Human Wrongs: Playing With Sensitive Matters Across Sandbox Games and Anthropomorphism.
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| Title: | Human Wrongs: Playing With Sensitive Matters Across Sandbox Games and Anthropomorphism. |
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| Authors: | Marchetti, Emanuela1 emanuela@sdu.dk, Valente, Andrea2 anva@mmmi.sdu.dk |
| Source: | Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning. 2019, p486-493. 8p. |
| Subject Terms: | *College students, *Visualization, Sandboxes, Anthropomorphism, Human rights |
| Abstract: | In this study we investigate the design of a playful digital simulation on human rights, targeting high school and university students, building on sociomateriality and simulation. Since human rights are a complex topic, emotionally and politically charged, with deep social and philosophical ramifications, we decided to recast the problem focusing on the connection between human rights and distribution of resources. The result is Human Wrongs, a sandbox game in which a single or a small group of players manages the shared resources of two populations. We wanted to avoid telling players what to think, letting them instead to uncover the dilemmas involved in securing equal access to the necessary goods, as to guarantee fundamental rights to life and freedom. As the name suggests, Human Wrongs can be used to see the effects of extreme inequality, providing the players with more opportunities for reflection, as in negative brainstorming. As it is argued that anthropomorphism in games affects players’ emotional and cognitive responses, and we wanted to avoid issues with politically correctness or conflicts, our initial prototype represented two populations of geometrical characters and food resources where visualized as spontaneously growing cupcakes. However, data from a participatory workshop conducted with a group of teenagers suggests a preference for more realistic situations and anthropomorphic characters, in which players can identify. To explore the impact of anthropomorphism on emotional responses and critical reflections we designed two new versions of our game, one with human-like characters and the other with funny-looking octopuses. Results from a qualitative evaluation with university students shows that even if the students found anthropomorphic game better suited to inspire critical reflections, they did enjoy playing the zoomorphic version and were more creative in exploring possible scenarios with it than with the human-themed version. Therefore, we propose a scenario where both versions are kept, to support more deep and nuanced reflections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning is the property of Academic Conferences & Publishing International Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 141119468 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Conference PubTypeId: conference PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Human Wrongs: Playing With Sensitive Matters Across Sandbox Games and Anthropomorphism. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Marchetti%2C+Emanuela%22">Marchetti, Emanuela</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> emanuela@sdu.dk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Valente%2C+Andrea%22">Valente, Andrea</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><i> anva@mmmi.sdu.dk</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Proceedings+of+the+European+Conference+on+Games+Based+Learning%22">Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning</searchLink>. 2019, p486-493. 8p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+students%22">College students</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Visualization%22">Visualization</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sandboxes%22">Sandboxes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anthropomorphism%22">Anthropomorphism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+rights%22">Human rights</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: In this study we investigate the design of a playful digital simulation on human rights, targeting high school and university students, building on sociomateriality and simulation. Since human rights are a complex topic, emotionally and politically charged, with deep social and philosophical ramifications, we decided to recast the problem focusing on the connection between human rights and distribution of resources. The result is Human Wrongs, a sandbox game in which a single or a small group of players manages the shared resources of two populations. We wanted to avoid telling players what to think, letting them instead to uncover the dilemmas involved in securing equal access to the necessary goods, as to guarantee fundamental rights to life and freedom. As the name suggests, Human Wrongs can be used to see the effects of extreme inequality, providing the players with more opportunities for reflection, as in negative brainstorming. As it is argued that anthropomorphism in games affects players’ emotional and cognitive responses, and we wanted to avoid issues with politically correctness or conflicts, our initial prototype represented two populations of geometrical characters and food resources where visualized as spontaneously growing cupcakes. However, data from a participatory workshop conducted with a group of teenagers suggests a preference for more realistic situations and anthropomorphic characters, in which players can identify. To explore the impact of anthropomorphism on emotional responses and critical reflections we designed two new versions of our game, one with human-like characters and the other with funny-looking octopuses. Results from a qualitative evaluation with university students shows that even if the students found anthropomorphic game better suited to inspire critical reflections, they did enjoy playing the zoomorphic version and were more creative in exploring possible scenarios with it than with the human-themed version. Therefore, we propose a scenario where both versions are kept, to support more deep and nuanced reflections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning is the property of Academic Conferences & Publishing International Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.34190/GBL.19.037 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 8 StartPage: 486 Subjects: – SubjectFull: College students Type: general – SubjectFull: Visualization Type: general – SubjectFull: Sandboxes Type: general – SubjectFull: Anthropomorphism Type: general – SubjectFull: Human rights Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Human Wrongs: Playing With Sensitive Matters Across Sandbox Games and Anthropomorphism. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Marchetti, Emanuela – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Valente, Andrea IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Text: 2019 Type: published Y: 2019 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 20490992 Titles: – TitleFull: Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning Type: main |
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