Articles tagged with Games
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam have introduced a billiards game with memory, where the ball may never cross its own previous path. This leads to a trapping effect, making the system chaotic and fascinating, with many open mathematical questions and potential applications in physics and biophysics.
Research suggests that frequent mobile device use among preschoolers leads to lower-quality and quantity of parent-child interactions compared to non-users. Joint, real-life activities help prevent problematic digital device use and its negative effects.
A recent survey study reveals binge drinking is more prevalent among sports wagering individuals compared to nongamblers and non–sports gamblers. This finding highlights the need for targeted interventions to address excessive alcohol consumption in this demographic.
A WVU study found that treating work like a game improves workers' productivity and engagement, but also increases stress levels. Gamification can boost completion times for repetitive tasks, but may push employees past their tolerance threshold, leading to frustration and physical demands.
University of Missouri researcher Kelli Canada is using a $2.8 million grant to transform prison conditions in four Missouri prisons. Her multi-pronged mission includes staff training, physical space changes, skill building for residents, and community connections.
High levels of air pollution have a significant negative impact on teams' ability to solve complex problems, such as developing clean energy technologies and vaccines. The study used escape-room games data to estimate that high-pollution days can lead to up to 5% longer completion times for teams.
A team led by UCF College of Nursing Professor Victoria Loerzel developed an innovative educational game for older adults with cancer, simulating symptoms and self-management. The game was successful in increasing the use of preventative strategies among participants, reducing symptom severity and hospital admissions.
A new study by the University of Plymouth shows that at-risk individuals are more likely to engage with loot boxes than those without, highlighting the need for stricter enforcement around these features. The research found that loot box use is driven by beliefs such as 'I'll win in a minute', echoing the psychology seen in gambling.
A recent US study found that parents overestimate the value of free play in children's learning, while undervaluing guided play. Guided play is more effective for teaching skills like mathematics, language, and STEM subjects. By educating parents on this approach, they can create engaging 'learning' moments during everyday activities.
Researchers at Waseda University used diffusion tensor imaging to reconstruct fascicles in three dimensions, finding that a gearing mechanism reduces individual fascicle elongation during stretching. This mechanism allows muscles to extend without significant fiber length changes, preventing overstretching and injury.
A study found that children with unpredictable parental support tend to avoid exploratory risks, even in games designed to encourage them. This self-imposed limit on risk is not related to stress or anxiety levels, but rather a brain response to uncertainty, where familiar options are preferred over potentially uncertain outcomes.
Researchers analyzed data from the 2020-2021 NBA season to investigate how far-right views impact immigrant workplace performance. They found that immigrant players in regions with strong Trump support were more likely to make game errors, while native players in these areas performed better.
A study by Aalto University reveals that online games employ deceptive data collection practices, often hiding information behind complex legal jargon. Players are often unaware of the risks and may feel compelled to conceal their identities or personal data to maintain privacy.
Researchers found goalkeepers have narrower temporal binding windows, indicating more precise multisensory processing and quicker estimations of audiovisual cues. They also showed less interaction between visual and auditory information, suggesting a greater tendency to separate sensory signals.
A study led by UCL researchers found that having a hobby is linked to fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness, self-reported health, and life satisfaction among people aged 65 and over. The benefits of hobbies were relatively universal across 16 countries on three continents.
A new method can detect drivers' attention levels from their eye movements, enabling the development of more effective takeover signals. The study found that drivers who are engrossed in on-screen activities take longer to respond to warnings, highlighting a potential safety concern.
A new study by Ben-Gurion University researchers measures effort in football teams, finding that peer effort positively affects individual effort. Teammates' social connections also contribute to positive effects. The findings suggest that managers should consider workers' compensation based on effort, not just performance.
A new study by the University of York found that digital puzzle games enhance memory abilities in older adults, similar to those of people in their 20s. However, strategy games did not show the same improvements. The study suggests that brain storage information changes with age, and future research should focus on this connection.
A study by University of Illinois researchers found that individuals' own behavior influences their expectations and treatment of others. Generous people tend to reward generous behavior, while selfish individuals punish generosity. This research has practical relevance to social interactions and decision-making.
A systematic review of research on board games found that they significantly improve math skills in children aged three to nine years. The studies showed that playing number-based board games regularly enhances counting, addition, and recognizing numbers.
Researchers from HSE Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience examine the brain's reaction to social norms violations and calculate a behavioral index to assess an individual's sensitivity to unfairness. This index can be used to develop personalized rehabilitation programs for patients with various types of behavioral disorders.
A new study found that the subjective visual vertical – a measure of how individuals perceive vertical lines – shifted considerably after participants played a high-intensity VR game, affecting the severity of cybersickness. This shift was linked to individual differences in sensory processing and gaming experience.
A pilot study by North Carolina State University researchers found that playing pickleball helped older adults aged 65 years and older reach their weekly recommended dose of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Participants averaged over 68 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity per session, meeting CDC guidelines.
A study found that people offer bribes above average to officials from countries with a reputation for corruption. Citizens tend to over- or underestimate the acceptance rates of officials from different countries. Overcoming biases about certain nations could help fight corruption globally.
Researchers developed a new framework for modeling task-switching, mimicking human behavior. The framework revealed two regions of the model's 'brain' doing each task, explaining the switch cost and potential benefits of splitting tasks.
Researchers found that forecasters have an incentive to misreport when their reputation is at stake, with higher levels of misreporting in less uncertain situations. The study suggests firms should trust expert advice when uncertainty is high and link evaluations to ex-post accuracy to reduce misreporting.
A new VR locomotion system, Seamless-walk, offers a natural and comfortable experience without equipment or body pose recording. It uses high-resolution foot pressure imprints and machine learning to estimate the user's direction and movement speed.
Scientists developed a new clustering method to analyze similarities between chess openings, revealing ten distinct clusters that group similar strategies. The new classification complements the existing ECO Code and provides insights into player skill and opening complexity.
A study involving 175 two to five-year-olds found that children start to develop spatial abilities from around four years old, using scale models to find objects in real-world scenarios. This new skill potentially lays the foundations for maths and science skills.
Researchers developed an interactive training app called 'iTrain' to teach caregivers how to provide post-stroke care. The app uses real-life data and simulations to assess the user's knowledge and improve their skills in providing optimal care, leading to a significant positive effect on anxiety among carers and stroke victims.
A study found that people can recall the location of over 100 objects on a grid with high accuracy, even after removing all images. Additionally, participants localized 60-80% of old items to within +/-10% of their correct time.
Card game addiction is linked to jerky physical values like unpredictable surprise. Researchers found that certain games balance certainty and uncertainty well, making them fast-paced and rewarding.
A new study uses mobile game apps to promote healthy decision-making among adolescent girls in India, presenting them with challenges and conflicts that mirror real-life situations. The game aims to build agency and awareness about health issues such as menstrual hygiene management.
A virtual reality game called EPELI has been developed to assess ADHD symptoms in children by simulating everyday situations. The game uses eye tracking and machine learning to detect differences in eye movements, which can indicate attention deficits.
A team of researchers applied game refinement theory to analyze the evolution of boss battles in the God of War game series, identifying underlying entertainment aspects. The study found that the main games had a peak challenge around final three boss battles, while non-main versions experienced maximum challenge in the middle.
A new intelligent observer for Esports has been developed using a Mask R-CNN algorithm to learn from human spectating data. This approach overcomes limitations of existing automatic observers, which require extensive domain knowledge and cannot capture undefined events or changes in event significance.
Archaeologists from the University of Bristol have found a pattern in the distribution of ancient stone spheres across the Aegean and Mediterranean. The spheres fit two major clusters, suggesting they were used as counters for a board game. This discovery provides new insights into social interaction in the Bronze Age Aegean.
A new study suggests that pretending to be a successful female scientist can increase young girls' persistence in science. Four- to seven-year-old girls who assumed the role of Marie Curie or another gender-matched scientist played longer and rated themselves higher than those in control groups.
Researchers are developing a serious game, Simulation for Environmental Exposure Education (SE3), to improve middle-school age youth's environmental health literacy. The game focuses on exposure to environmental toxins in the home and aims to increase knowledge and understanding of risks, as well as promote action to reduce them.
Researchers found that men who received positive fortune telling outcomes were more likely to take financial risks, while the effect was weaker in women. This study suggests that superstition can influence behavior, even among those who claim not to be superstitious.
Researchers found that impressions formed during small talk influenced behavior in strategic games. Participants who believed their partner was an extrovert behaved more cooperatively, while shared personality traits made it harder to out-guess opponents. This study highlights the importance of regular small talk communication.
A new study from the University of Eastern Finland reveals that gamer rage in children is often caused by their own performance, social factors, and daily life stressors. Children frequently compare their in-game performance to others, leading to frustration when they lose or perform poorly.
A large-scale study led by the University of Leicester found that people with a strong sense of fairness cheat less, regardless of winning or losing. The researchers examined the behavior of over 500 participants in lab-based games and discovered that only those with low 'inequality aversion' were more likely to cheat.
A team of scientists developed a board game, Diamond: The Game, to inspire secondary school students to consider STEM careers. Players experience the reality of working in scientific research and collaboration is emphasized as key to modern science.
A new study by Ohio State University researcher Michael Betz found that fighting in the NHL does not reduce violent penalties, but rather increases them. Fights lead to more penalties, not less, contradicting league officials' arguments for keeping fighting in the game.
A new game called QuitBet is being tested to help people quit smoking by providing a fun and engaging way to adopt healthy habits. Players commit to quitting smoking over four weeks and bet $30, with winners typically doubling their money.
Major sporting events frequently result in cost overruns, as organizers underestimate visitor numbers and hospitality demand. The 2017 World Cycling Championships in Bergen, for example, incurred a €5.8 million deficit due to incorrect visitor projections and hotel bookings.
Researchers found that gamification increased daily steps by an average of 647 for postpartum individuals with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The study, published in JAMA Cardiology, demonstrates the effectiveness of text-based gamification interventions to improve physical activity among high-risk postpartum women.
A study published in Nature found that people raised in rural areas outperform those from cities, particularly grid-pattern streets, in navigating spatial environments. This suggests that the simplicity of rural street networks influences navigational abilities.
A team of researchers has developed a MEMS scanning lidar that can detect objects reliably even in shaky environments. The long-range MEMS lidar prototype uses a digital controller to suppress errors caused by vibrations, allowing for stable 3D imaging and object detection.
A new study at Tel Aviv University's Coller School of Management found that employees who use pictures and emojis are perceived as less powerful than those who use words. In various experiments, respondents attributed more power to verbal messages and rated those with visual profiles as less capable.
A new study found that clear and consistent messaging is key to reducing risk-taking behavior, while personality-based approaches are less effective. The research used a simulated pandemic game to test different interventions and demonstrates the potential for behavioral sciences to inform public health policy.
Arizona State University professor Katie Hinde explores successful public engagement in science, highlighting the power of stories and narratives in teaching children about science. Her March Mammal Madness game has reached over half a million students, featuring simulated animal battles and providing educational resources for educators.
In a recent study, Dalla Torre and his team ran a collaborative mathematical game on different technologies to evaluate the systems' ability to demonstrate quantum mechanical properties. The Quantinuum System Model H1-1 outperformed classical results by returning correct answers 97% of the time.
Researchers discovered that Goffin's cockatoos can coordinate complex tools to solve problems, a cognitive ability previously thought exclusive to primates. This finding sheds light on the evolution of tool use in animals and has implications for understanding human technological skills.
A recent study found a strong association between aerobic power training and high-intensity performance in elite soccer players, except for centre backs. Researchers used targeted treadmill training and lactate blood samples to assess aerobic fitness, revealing individual differences in physiological performance.
Researchers developed a VR-based archery game to understand how blind people move and orient themselves in space. The platform showed that congenital blind individuals rely on body cues rather than environmental sounds for reorientation.
A new study reveals that children globally will confront peers when rules are broken, but their approach differs across cultures. Children from rural areas tend to use verbal protests more than urban kids, who may rely on indirect methods like reputation to enforce compliance.
A study by researchers at JAIST found that adding score-based incentives for quick answers led to higher learning gains, while varying difficulty levels boosted the thrill factor. Gamification strategies improved classroom activity, but exceeded a certain threshold, students felt disengaged.
Kids consider track record of accuracy and degree of access to knowledge when judging a communicator's trustworthiness. Children who received accurate non-verbal cues in the familiarization phase followed them in the test phase 83% of the time.