physical Activity for School-Age Youth[END_REF]. Measuring levels of physical activity in this age group is therefore important [START_REF] Berlin | Using Activity Monitors to Measure Physical Activity in Free-Living Conditions[END_REF]. Likewise it is important to study what motivates children and adolescents to exercise. Children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend numerous hours playing video games either on gaming consoles, handheld platforms or cell phones [START_REF] Rideout | Generation M [superscript 2[END_REF] on a daily basis [START_REF] Phillips | Home Video Game Playing in Schoolchildren: A Study of Incidence and Patterns of Play[END_REF]. The wide range of options in gaming platforms and game content is factor that contributes to the increased amount of time young people spend playing video games [START_REF] Rideout | Generation M [superscript 2[END_REF]. Unfortunately, most of the popular games increase screen time and led to more sedentary behavior amongst children and adolescents. However, a new generation of video games that involves physical exertion along with gameplay, called "Exergames", are being developed with the express aim of decreasing sedentary behavior and motivating active living.

It has been suggested that active video games provide an opportunity to improve physical activity levels in children and adolescents [START_REF] Cherabuddi | Exergaming: Video Games as a Form of Exercise[END_REF][START_REF] Biddiss | Active Video Games to Promote Physical Activity in Children and Youth: A Systematic Review[END_REF]. Activity tracking technologies provide further potential for promoting exercise in children and adolescents as they can be used to track and monitor the intensity and level of physical activity [START_REF] Berlin | Using Activity Monitors to Measure Physical Activity in Free-Living Conditions[END_REF]. Our research is designed to explore the best available technology-based solutions for physical activity promotion in children and adolescents. In this paper, we examine the use of exergames and activity monitoring technology with regard to their ability to promote and maintain exercise levels in children and adolescents. This paper reviews literature in these areas and proposes an initial design that combines exergaming and activity tracking technology.

2

Exergames and Activity Tracking Technologies

Exergames

Exergames have the benefit of motivating exercise by providing a safe, entertaining and engaging fitness experience. Exergames are important as they may encourage children to exercise and reduce the burden of obesity in this population [START_REF] Kiili | Developing Engaging Exergames with Simple Motion Detection[END_REF]. However, it remains to be seen whether active video games really promote physical activity in children and adolescents. Some literature reports that active video games increase physical activity levels [START_REF] Maddison | Energy Expended Playing Video Console Games: An Opportunity to Increase Children's Physical Activity?[END_REF][START_REF] Mhurchu | Couch Potatoes to Jumping Beans: A Pilot Study of the Effect of Active Video Games on Physical Activity in Children[END_REF] while other studies report that active video games have no effect on improving rates of physical activity [START_REF] Maddison | Effects of Active Video Games on Body Composition: A Randomized Controlled Trial[END_REF][START_REF] Baranowski | Is Enhanced Physical Activity Possible Using Active Videogames?[END_REF].

When developing applications for exergaming there is a spread of reports in the literature across broad age ranges from young children to adolescents, adults and even senior citizens. Indeed the age of targeted players is an important factor that games developers need to be aware of when developing games [START_REF] Baranowski | Playing for Real: Video Games and Stories for Health-Related Behavior Change[END_REF][START_REF] Gerling | Exergaming for Elderly: Analyzing Player Experience and Performance[END_REF]. Video games that attract younger players may not attract adolescents or adults due to the differences in their thoughts, perceptions and experience [START_REF] Baranowski | Playing for Real: Video Games and Stories for Health-Related Behavior Change[END_REF].

Exergame interfaces typically incorporate sensing devices that detect and track players' body motion during the game play. Examples of these devices include the Wii Remote Plus & Sensor Bar, the Wii Balance Board, the PlayStation Move Eye & Motion Controller and the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor. There are several differences between the various exergame interfaces. For example, the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor uses both the player's body and voice as controllers while the Wii Remote involves a physical prop that needs to be held by the player [START_REF] Tanaka | A Comparison of Exergaming Interfaces for Use in Rehabilitation Programs and Research[END_REF]. In a study that developed an exergame prototype called "Wii!!! Soccer" [START_REF] Cherabuddi | Exergaming: Video Games as a Form of Exercise[END_REF], Wiimote technology is used to capture a player's foot motion for playing a game of virtual soccer. Although this game simulates a real life soccer experience, it limits players' movements as they have to strap an infrared sensor bar to their legs while playing the game [START_REF] Cherabuddi | Exergaming: Video Games as a Form of Exercise[END_REF].

Activity Tracking Technologies

Direct observation, questionnaires and technology-based monitors are examples of techniques that have been used to monitor physical activity in children and adolescents. Examples of technology-based monitors include accelerometers, pedometers, and health life wristbands. These tools can be worn, for example, on an individuals' wrist or arm or clipped to their belt or shoe in order to track and record their physical movements. Different accelerometer-based monitoring tools have been used to measure intensity, frequency, level, pattern and duration of physical activity in children and adolescents [START_REF] Hoos | Physical Activity Pattern of Children Assessed by Triaxial Accelerometry[END_REF][START_REF] Kawahara | Daily Inhalation Rate and Time--Activity/Location Pattern in Japanese Preschool Children[END_REF], [START_REF] Puyau | Prediction of Activity Energy Expenditure Using Accelerometers in Children[END_REF]. Some of these accelerometers have been validated for use in classifying sedentary behavior and levels of physical activity in children such as light, moderate and vigorous [START_REF] Puyau | Prediction of Activity Energy Expenditure Using Accelerometers in Children[END_REF].

Pedometers are another example of wearable devices that have been investigated in the literature with regard to their ability to measure levels of physical activity. An early systematic review stated that, based on the literature, children between the ages of 8 and 10 were expected to take 12,000-16,000 steps/day and healthy young adults were expected to take 7,000-13,000 steps/day [START_REF] Tudor-Locke | Methodological Considerations for Researchers and Practitioners Using Pedometers to Measure Physical (Ambulatory) Activity[END_REF]. It has been shown that a pedometer can provide valid and reliable data [START_REF] Bassett | Accuracy of Five Electronic Pedometers for Measuring Distance Walked[END_REF]. Pedometers may prove useful in recording walking activities in free-living populations [START_REF] Bassett | Accuracy of Five Electronic Pedometers for Measuring Distance Walked[END_REF] and are simple and affordable [START_REF] Tudor-Locke | Challenges and Opportunities for Measuring Physical Activity in Sedentary Adults[END_REF]. Therefore, it has been suggested that pedometers are particularly useful for assessing physical activity and measuring daily activity in children [START_REF] Rowlands | Relationship between Activity Levels, Aerobic Fitness, and Body Fat in 8-to10-Yr-Old Children[END_REF]. Health life wristbands such as Nike+ bands, Fitbit FLEX and Jawbones Up are new examples of physical activity monitoring tools. They allow for regular self-monitoring and goal setting that provides essential feedback that serves to increase self-awareness that can lead to behavioral change [START_REF] Schnoll | Self-Regulation Training Enhances Dietary Self-Efficacy and Dietary Fiber Consumption[END_REF] [START_REF] Wierenga | A Descriptive Study of How Clients Make Life-Style Changes[END_REF].

An Integrated Solution

Reviewing the literature in exergaming has revealed the potential of these types of games to increase energy expenditure [START_REF] Maddison | Energy Expended Playing Video Console Games: An Opportunity to Increase Children's Physical Activity?[END_REF], [START_REF] Graves | Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games[END_REF][START_REF] Straker | Effect of Screen-Based Media on Energy Expenditure and Heart Rate in 9-to 12-Year-Old Children[END_REF] and therefore facilitate the increase of physical activity levels in children and adolescents [START_REF] Mhurchu | Couch Potatoes to Jumping Beans: A Pilot Study of the Effect of Active Video Games on Physical Activity in Children[END_REF], [START_REF] Southard | Promoting Physical Activity in Children with MetaKenkoh[END_REF]. However, some challenges have been identified in the ability of exergames to motivate children to exercise. While exergame play alone does not meet the daily amount of exercise recommended for children and adolescents [START_REF] Graves | Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games[END_REF], [START_REF] Maddison | Effects of Active Video Games on Body Composition: A Randomized Controlled Trial[END_REF], there is some evidence to suggest that the use of exergames can contribute significantly to meeting some of the daily requirements for physical activity [START_REF] Straker | Effect of Screen-Based Media on Energy Expenditure and Heart Rate in 9-to 12-Year-Old Children[END_REF]. An additional challenge is that some children and adolescents may lose interest in playing exergames over time [START_REF] Dixon | Parents' and Children's Perceptions of Active Video Games: A Focus Group Study[END_REF]. Currently issues of motivation and sustained interest in exergame play are still under investigation and need to be assessed over longer periods of time. Another possible challenge with using this technology is the limited or restricted access to active video game play. These restrictions may result from the concern of children becoming addicted to active video game play which has the potential to negatively affect behavior and academic performance. Physical activity tracking technologies have been suggested as another method to increase individuals' motivation to exercise. These technologies are an effective means of increasing individuals' self-awareness through self-monitoring and goal setting. However, there is still concern about individuals losing motivation and interest over time, especially when goals associated with this technology are not achieved. An additional concern is that due to the variety of these technologies currently available, individuals may become confused about which is most appropriate for them. Inaccurate selection of an appropriate physical activity monitoring technology may result in a person giving up use of this technology.

Our previous work in this area has suggested the best solution involves the integration of active video game technology with physical activity tracking technology [START_REF] Altamimi | FITTER-A Framework for Integrating Activity Tracking Technologies into Electric Recreation for Children and Adolescents[END_REF], [START_REF] Pranata | Exertainment: Designing Active Video Games to Get Youth Moving[END_REF], [START_REF] Pranata | An Adaptive Framework Allowing Active Video Games to Address Child Obesity[END_REF] to increase both on-screen exercise and off-screen exercise. The framework illustrated in Fig. 1 shows the two possible ways of exercising. Children are able to exercise in front of screens while playing exergames. In addition, their off-screen time exercising is also recorded by activity tracking devices and then this activity provides game rewards that are transferred through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to the game software. Based on physical activity levels, the in-game or virtual rewards are applied and thus the more physically active the child is, the more in-game rewards and progress they make in the game. In this way, both on-screen and off-screen physical activity support in-game performance and associated rewards.

"MetaKenkoh" is an Internet-based adventure game for children that uses a similar integrated approach. In order to play this game, children need to wear a pedometer that records their off-game steps. Pedometer data are uploaded daily to an internet database by parents. Children's steps are then converted into energy units that are used in game play [START_REF] Southard | Promoting Physical Activity in Children with MetaKenkoh[END_REF]. Likewise, "Fish'n'Steps" is a social computer game that uses a pedometer device to keep track of daily step counts in players. The participants are encouraged to take more daily steps as these steps are translated to the growth of their character in the game when data is uploaded [START_REF] Lin | Fish'n'Steps: Encouraging Physical Activity with an Interactive Computer Game[END_REF]. 'ibitz' for Kids technology is developed by GeoPalz and includes a wireless pedometer and a free-downloaded application. Thorough the pedometer device, children's physical steps can be tracked and then synchronized to the app where their physical exertion translates to virtual rewards [START_REF]ibitz, ibitz™ kids and adult wireless pedometers[END_REF].

Conclusion

We certainly agree with the notion that combining the appeal and motivation associated with active video games and also encouraging free physical play provides the most benefit. The ability of children to complete challenges and accumulate rewards in both on-screen and off-screen play may help reinforce physical activity in both of these environments. This foundational paper has been developed to explore the potential to implement technology-based solutions to promote physical activity amongst children and adolescents. Exergames and activity tracking technologies have multiple implications for increasing physical activity levels in children and adolescents. The integration of both of these technologies may have even greater implications for increasing levels of physical activity in young people. This paper discusses the feasibility of combining exergames and activity tracking technologies. Based on the literature we reviewed, a preliminary model that integrates these two technologies has been proposed. This model could potentially be utilised to test the feasibility of the integration of these technologies. This work complements work performed in our previous studies. Based on this review and our previous work, we plan to further investigate and consequently integrate these technologies as a method of increasing physical activity among children and adolescents.

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. The Integration Framework of On-screen and Off-screen Physical Activity (Activity monitoring technologies photos are adapted from [32] [33] [34])

Acknowledgements. The primary author is employed and sponsored by Taibah University, Madinah, KSA


Hazel Bradshaw
email: hazel.bradshaw@canterbury.ac.nzmark.billinghurst@hitlabnz.org

E Penelope Holland
email: hollandp@landcareresearch.co.nz

Mark Billinghurst

Ora -Save the Forest! Designing a Social Impact Game

Keywords: Serious/Educational games, Game-design, Structural Playability (SPP), Flow, Motivation, Game-play

Computer models for designing educational games need to have practical applications as well as underlying theoretical principles. In this paper, we present the Structural Playability Process (SPP), a new approach for designing and implementing serious games. Using the SPP designed game Ora -Save the Forest! as a case study, we describe the four SPP spaces: education, translation, design and engine. Ora is a forest-pest-management game based on scientific models and intended to inform players about the complexities of ecosystem management. Preliminary user study results show that SPP is an effective method of producing motivating and successful learning environments.

Introduction

Computer games stimulate motivation, skill development and affect learning and knowledge acquisition [START_REF] Dondlinger | Educational Video Game Design : A Review of the Literature[END_REF][START_REF] Connolly | A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games[END_REF]. There is a need for more empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of games as learning environments [START_REF] O'neil | Classification of learning outcomes: evidence from the computer games literature[END_REF], but game design is key in finding a balance between education and games [START_REF] Wei | Design of Educational Game : A Literature[END_REF]. Game design models bring structure to the design of educational games by applying motivation theories, among which Csikszentmihalyi's [START_REF] Csikszentmihalyi | FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience[END_REF] Flow theory is prominent. Design models utilising Flow for educational game design [START_REF] Kiili | Towards a participatory multimedia learning model[END_REF][START_REF] Finneran | A person-artefact-task (PAT) model of flow antecedents in computermediated environments[END_REF][START_REF] Cowley | User-System-Experience Model for User Centered Design in Computer Games[END_REF] provide insight into how to align theory with game design, but rarely cover the practical implementation of a game. This paper describes the design approach for "Ora -Save the Forest!1 " A social impact game designed using the novel Structural Playability Process (SPP) to meet the need for a practical methodology for educational game design. The SPP draws on several theories in psychology: skilled performance theory [START_REF] Fitts | Human Performance, in Human Performance[END_REF]; motivational theories [START_REF] Maslow | A theory of human motivation[END_REF][START_REF] Deci | Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior[END_REF] and optimal experience or 'Flow' [START_REF] Csikszentmihalyi | FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience[END_REF]. Flow is an eight stage state of optimal experience, where the 'experiencer' is intrinsically motivated to continue engaging with the task at hand. Theoretically, development of computer games which create conditions for 'Flow' [START_REF] Oblinger | Simulations, Games, and Learning[END_REF] can produce 'intrinsic motivation' [START_REF] Deci | Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior[END_REF], inspiring the player to take on further challenges and drive their learning experience. Our research explores the connection between game design, Flow and learning gains. In the rest of the paper we first describe the Ora -Save the Forest! Game, focusing on the SPP methodology, then results from a user study conducted with the game, and finally conclusions and directions for future work.

Ora -Save the Forest!

At the heart of the SPP is the application of skilled performance theory, which structures the design of game mechanics to provide a scaffold upon which the experience of Flow can be developed. The four design and development spaces of the SPP are 1) Education, 2) Translation, 3) Design and 4) Engine. The primary advantage of this approach, over others, is that the gameplay process breaks down into spaces that can be engaged with by all stakeholders, from client to designer to programmer. The SPP spaces link learning outcomes to gameplay mechanics and offer a practical implementation method for structuring gameplay inside a game engine. In the rest of this section we describe how the SPP was applied in the design and development of "Ora -Save the Forest!".

2.1

The Educational Space (1) of the SPP drives game design by linking a complex problem to a narrative via learning outcomes. The designer works closely with the client to explore and contextualise the game concept. This requires defining a target audience, and their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations [START_REF] Csikszentmihalyi | FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience[END_REF] [START_REF] Deci | Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior[END_REF]. Understanding client and audience motivations helps establish the learning outcomes, learning objectives and objective tasks.

A Complex Problem -Pest control in New Zealand is a contentious issue: research indicating the consequences of management is not well understood by some members of the general public who have a stake in the process (e.g. land owners and managers, recreational land users). The public need to be engaged in order to make informed decisions about pest management on their land or communities. Academic papers are difficult to access for the layperson, and most scientific knowledge transfer to date has been via media releases, workshops or word of mouth. It is difficult to get a national scale audience engaged via these routes. Developing a game based on pest management research is a novel way to engage and inform the public with up to date science, and to help players gain a realistic appreciation that ecosystem management is a complex problem (the primary learning outcome).

Client and Target Audience -The client was Landcare Research, a NZ Crown Research Institute involved in terrestrial biodiversity management. The target audience was the NZ public with a core demographic of rural New Zealanders of both genders, with a tertiary education but not necessarily academics.

Defining motivations -Key outcomes for the game were; to provide an aid to public dialogue and engagement with a complex problem, scientific knowledge transfer, and innovative and engaging ways to implement and present research findings. Intrinsic motivations come from the inside; for example, wanting to achieve the aspirational goal of maintaining and restoring New Zealand's forest ecosystem and biodiversity. This intrinsic motivation is shared between client and target audience, and became the learning objective for Ora. Extrinsic motivations come from the outside; for example, wanting to see the results of the learning objective. The client-centred extrinsic motivations were to control possum population dynamics temporally and spatially, with the aim of promoting understanding and awareness of the effectiveness of available possum control options. The game should therefore allow players to interact with the underlying science to experience this. The extrinsic motivators of the target audience were to see native bird and tree recovery and maintain a 100% NZ Pure perception. Therefore, the game-world, its narrative and rewards should display these results, following appropriate in-game actions.

Learning outcomes -Using learning outcomes for defining and assessing student performance is well established in higher education [START_REF] Biggs | Formulating and clarifying curriculum objectives[END_REF]. Learning outcomes and objectives ultimately define the primary game goals in the correct context. Considering the motivations of client and target audience allowed us to define the learning outcome and objectives for Ora: participants should be able to gain a realistic appreciation that management of an ecosystem is a complex problem. This learning outcome provided the educational design and directive for player achievement, and describes the scope of the activity for player and designer. The player's path to meet the learning outcome is via the application of learning objectives, broken down into objective tasks. Objective tasks guiding Ora gameplay design are to monitor the environment to assess tree health and possum impacts, and to manage the environment.

The Translation Space (2)

is where learning objectives and objective tasks are embedded within a simple narrative, contextualising the gameplay for the player and the designer who aims to 'maximize the player experience through the planning, structure and execution of the key elements of Gameplay Progression (mechanics, duration, ancillary rewards, practical rewards and difficulty)' [START_REF] Lopez | Gameplay Design Fundamentals : Gameplay Progression[END_REF].

Narrative -Ora places the player at the heart of the action: You are the hero tasked with saving the beautiful but fragile native forest from the jaws of hungry invaders. The narrative was established to reflect client and target audience motivations. The setting is native NZ forest, invaded by Australian brushtail possums, the player is introduced to the game world by an omnipresent entity, the guardian of the forest, who enlists the player's help in returning the ecosystem to its former glory. A giant tree at the centre of the virtual forest is the physical embodiment of the forest guardian. This "control tree" houses the gameplay interface that the player uses to monitor, interact and control the underlying forest-pest-management models. It is here that we find the non-player character Liana, a scientist who acts as liaison between guardian, game-world and player. Liana provides the narrative context and acts as the gameplay mission delivery system, and is the player's main point of contact inside the game.

2.3 The Design Space (3) is where the educational content is mapped into gameplay. To meet the learning outcome, the learning objectives are translated into a set of primary game goals that guide gameplay development through skill stages. Skill stages are a core device of the SPP. They apply the skilled performance scaffold which elicits Flow conditions. In the SPP, there are three types of gameplay goals; Aspirational/long-term goals (intrinsic); Mid-range goals (intrinsic/extrinsic); and Shortterm immediate goals (extrinsic).

The primary game goals result from the translation of learning outcomes and objectives filtered through the narrative. They reflect player motivations and form the basis of the narrative progression. In Ora, the primary game goals are (1): To repel an army of mammalian pests led by marauding possums (immediate motivational goal and direct player action); (2): To save the native flora and fauna (mid-range goal and reinforcer of player action); (3): To restore the forest ecosystem to its former glory (success indicator and long-term aspirational goal creating opportunities for feedback on actions).

The simulation model (sim) that underlies Ora provides the player with methods for achieving gameplay goals. It integrates models of possum birth, death and movement [START_REF] Ramsey | Management of bovine tuberculosis in brushtail possums in New Zealand: predictions from a spatially explicit, individual-based model[END_REF], impacts on tree health and mortality [START_REF] Holland | Thresholds in plant-herbivore interactions: predicting plant mortality due to herbivore browse damage[END_REF] and interactions with management tools such as traps [START_REF] Ball | A method for estimating wildlife detection probabilities in relation to homerange use: insights from a field study on the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)[END_REF] and poison bait [START_REF] Tompkins | Optimising bait-station delivery of fertility control agents to brushtail possum populations[END_REF], with costs (time and money) for executing monitoring or management. The sim allows players to set up "operations" comprising a series of actions such as choosing contractors, transport and equipment, setting trap or bait station layout, providing quotes, and implementing operations at the appropriate time, thus providing a basis on which to build gameplay mechanics.

Gameplay -The design plan for Ora has four levels, which deal with the challenges of using the available tools within limited budgets, ethical dilemmas and meeting the needs of concerned citizens. These are: (Level 1) Ground operations; (Level 2) Aerial operations; (Level 3) Managing stakeholders; (Level 4) Combination of levels 1-3. In this paper we focus on the gameplay development of Level 1 which comprises a 61 hectare area of forest enclosed by a predator-proof fence. The forest consisted of three native, palatable tree species (Kamahi, Southern rata and Hall's Totara) and the initial possum population was set at 20 per hectare with an equal sex ratio. Interactions between trees and possums were controlled by the sim, which allows the trees to grow and change over time while showing the impacts of possum browse on the forest canopy. In-game possums move around the gameplay area, with movements dictated by the position of their home ranges. Game time is moved at roughly one night per second of play, so 15 minutes of gameplay could equate to 2.5 years of forest time. The game needed to make player perception of involvement close to that of the client and/or other entities involved in implementing or directing pest control in NZ. We therefore developed a system of reward and feedback that enables players from the public, scientists and managers to perceive the value of each other's input.

Epic win and fail -The outcome for Level 1 was to establish good tree health and a healthy bird population, by reducing possum numbers in the fenced area. The Level 1 'Epic Win' state would see possums eradiated inside the fenced area and trees at 80%+ attainable health, and the release of a player-nurtured kiwi into the newly created sanctuary. The 'Epic Fail' state would be the opposite, with a healthy possum population, less than 20% tree health and an unhatched egg or unreleased kiwi. To achieve the level goal, the player must access ground-based pest control options in the sim: Tree Monitoring; Trapping; and Baiting. The in-game application of these operations form the goal orientated skill based tasks of level 1.

Skill stages -To manage task progression, gameplay was subdivided into four skill stages, drawing on the 'Three Phases of Skill Learning' [START_REF] Bradshaw | Entertainment Education For The Computer Age : Investigating The Engaging Nature Of Computer Games For Educational Application[END_REF] and the principles of achieving a skilled performance [START_REF] Fitts | Human Performance, in Human Performance[END_REF]. A skill stage has five components: the challenge to be undertaken, tasks contributing to the challenge, feedback on tasks, rewards for task completion, and progression to the next skill stage. This logical structure guides the pacing of goal orientated progression, by building on levels of complexity and challenge. Ideally, this progression creates Flow [START_REF] Csikszentmihalyi | FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience[END_REF], as challenge and skill increase simultaneously to balance player anxiety and boredom. Level 1 is a tutorial level, sitting in the Cognitive or Early phase of skill learning, 'Where a learner tries to understand the task and what is being demanded of them' [START_REF] Fitts | Human Performance, in Human Performance[END_REF]. The design allows the player to learn the game interface, control system and ground-based management options. Within Level 1, skill stages progress in complexity and size. Skill Stage 1 starts with basic tree monitoring in 1 hectare of playable space, increasing to the complete tool box of ground control strategies across 61 hectares by Skill Stage 4 (Fig. 1). The User Interface (UI) -Supporting and contextual gameplay features were developed within the skill stages, using the narrative to tie them together. The UI was designed to deliver a cohesive user experience throughout the skill stages. From the control tree (see Translation Space), the player accesses game controls, sets out to explore a 3D forest environment, interacts with the feedback and reward system, and meets Liana, who guides the player through the gameplay missions (see Engine).

Rewards and Feedback -Feedback on individual tasks is delivered via the Logbook, giving feedback from the sim (e.g. tree health after a monitoring operation, number of possums trapped after a trapping operation), allowing players to interact directly with the underlying science. Indirect feedback is provided by updating the forest health status, which is tracked by in-game status graphs, and by visually updating the displayed trees to show possum browse and canopy recovery. The game also features a native birdlife nurture system. During level 1, the player is awarded a kiwi egg, which they must attempt to hatch and release into the sanctuary. Successful management intervention to complete a gameplay mission gives the player science points, which increase the hatching rate of the egg. This reward system focuses the player on the positive aspects of pest management (e.g. saving birds) rather than the negative (e.g. killing possums), and gives the player a simple scale of achievement to follow (e.g. get enough science points to hatch the bird).

2.4 The Engine Space (4) is where the game design is implemented in software. The Design space skill-stages become the gameplay missions that are coded in the engine mission system. Off-the-shelf game engines, such as Unity3D in this project, do not have built-in mission systems for implementing gameplay. The SPP, unlike more theoretical design processes [START_REF] Kiili | Towards a participatory multimedia learning model[END_REF][START_REF] Finneran | A person-artefact-task (PAT) model of flow antecedents in computermediated environments[END_REF][START_REF] Cowley | User-System-Experience Model for User Centered Design in Computer Games[END_REF] provides a practical means for creating a logic based, engine-side mission system, comprising of four, hierarchical steps: 1) Mission Control; 2) Mission Set; 3) Missions; 4) Mission Objective.

Results

The game design was tested using: (1) pre/post and follow-up tests measuring knowledge acquisition and (2) the EGameFlow [START_REF] Fu | EGameFlow: A scale to measure learners' enjoyment of elearning games[END_REF] survey of participant enjoyment on Flow. We compared the Ora game (ORA) to a classroom experience of the sim (SIM), which shared the UI and 3D world environment of Ora, but did not include skill stage mapping and mission delivery (Liana). The hypotheses stated: (a) the SPPdesigned ORA would provide a learning environment that better supported knowledge acquisition in SIM; and (b) ORA would better promote 'Flow' state conditions. Participants were recruited (26 female and 26 male, 18-50 age range) from Canterbury, NZ. Survey answers for knowledge acquisition and Flow were summarized for each player to give a score per survey (pre/post/follow-up). We found that players of the SIM learned slightly more immediately after the user study (post) compared to before (pre), with the average degree of change between pre and post surveys equal to 22% for ORA and 27% for SIM. However, knowledge retention after 4 weeks was higher for ORA than SIM: no significant change (p = 1.0) could be detected in the follow-up survey from pre-test levels for SIM players, but ORA players retained a significant amount of knowledge (p < .003) compared to pre-test levels. ORA players also had a more positive perception of the experience than SIM players: overall 56% of ORA players responded positively to experiencing Flow conditions compared to only 33% for SIM players. There was also a statistically significant difference between the two groups in the Flow conditions of Feedback (Mann-Whitney U = 151, p < .001) and Immersion (MWU = 231.5, p < .05), with the mean rank significantly higher for ORA in both instances. Overall this confirms our hypotheses that the Ora game better supported long-term knowledge acquisition when compared to the classroom taught SIM, and that ORA also better promoted conditions of a 'Flow' state.

Conclusion

The four spaces of the SPP (Education, Translation, Design and Engine) provide a practical way to translate a client 'problem' into an effective gameplay environment. The use of motivation theories [5][11] to define learning outcomes, objectives and tasks provides a framework for structuring narrative and gameplay goals. Use of skill performance theory [START_REF] Fitts | Human Performance, in Human Performance[END_REF] based skill stages [START_REF] Bradshaw | Entertainment Education For The Computer Age : Investigating The Engaging Nature Of Computer Games For Educational Application[END_REF] link the Design and Engine spaces. This provides structure for Mission Sets with their system of challenges, tasks, feedback and reward into effective gameplay that improves the occurrence of a Flow state. Implementing the Mission Set structure into a game engine provides a system supporting player progression and gameplay goal achievement. The fact that Ora gameplay resulted in greater knowledge retention, induced a more positive perception of Flow showing significantly better Feedback and Immersion when compared to the sim, suggests the SPP has the potential to be a powerful tool for educational game design. The Design and Engine Spaces are practical, straightforward, and general enough to be applied to any serious game concept. However, considerable collaboration is required by designer and client to work through the Education and Translation Spaces. For a game designer not experienced in teaching methods, mapping learning outcomes could prove challenging. Future opportunities for further dissemination and testing would come through collaboration with other game designers and projects.

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Map of skill stage tasks increasing in difficulty and spatial complexity.

1 .

 1 Mission Control has controls for setting gameplay parameters for the entire gameplay level (Fig 2, left). Mission Control initiates the sim and mission sets, checks for completion, then iterates a new set or ends gameplay. Nested within Mission Control is the: 2. Mission Set, which holds all related missions defined under the relevant skill stage. This follows the same pattern as Mission Control, checking and instantiating all missions linked to the Mission Set as needed. The Mission Set contains: 3. Missions. The Mission starts by triggering the onscreen mission delivery system (Fig 2. centre, Liana dialogue) and deeper levels of player guidance (by producing Journal entries). When the player completes their interaction with Liana, a: 4. Mission Objective is triggered. The Mission Objective houses gameplay tasks the player will undertake. On completion of the Mission Objective, the logic either starts the next objective in sequence or begins the mission completion sequence. The completion logic provides feedback dialogue to the player from Liana on the outcomes of the mission. It then triggers the reward and any other feedback systems that are linked to that particular mission (Fig 2. centre). The Mission is then flagged as complete and triggers the next Mission in the Set, or gameplay ends.

Fig. 2 .

 2 Fig. 2. SPP Engine Space mission system applied in (Unity3D) game engine

http://www.playora.net/


Jaime A Garcia
email: jaime.a.garciamarin@student.uts.edu.au

Yusuf Pisan
email: yusuf.pisan@uts.edu.au

Chek Tien Tan
email: chektien.tan@uts.edu.au

Karla Felix Navarro
email: karla.felixnavarro@uts.edu.au

Assessing the Kinect's Capabilities to Perform a Timebased Clinical Test for Fall Risk Assessment in Older People

Keywords: Kinect, Elderly, Fall Risk Assessment, Reaction Time Test, Stepping Performance

The Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task is time-based clinical test that has shown to reliably predict falls in older adults. Its current mode of delivery involves the use of a custom-made dance mat device. This mat is a measurement tool that can reliably obtain step data to discriminate between fallers and non-fallers. One of the pitfalls of this test is that the technology in use still imposes an obstacle on the degree of freedom to be able to perform adaptive exercises suitable for the elderly. In this paper, we describe a Kinectbased system that measures stepping performance through the use of a hybrid version of the CSRT task. This study focuses on assessing this system's capabilities to reliably measure a time-based clinical test of fall risk. Results showed a favorable correspondence and agreement between the two systems, suggesting that this platform could be potentially useful in the clinical practice.

Introduction

Since the release of the Microsoft Kinect, both research communities and industry have been actively investigating its potential use in the area of aged care and rehabilitation. This is mainly due to its capability to track real-time full body movements in 3D, a characteristic that was not available in early consumer game technologies such as the Nintendo Wii or the PS3. In the area of fall prevention and safety for the elderly, the Kinect has also gained much interest. Kinect-based applications range from health and home monitoring systems [START_REF] Parajuli | Senior health monitoring using Kinect[END_REF], through unobtrusive fall detection platforms [START_REF] Kepski | Fall detection on embedded platform using kinect and wireless accelerometer[END_REF]; coaching, rehabilitation and therapeutic tools [START_REF] Chen | Using somatosensory video games to promote quality of life for the elderly with disabilities[END_REF], fall prevention training systems [START_REF] John | Smartsenior's interactive trainer-development of an interactive system for a home-based fall-prevention training for elderly people[END_REF], to fall risk assessment tools [START_REF] Stone | Evaluation of an inexpensive depth camera for passive in-home fall risk assessment[END_REF]. Kinect-based serious games, being one of the most popular approaches, have shown a positive acceptance among seniors [START_REF] Gerling | Full-body motion-based game interaction for older adults[END_REF].

The fun factor inherent in such games and their ability to promote physical move-ments are ideal to encourage the elderly to exercise [START_REF] Ganesan | Using the kinect to encourage older adults to exercise: a prototype[END_REF]. An example can be seen in the work done by Kim et al. [START_REF] Kim | Unsupervised Virtual Reality-Based Exercise Program Improves Hip Muscles Strength and Balance Control in the Elderly: A Pilot Study[END_REF], where the use of a commercial Kinect game showed to improve hip muscle strength and balance control in older adults after completing an 8-weeks intervention. From a clinical perspective, the capabilities of the Kinect have also the potential to implement low-cost methods to assess fall risk in older adults. This is achieved through the collection of measurement that fulfill the requirements of certain clinical tests such as posture control [START_REF] Dutta | Low-cost visual postural feedback with Wii Balance Board and Microsoft Kinect-a feasibility study[END_REF], gait [START_REF] Stone | Evaluation of an inexpensive depth camera for in-home gait assessment[END_REF], dual tasking ability [START_REF] Kayama | Concept Software Based on Kinect for Assessing Dual-Task Ability of Elderly People[END_REF], and mobility [START_REF] Lohmann | Skeleton Timed Up and Go[END_REF], among others. Overall, these methods rely on the Kinect to obtain information of the human body positions in real-time, which are shown to be fairly accurate. For instance in the work done by Dutta et al [START_REF] Dutta | Evaluation of the Kinect™ sensor for 3-D kinematic measurement in the workplace[END_REF], the Kinect demonstrated the ability to validly assess kinematic strategies of postural control. This suggests that the Kinect could be considered an effective tool when it comes to collection position-based measurements. However, for time-based measurements the Kinect introduces an additional challenge as it is a camera-based device restricted to process up to 30 skeleton frames per second.

The work presented in this paper focuses on evaluating the capabilities of the Kinect to reliably collect timing variables to fulfill the requirements of the Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task, a time-based clinical test that has shown to reliably predict falls in order adults [START_REF] Lord | Choice Stepping Reaction Time: A Composite Measure of Falls Risk in Older People[END_REF]. This study hence evaluates the validity of a Kinectbased system developed by the authors with a validated choice reaction time device. The latter has shown to effectively discriminate between groups of recurrent fallers and non-fallers [START_REF] Schoene | A novel video game-based device for measuring stepping performance and fall risk in older people[END_REF]. The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 presents brief summary of related work in the field of fall risk assessment and describes the Choice Stepping Reaction time. Section 3 sets out the methodology used for this evaluation. Results and Discussion can be found in Section 4 and 5. Finally, conclusions and future work are presented in Section 5.

Related Work

The Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task is a composite measure of sensorimotor functions, such as balance and strength, and cognitive functions such as attention and central processing speed [START_REF] Lord | Choice Stepping Reaction Time: A Composite Measure of Falls Risk in Older People[END_REF]. The test is able to combine several dimensions of fall risk based on these composite metrics. For the CSRT Task, the person stands on the two central step panels of a wooden board (see Figure 1). One of four surrounding panels (front left or LF, front right or RF, left or LL, right or RR) illuminates randomly and the person is required to step on this panel as quickly as possible and then return to the center. The sequence is presented randomly as well as the time between trials so that the user is unable to anticipate the time and location of the next stimulus. The mean reaction time of 20 trials is then measured and analyzed for clinical diagnosis.

In the work done by Schone et al. [START_REF] Schoene | A novel video game-based device for measuring stepping performance and fall risk in older people[END_REF], a Dance Mat Choice Step Reaction Time device was introduced and validated against the original CSRT Test. In this system, the CSRT Test is achieved through the use of a custom-made dance mat (or MAT) that contains 12 step panels. The mechanics of the test are the same as the original version of the CSRT, however, visual stimuli are presented on the LCD monitor and the user is expected to step accordingly on respective positions on the MAT (see Figure 4). In this work, the MAT showed high correlations with the laboratory-based measure of the CSRT test. Also, the ability to reliably differentiate between fallers and non-fallers was also confirmed. However, one of the pitfalls of this work is that the use of the Dance Mat still imposes an obstacle on the degree of freedom and does not allow for the collection of spatial parameters.

In [START_REF] Garcia | Step kinnection: a hybrid clinical test for fall risk assessment in older adults[END_REF], the authors introduced StepKinnection™, a system that uses the Microsoft Kinect's depth and motion capture technology to measure stepping performance through the use of a hybrid version of the Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task. In this system, the person stands in front of a computer screen or TV connected to a Kinect PC. The representation of the player in the system is pair of shoes mirroring the person's feet movements (see Figure 2). Six symmetrically distributed squareshaped virtual panels are drawn on the screen representing the step panels surrounding the person. The mechanics of the test are the same as the original version of the CSRT with the exception that the person steps in space (see Figure 3).

User's actions such as a 'step' or a 'foot liftoff' are recognized by translating the user's lower limb movements obtained by the Kinect's depth sensor into the gamelike platform. The system continuously retrieves spatial data (or skeleton frames) to determine whether a foot is intersecting one of the virtual panels. When the intersection of a foot and one panel is detected, the system records this action along with a timestamp. These actions are subsequently used for the calculation of the following time-based variables which are essential in the completion of the CSRT test: (1) Decision Time (DT): time elapsed between the instance where the sector turns green and the player lifts his/her foot off the central panel, (2) Movement Time (MT): time it takes for the user to step on a coloured sector once leg movement is initiated; (3) Response time (RT): Decision Time (DT) + Movement Time (MT). In addition to this, complementary spatial parameters are also captured for a more descriptive assessment of fall risk. These are: (1) Active Foot Positioning (AFP): (x,y,z) coordinates of the user's foot when stepping on a panel; (2) Observed Step Length (SL): distance between left and right foot while stepping on a panel; [START_REF] Dutta | Evaluation of the Kinect™ sensor for 3-D kinematic measurement in the workplace[END_REF] Stepping Accuracy Coefficient (SAC): Difference between expected step length and observed step length.

The ability to collect these measures simultaneously makes this system potentially useful in a clinical setting as it can evaluate several dimensions involved in the assessment of fall risk in older people. However, since the Kinect is a camera-based device restricted to process 30 skeleton frames per second, the accuracy of the mentioned time-based measurements needs further evaluation.

Fig. 4. MAT version of the CSRT Test

[14] Furthermore, the work presented in this paper focuses on the assessment of Kinect's capabilities for perform the CSRT test. This study aims to find out whether the limitation imposed by the frame rate is determinant when collecting time-based measurements associated to human movements. The following section sets out the methodology used for this evaluation.

Methodology

A convenient sample of 10 individuals was recruited. Participants consisted of research students and lecturers from the University Technology Sydney. The eligibility criteria are described as follows: (1) Not contributed to the design of these instruments.

(2) Able to walk independently without assistance, and (3) Fluent in the English language.

Participants were asked to perform the CSRT test on both systems. The order was randomized to counterbalance order effects. Prior to testing on the Kinect, each participant went through a calibration process in order to determine the proper floor plane 1 and the participant's height2 . For both systems, participants were given a prac-tice trial in order to familiarize with the mechanics of the test and to confirm the fully understanding of the instructions. Later, they were instructed to complete a full CSRT task where execution of the test was recorded by the corresponding controlling software. Once the test was completed, they were asked to complete a practice trial and a full CSRT task on the other platform. In this experiment, the software that controls the MAT and the Kinect were run in the same computer to minimize bias in the measurements due to variability in computational power. As instructed in the original version of the CSRT test, the mean Reaction (RT) of 20 trials is measured and analyzed. Also, the mean Decision Time (DT) and Movement Time (MT) were examined for a more descriptive assessment.

In order to determine the validity of the Kinect-based CSRT, this evaluation was conducted in two steps. Firstly, the consistency and association of the three parameters (DT, MT and RT) per participant per panel was assessed. Shapiro-Wilk test was utilized to assess the distribution of the time-based variables. The consistency and association of the three parameters (DT, MT and RT) were assessed by calculating the Pearson Correlation Coefficient and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient model 3,1. Secondly, the RT values were used to compute the CSRT test for both the Kinect and MAT and a similar analysis was then conducted.

Results

Regarding to the consistency of the Reaction Times (RTs), the Shapiro-Wilk test showed normality across the log transformed time-based measures of the CSRT (Sig. > 0.05). The Pearson Correlation Coefficient showed high association between the values collected by Kinect and the MAT (Pearson r = .746) (Refer to Table 1). Likewise, the ICC model 3,1 confirmed the consistency and agreement of the RT values across the samples (ICC Single Measures = .657, Average Measures= .793, Sig = .000).

Regarding the consistency of the Decision Times (DT) and Movement Times (MT), complementary parameters computed on the MAT version of the CSRT test; the Pearson r analysis determined that the DT values were highly correlated; however, the MT values reported a poor association. (Refer to Table 1). Finally, the Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) test was calculated for both the Kinect and MAT as instructed in its original version. The Pearson r analysis showed high association between the CSRT values obtained by the Kinect and the MAT (Refer to Table 2). Similarly, the ICC model 3,1 confirmed the consistency and agreement between the CSRT measures computed with the Kinect and the MAT. (ICC Single Measures = .645, Average Measures= .784, Sig .016).

Discussion

This study shows that our Kinect-based system is able to compute the Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task. Timing variables such as Decision Time (DT), Movement Time (MT) and Reaction Time (RT) were analised to assess the capabilities of the Kinect to reliably perform a time-based clinical test. The variability of the reaction times was assessed and reported to be equivalently distributed in the Kinect and the MAT. Correlations between the Kinect and the MAT were high for RT suggesting that the Kinect could fulfill the requirements of the CSRT Test. In regards to the DT and MT values, the former showed high correspondence between the two systems whereas the latter reported a poor correlation. It is likely that the MT value did not agree completely due to the lack of precision in detecting the initiation of the user's leg movement. In the Mat this is determined by absence of pressure on the step panels whereas in the Kinect is determined by the location of the foot in relation to the virtual panel, making it difficult to detect such a fine movement. In spite of this, the RT values were utilized to compute measure of the CSRT task. Statistical analysis and correlation demonstrated that Kinect measure of the CSRT confidently agreed with the CSRT values computed by the MAT. In addition to this, the data presented show that RT for the Kinect was overall shorter than for the MAT as shown in Figure 5, suggesting that this test might be slightly less cognitively demanding. It is likely that the immersive nature of this system and the appropriate provision of real-time feedback remove the extra processing time required to operate with the MAT (where stimuli are presented on the screen and the execution is expected to happen on the dance mat). Alternatively, participants may have felt more confident to step faster in space due to the absence of wearable sensors or a physical apparatus.

Conclusion and Future Work

This paper describes an evaluation where we assessed the ability of a Kinect-based system to reliably perform the Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task. This study involves a technical assessment where the Kinect time-based measurements were compared with a validated reaction time device that has proved to reliably discriminate between fallers and non-fallers. The results showed high association between the Reaction Times (RT) and Decision Times (DT) values obtained in both systems. Movement Time (MT) however did not show agreement most likely for the limitations in determining the initiation of the user's leg movement. Finally, RT values were utilized to compute the CSRT test in order to assess the responsiveness of the system. Statistical analysis showed that both systems correlate favorably, suggesting that the Kinect system might be valid and reliable. More importantly, this evaluation suggests that this Kinect-based system has the potential to be used in a clinical setting as it can consistently measure both spatial and time based parameters required for the fulfillment of a validated clinical test. Yet, the system's capability to reliably discriminate between fallers and non-fallers still requires further evaluation. The next stage of this study will involve the clinical validation of the step parameters, followed by the conduction of controlled trials to determine the ability of the system to discriminate between groups of fallers and non-fallers.

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Original version of the Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) test [12].

Fig. 2 .

 2 Fig. 2. Interaction with the Kinect-basedCSRT test[START_REF] Garcia | Step kinnection: a hybrid clinical test for fall risk assessment in older adults[END_REF].

Fig. 3 .

 3 Fig. 3. Mechanics of Kinect-based CSRT Test [5].

Fig. 5 .

 5 Fig. 5. Comparison between Average Reaction Times obtained with the Kinect and the MAT per Participant per Panel.

Table 1 .

 1 Correlation of Timing Variables (per Panel).

	System	Panel	Outcome	Pearson r
	Kinect-Mat	LF	DT	.6110
			MT	.2100
			RT	.7320
		LL	DT	.4350
			MT	.1230
			RT	.7550
		RF	DT	.7930
			MT	.7060
			RT	.7980
		RR	DT	.7030
			MT	.1570
			RT	.7680

Table 2 .

 2 Correlation of CSRT, MT and DT

	System	Outcome	Pearson r
	Kinect-Mat	CSRT	.7875
		MT	.3329
		DT	.6430

To minimize bias in data collection due uneven surfaces or placing the Kinect on a slightly tilted table, a short calibration sequence was incorporated to determine the orientation of the actual floor plane (or ground).

The participants' height is also measures and used to determine the distance of the panels (in this paper known as Expected Step Length). This makes the test equally challenging for audiences as panels are dynamically located based on the user's height which also takes away the limitation of the original test where the step panels are fixed.