Workshop on Designing Serious Location-based Augmented Reality Games

Call for Papers

This workshop will be held as part of the IFIP International Conference on Entertainment Computing & Joint Conference on Serious Games, Arequipa, Perú, November 11-15th 2019 (ICEC-JCSG 2019, http://ucsp.edu.pe/icec-jcsg-2019).
Introduction

In recent years, the popularity of location-based Augmented Reality (AR) games has increased significantly. For example, 2013 Ingress generated a hype that was surpassed by 2016 Pokémon GO with an even larger player base. From a didactical perspective, location-based AR games, which encompass Ingress and Pokémon GO, have a number of characteristics that make their use as learning tools very appealing: location-based AR games guide learners to real objects on location and supplement these objects with information to be learned. One of the principles supported is the contiguity principle: learning effects are reinforced by the temporal and/or spatial combination of object and information. Further principles of multimedia learning, such as signaling (i.e. the insertion of additional clues) can also be implemented with the help of location-based AR games. Location-based AR games are also suitable as social interaction triggers for collaborative learning settings, such as the joint development of learning content in groups or for making decisions and achieving goals as a team.

In this workshop we intend to focus on the benefits of location-based AR games for purposes beyond entertainment, especially for learning. We would like to foster a discourse about the specific contexts in which location-based AR games are most valuable learning tools, based on the debate of mobile and context-based learning. Further, we would like to outline design guidelines that ensure a balance between serious purpose and fun when developing and using serious location-based AR games. Fun is to be seen as an essential part of achieving high user engagement. At the same time, however, it must also be ensured that the serious purpose can be adequately achieved. These two poles of fun and serious purpose create a dynamic field in which the design of serious location-based AR games has to take place. Further, inclusive design plays a key role in enabling users with disabilities to enjoy augmented game experiences.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Design frameworks for AR games
Lessons learnt from creative AR applications
Reuse of entertainment AR games in serious application contexts
Characterization of serious application contexts of AR games
Design of accessible AR applications
Guidelines for the design of didactic scenarios using AR games
Assessment of didactic scenarios using AR games and integration into existing learning curricula and learning infrastructure
Case studies of serious AR games
Content provision for AR games
Analyses of AR game mechanics and their transfer to serious AR games
Technical infrastructure for AR games
Multiplayer scenarios and their game mechanics
Gamification of location-based Augmented Reality Games
Learning patterns in AR-driven social contexts
Ethical issues of AR games

All submitted papers will undergo a thorough peer-review process by the workshop program committee. Accepted papers will be published as part of the official ICEC-JCSG 2019 conference proceedings by Springer in their LNCS series. At least one author of accepted submissions has to register and present at the ICEC-JCSG 2019 workshop.

Submission Information

Papers must be submitted in the Springer LNCS format (https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines). All submissions must be written in English and be submitted via EasyChair (https://easychair.org/conferences/submission_new.cgi?a=22316072). The length of submissions has to meet 4 pages exclusive references. Attendance at the workshop is certainly also possible without submitting an own submission.

Important Dates

Workshop paper submission deadline: July 1, 2019
Workshop paper submission acceptance notification: July 20, 2019
Camera-ready deadline for paper submissions: August 1, 2019
Early-bird Registration: August 10, 2019
Workshop Date: November 11th, 2019

Organizers
Heinrich Söbke (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Weimar, Germany)
Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge (Royal Institute of Technology, Södertälje, Sweden and Bremer Institut fur Produktion und Logistik (BIBA) an der Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany)
Ioana Andreea Stefan (Advanced Technology Systems, Targoviste, Romania and the Romanian Advanced Distributed Learning Association, Bucharest, Romania)
Antoniu Stefan (Advanced Technology Systems, Targoviste, Romania)

Program Committee
is currently being requested

Contact Information
For further information about the workshop contact Heinrich Söbke: heinrich.soebke(aat)uni-weimar.de .