From screens to devices and tangible objects: A framework applied to serious games characterization

Abstract

The accelerated progress being made with interactive devices (such as screens, cameras, joysticks and tangible objects) has triggered the development of new interaction methods for applications (e.g., body language, haptic feedback, etc.). Video games and Serious Games are being played on increasingly innovative peripherals (e.g., Kinect, Wii Balance Board). These devices have generated new, intuitive forms of Human-Computer Interaction that are completely changing our usages. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of gaming technologies and suggest a framework for characterizing the role that screens play in these devices. This framework differentiates between the various gaming elements (the gamers, the interactive devices and the entertaining and gamified applications). This framework is a tool to analyze the effects of device choice and configuration. This paper presents an evaluation of the characterization of 15 serious games. This evaluation will provide a glimpse of the potentialities of the framework with respect to suggested criteria as well as of the trends and potential developments in interactive media. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.