Jeroen Jansz holds the Chair of Communication and Media in the Department of Media & Communicatio... more Jeroen Jansz holds the Chair of Communication and Media in the Department of Media & Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He was co-founder of the Special Interest Group Game Studies in the International Communication Association and the Dutch chapter of the Digital Games Research Association. Liesbet van Zoonen is professor of Sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, dean of the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities and holds a chair in Media and Communication at Loughborough University (UK). This qualitative interview study explores the practices of adult female gamers who play the videogame The Sims, focusing on the motivations they have for playing and how playing a video game might influence their digital competence. We address the wider context of leisure and the household, investigating to what extent playing videogames has become domesticated in the daily life of the family. It is found that female gamers play The Sims because they enjoy t...
Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business developm... more Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care. The Games for Health Conference brings together researchers, medical professionals and game developers to share information about the impact of games, playful interaction and game technologies on health, health care and policy. Over two days, more than 400 attendees participate in over 60 sessions provided by an international array of 80+ speakers, cutting across a wide range of activities in health and health care. Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehab, epidemiology, training, cognitive health, nutrition and health education.
Companion Publication of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2019 Companion, 2019
Current studies unveil the potential of using new technologies for emotion recognition. However, ... more Current studies unveil the potential of using new technologies for emotion recognition. However, bio-feedback sensors, which can be a fruitful source of data are not explored in relation to additional stimuli. The following demo explores the opportunity of how dynamic visualization stimuli and bio-feedback sensors might provide insight into mental states that the user is not aware of. The system design is the result of a project undertaken by the authors to employ the potential of this type of sensors in the context of therapies. Early results suggest a correlation between the visualization and the emotions of users, as well as users' interest and engagement with the system. Further research can be beneficial for creating a greater therapy experience, as well as generating new user testing methods and developing game interactions that would make use of those variables.
For this study we investigated if and how the merging of VR with radio drama can provide general ... more For this study we investigated if and how the merging of VR with radio drama can provide general insights into storytelling for VR. In order to present the student project The thousand autumns of Jacob de Zoet as a case study, we discuss environmental storytelling, and storytelling in relation to VR and radioplay. We conclude that the traditional lean back medium that is radio drama may benefit from the lean in quality of VR and we discuss a number of strong concepts that can be explored in order to gain further knowledge about storytelling for VR.
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video, 2017
When creating content for virtual reality, filmmakers find that they need to re-evaluate the tool... more When creating content for virtual reality, filmmakers find that they need to re-evaluate the tools they have traditionally used to tell their stories, and explore the new possibilities that this particular medium has to offer. To determine how storytelling- and filmmaking tools function in VR, the concept of presence is currently being re-evaluated for its possibilities to be used as a measurement of the relative effectiveness of these tools. The research project Project Orpheus is presented as a case study into trans-medial storytelling, exploring how the impact of a traditional television show may be reinforced by an immersive VR experience. The movie was subsequently used to conduct a small qualitative study into the use of 3D sound to guide the viewers attention in VR.
For this summer school project, four student teams in different cities across the world worked si... more For this summer school project, four student teams in different cities across the world worked simultaneously on the same VR assignment, about visualizing the role of digital technology in society in the year 2030.
This qualitative interview study explores the practices of adult female gamers who play the video... more This qualitative interview study explores the practices of adult female gamers who play the videogame The Sims, focusing on the motivations they have for playing and how playing a video game might influence their digital competence. We address the wider context of leisure and the household, investigating to what extent playing videogames has become domesticated in the daily life of the family. It is found that female gamers play The Sims because they enjoy the particular way it allows them to take control, fantasize, and be challenged. For some, it is clear that playing this video game has increased their digital skills. We notice that there is an interesting similarity between the pleasures of playing this videogame and more traditional ways of female media engagement such as reading women’s magazines or romance novels and watching soap operas. Our gamers similarly enjoy The Sims as leisurely moments for themselves, clearly and intentionally separated from domestic and family dutie...
In this paper, we present the case study Circus Noel, a VR tight rope walking act with which the ... more In this paper, we present the case study Circus Noel, a VR tight rope walking act with which the use of movement in cinematic VR was explored. We use the notion of spatial presence as discussed by Ryan, and its potential to induce an ‘illusion of non-mediation’. Seven users were interviewed about their experience. The results of this case study provide insight into the way a user’s body may be represented in cinematic VR by two moving feet, without disrupting the sense of presence.
The purpose of this joint workshop is to bring together a diverse group of researchers and practi... more The purpose of this joint workshop is to bring together a diverse group of researchers and practitioners for focused discussion and knowledge sharing in 360° video storytelling and virtual reality.
With the renewed interest in VR, new questions arise for content creators, as existing cinematic ... more With the renewed interest in VR, new questions arise for content creators, as existing cinematic practices cannot simply be transferred. In this paper, we describe two experiments investigating which voice-over perspective elicits the best sense of presence for viewers of cinematic VR content. For the first experiment different voice-over narrations in first, second and third person perspectives were added to a VR video. This test showed that viewers preferred the voice-over in second person perspective, as this provided them with the strongest sense of presence and a feeling of ‘being in the story’. In the second experiment, we used a short 360° documentary with a first person voice-over perspective, and compared it to a version of the same documentary with a second person voice-over, using a quantitative survey. In this experiment, however, no significant difference was found between the two groups of respondents. In our discussion, we explore several possible reasons that may hav...
Technologies that were initially developed to be applied within the domain of video games are cur... more Technologies that were initially developed to be applied within the domain of video games are currently being used in experiments to explore their meaning and possibilities for cinema and cinema audiences. In this position paper we examine how narrativity, interactivity and engagement are mutually reshaped within this new domain of media entertainment, addressing both the production and the user experience of new types of interactive cinematography. We work towards research questions that will direct our future studies and introduce the term lean in to address the kind of engagement style that applies to users within this new domain.
Improved antimicrobial prescribing is a key effort to reduce the impact of increasing antimicrobi... more Improved antimicrobial prescribing is a key effort to reduce the impact of increasing antimicrobial resistance. Quality improvement programmes in antimicrobial prescribing have to ensure the continued engagement of prescribers with optimal prescribing behaviours. Serious games have been proposed to improve clinical practice and may serve to resolve some of the behavioural and social barriers influencing prescribing. We describe here the ongoing development and future evaluation of a mobile device-based serious antimicrobial prescribing game for hospital clinicians.
Jeroen Jansz holds the Chair of Communication and Media in the Department of Media & Communicatio... more Jeroen Jansz holds the Chair of Communication and Media in the Department of Media & Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He was co-founder of the Special Interest Group Game Studies in the International Communication Association and the Dutch chapter of the Digital Games Research Association. Liesbet van Zoonen is professor of Sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, dean of the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Humanities and holds a chair in Media and Communication at Loughborough University (UK). This qualitative interview study explores the practices of adult female gamers who play the videogame The Sims, focusing on the motivations they have for playing and how playing a video game might influence their digital competence. We address the wider context of leisure and the household, investigating to what extent playing videogames has become domesticated in the daily life of the family. It is found that female gamers play The Sims because they enjoy t...
Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business developm... more Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care. The Games for Health Conference brings together researchers, medical professionals and game developers to share information about the impact of games, playful interaction and game technologies on health, health care and policy. Over two days, more than 400 attendees participate in over 60 sessions provided by an international array of 80+ speakers, cutting across a wide range of activities in health and health care. Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehab, epidemiology, training, cognitive health, nutrition and health education.
Companion Publication of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2019 Companion, 2019
Current studies unveil the potential of using new technologies for emotion recognition. However, ... more Current studies unveil the potential of using new technologies for emotion recognition. However, bio-feedback sensors, which can be a fruitful source of data are not explored in relation to additional stimuli. The following demo explores the opportunity of how dynamic visualization stimuli and bio-feedback sensors might provide insight into mental states that the user is not aware of. The system design is the result of a project undertaken by the authors to employ the potential of this type of sensors in the context of therapies. Early results suggest a correlation between the visualization and the emotions of users, as well as users' interest and engagement with the system. Further research can be beneficial for creating a greater therapy experience, as well as generating new user testing methods and developing game interactions that would make use of those variables.
For this study we investigated if and how the merging of VR with radio drama can provide general ... more For this study we investigated if and how the merging of VR with radio drama can provide general insights into storytelling for VR. In order to present the student project The thousand autumns of Jacob de Zoet as a case study, we discuss environmental storytelling, and storytelling in relation to VR and radioplay. We conclude that the traditional lean back medium that is radio drama may benefit from the lean in quality of VR and we discuss a number of strong concepts that can be explored in order to gain further knowledge about storytelling for VR.
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video, 2017
When creating content for virtual reality, filmmakers find that they need to re-evaluate the tool... more When creating content for virtual reality, filmmakers find that they need to re-evaluate the tools they have traditionally used to tell their stories, and explore the new possibilities that this particular medium has to offer. To determine how storytelling- and filmmaking tools function in VR, the concept of presence is currently being re-evaluated for its possibilities to be used as a measurement of the relative effectiveness of these tools. The research project Project Orpheus is presented as a case study into trans-medial storytelling, exploring how the impact of a traditional television show may be reinforced by an immersive VR experience. The movie was subsequently used to conduct a small qualitative study into the use of 3D sound to guide the viewers attention in VR.
For this summer school project, four student teams in different cities across the world worked si... more For this summer school project, four student teams in different cities across the world worked simultaneously on the same VR assignment, about visualizing the role of digital technology in society in the year 2030.
This qualitative interview study explores the practices of adult female gamers who play the video... more This qualitative interview study explores the practices of adult female gamers who play the videogame The Sims, focusing on the motivations they have for playing and how playing a video game might influence their digital competence. We address the wider context of leisure and the household, investigating to what extent playing videogames has become domesticated in the daily life of the family. It is found that female gamers play The Sims because they enjoy the particular way it allows them to take control, fantasize, and be challenged. For some, it is clear that playing this video game has increased their digital skills. We notice that there is an interesting similarity between the pleasures of playing this videogame and more traditional ways of female media engagement such as reading women’s magazines or romance novels and watching soap operas. Our gamers similarly enjoy The Sims as leisurely moments for themselves, clearly and intentionally separated from domestic and family dutie...
In this paper, we present the case study Circus Noel, a VR tight rope walking act with which the ... more In this paper, we present the case study Circus Noel, a VR tight rope walking act with which the use of movement in cinematic VR was explored. We use the notion of spatial presence as discussed by Ryan, and its potential to induce an ‘illusion of non-mediation’. Seven users were interviewed about their experience. The results of this case study provide insight into the way a user’s body may be represented in cinematic VR by two moving feet, without disrupting the sense of presence.
The purpose of this joint workshop is to bring together a diverse group of researchers and practi... more The purpose of this joint workshop is to bring together a diverse group of researchers and practitioners for focused discussion and knowledge sharing in 360° video storytelling and virtual reality.
With the renewed interest in VR, new questions arise for content creators, as existing cinematic ... more With the renewed interest in VR, new questions arise for content creators, as existing cinematic practices cannot simply be transferred. In this paper, we describe two experiments investigating which voice-over perspective elicits the best sense of presence for viewers of cinematic VR content. For the first experiment different voice-over narrations in first, second and third person perspectives were added to a VR video. This test showed that viewers preferred the voice-over in second person perspective, as this provided them with the strongest sense of presence and a feeling of ‘being in the story’. In the second experiment, we used a short 360° documentary with a first person voice-over perspective, and compared it to a version of the same documentary with a second person voice-over, using a quantitative survey. In this experiment, however, no significant difference was found between the two groups of respondents. In our discussion, we explore several possible reasons that may hav...
Technologies that were initially developed to be applied within the domain of video games are cur... more Technologies that were initially developed to be applied within the domain of video games are currently being used in experiments to explore their meaning and possibilities for cinema and cinema audiences. In this position paper we examine how narrativity, interactivity and engagement are mutually reshaped within this new domain of media entertainment, addressing both the production and the user experience of new types of interactive cinematography. We work towards research questions that will direct our future studies and introduce the term lean in to address the kind of engagement style that applies to users within this new domain.
Improved antimicrobial prescribing is a key effort to reduce the impact of increasing antimicrobi... more Improved antimicrobial prescribing is a key effort to reduce the impact of increasing antimicrobial resistance. Quality improvement programmes in antimicrobial prescribing have to ensure the continued engagement of prescribers with optimal prescribing behaviours. Serious games have been proposed to improve clinical practice and may serve to resolve some of the behavioural and social barriers influencing prescribing. We describe here the ongoing development and future evaluation of a mobile device-based serious antimicrobial prescribing game for hospital clinicians.
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Papers by Mirjam Vosmeer