Serious Games, Alternative Realities, and Play Therapy

Editors
Anthony Brooks, Associate Professor, Director SensoramaLab School of ICT, AD:MT, Medialogy, Aalborg University,Niels Bohrs vej 8, Esbjerg 6700, Denmark tb@create.aau.dk Sheryl Brahnam Computer Information Systems Missouri State University 901 South National Avenue, Springfield, MO 65804, USA sbrahnam@missouristate.edu Lakhmi C. Jain Professor of Knowledge-based Engineering University of South Australia Mawson Lakes Campus, South Australia, Australia Lakhmi.jain@unisa.edu.au

Preface
This book is the first single volume that brings together by name the topics of Serious Games, Alternative Realities, and Play Therapy where a focus is on the use of digital media. The fact it is published under the series of Studies in Computational Intelligence (Springer SCI) reflects the widening scope of applied computation. The editors of this book believe it timely to bring together these topics to demonstrate the increased trans/inter/multi- disciplinary initiatives apparent in science and academic research that are impacting society (albeit under various terms, consolations and form). From this perspective it is anticipated that this first volume will promote and provoke peer debate across cultures and fields. The chapters herein bring to fruition subject matter content illustrating how trends are apparent where rather than specific topics being distinct as in prior days, it is increasingly evident how complementary overlapping between topics has become an accepted norm. Such acceptance contributes to a readdressing and questioning of associated values resulting in new themes and topics. The topics of this volume are selected to be wide in scope to offer academics an opportunity to reflect such intersections in their work. These can be specific to the concepts of serious games, artificial reality and play therapy, or related. Any such intersections have embedded weightings from the distinct and individual toward the extreme, for example, the common area in figure 1 an example connotation where Serious Games are conducted in Artificial Reality where a goal is Play Therapy utilizing plasticity of digital media.

Figure 1: Venn diagram illustrating the three fields of Serious Games, Alternative Realities, and Play Therapy. At the extreme is the triadic intersection where Gameplay is conducted in Computer Generated Realities, where therapeutic outcomes from the play are targeted.

Much literature on play therapy (and therapeutic play) focus on interactions between a professional therapist and children where the use of toys and other objects i.e. physical artifacts, are an expressive channel to communicate and interpret condition. In this book the additional opportunities to supplement such traditional practices via use of digital media are posited. In this context is linked how serious games link to games (and gameplay) that are being used toward a serious outcome to solve a defined problem. The games are used seriously in alternative realities, in other words computer generated environments that are interactive through embedded virtual artifacts. These computer generated alternative realities are commonly referred to as mixed, augmented, or artificial. The most common term is Virtual Reality in context the use in therapy and rehabilitation is not new. This wide-ranging field has a thick catalogue of papers reporting research advancing the field with transfer to ADL. This book contribution acknowledges such impact of digital media and through these contents it further questions the potentials in traditionally non-digitized practices, in this case therapy where child-centered play is in focus. Through use of such digital media the destruction, breakages and damages to physical artifacts witnessed in play therapy are eradicated. Instead, CG environments that are safe, adaptive and interactive and where things are virtually broken - that offer both qualitative and quantitative aspects of evaluation alongside flexibility for creating new tools for developing the clinical evidence required by these and associated fields. The aim of the book is to offer a platform for researcher authors in and across these topics to share with peers, for them to critique and reflect on their studies. Relevance for readers is expected beyond these topics such that they then frame within their own context subsequently making necessary amendments and alterations so as to analogize from the contributions herein. The authors, as the co-editors, come from various corners of the globe. This diversity is seen from a positive perspective as it highlights how interpretations of subject matter and use of politically correct terminologies differ in and across cultures as well as within these fields. As future demographic trends point to increased pressures and demands on service industry providers addressing growing needy communities, such as children, the aged, and those challenged through impairment, many predict that digital technologies will play an increasing role in supplementing intervention practices and methods. Substantiating this claim is the rising awareness illustrated by major research funding activities directed at these groups throughout developed countries. These activities have the mission of contributing to knowledge, realizing emerging enterprise and industrial developments in the area, as well encouraging and informing new educational programs involving technology that proactively look to contribute to a societal wealth through health regime.

The book introduces and describes some of the latest technologies offering therapy, rehabilitation, and more general well-being care. Included along with the work of researchers from the serious games, virtual reality, and play therapy disciplines are the writings of digital artists who are increasing working alongside researchers and therapists to create playful and creative environments that are safe, adaptive, and that offer tailored interventions in their practices. Unlike entertainment systems, the goals of alternative realities therapy and serious play demand the addition of sophisticated feedback systems that monitor user progress. These systems need to be discrete so that the participant does not get distracted by technology and/or fails to deliver optimum engagement because of knowledge that it is a therapy session. Thus new initiatives are implemented e.g. in Scandinavia, questioning the non-formal in these fields versus the formal and informal. Systems that invisibly encourage participation whilst intelligently and progressively become increasing adaptive to users individual needs and nuance of improvement are rare and often too challenging for therapists or those who care for the participant. Such systems require the evolution of new paradigms in test battery creation that take advantage of that on offer from the controllable digital framework, amassed embodied data feedback, and other opportunities uniquely offered by virtual interactive spaces. The industry is thus witnessing cross and interdisciplinary collaborations like never before where designers, clinicians, therapists, programmers, artists and others cohabit and co-develop the virtual environments. These teams are also co-evaluating use of the technologies where each specifically observes their distinct aspect but alongside the rest of the team to gain holistic perspectives for refinements and iteration cycles. In closing this preface, it is important to state that this book does not attempt to cover all areas equally as may be suggested under the title: Nor does it attempt to provide defining answers of the areas or topics. Rather it was conceived to be a catalyst for debate on ICT used in this manner whereby, for example, creative industries, healthcare, HCI and technology sectors are promoted to discus with each other to stimulate thinking of application, design and intervention practices, which are innate to such teams as mentioned. Such continued advances to contribute to society are needed through such teamwork. Products that impact ADL can be expected to supplement and satisfy the societal demographic service needs of the future that are predicted to have shortfalls through a redistribution of age and needs whereby many foresee technology as a scaffolding to support best practice. From this position we anticipate your reading pleasure of the contents herein as a step toward such society-centered thinking, action, and activities. Enjoy.

Anthony Brooks Denmark Sheryl Brahnam USA

Lakhmi C. Jain Australia

EDITORS

Acknowledged as a third culture thinker and a world pioneer in digital media and its use with the disabled community , Brooksy (as he is affectionately referred) resides on the south-western coast of Denmark in the city of Esbjerg where, under Aalborg University, he is director of the SensoramaLab, a VR, HCI and Creative Design Innovation (Ludic Engagement Designs for All LEDA) complex. He is also a leader-lecturer of the hugely successful Medialogy education - being a member of the original founding team from over a decade ago. He is a EU expert examiner under Future Emerging Technologies and has a long list of global keynote credits. His research has been responsible for national, international (EU) projects, patents, creative industry initiatives and commercial products. National and International awards have been awarded for his work. He runs his own not-for-profit SME (Small Medium Enterprise) a consultancy and residential spa training trainers beachside resort with a focus on societal impact for life long learning of ICT under welfare technology/education. As a digital media artist his work has been presented at major events including two Olympic/Paralympic Games (1996/2000), European Culture City (1996/2000), Danish NeWave New York (1999) - and numerous Museum of Modern Art exhibitions. Over 150 publications contribute to his concepts on Plasticity Digital Media and Human
1 2

John Brockman (1991) third-culture thinkers tend to avaoid the middlemen and endeavor to express their deepest thoughts in a manner accessible to the intelligent reading public. An artist rendering visible the deeper meaning of lives http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture http://community.tes.co.uk/tes_special_educational_needs/b/weblog/archive/2013/08/0 7/the-latest-on-human-computer-interaction-and-special-needs.aspx

Performance that align with his view on how performance art intersects with healthcare as a Transdisciplinary convergence resulting in Disruptive Innovation in Research and Education .

Sheryl Brahnam is the Director/Founder of Missouri State University's infant COPE (Classification Of Pain Expressions) project. Her interests focus on face recognition, face synthesis, medical decision support systems, embodied conversational agents, computer abuse, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Brahnam has published articles related to medicine and culture in such journals as Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Expert Systems with Applications, Journal of Theoretical Biology , Amino Acids, AI & Society, Bioinformatics, Pattern Recognition, Human Computer Interaction, Neural Computing and Applications, and Decision Support Systems.

Lakhmi C. Jain is a Director/Founder of the Knowledge-based Intelligent Engineering Systems (KES) Centre, University of South Australia. He is a fellow of the Engineers Australia. He has initiated a postgraduate stream by research in the KES area. His interests focus on the applications of novel techniques such as knowledgebased systems, virtual systems, multi-agent intelligent systems, artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and the application of these techniques.

Order of chapters: TBA