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Item Recreational Motion Simulation: A New Frontier for Virtual Worlds Research(The Eurographics Association, 2021) Williams, Benjamin; Headleand, Christopher J.; Xu, Kai and Turner, MartinMotion simulation is a developing field which continues to grow with the recent incline in commercial virtual reality. Whilst the majority of motion simulation research focuses on flight simulation and training, its utility in recreational settings is often overlooked. Despite this lack of research, the use of motion simulators for recreational purposes spans decades, and is still today one of the most popular applications of motion simulator devices. Furthermore, with the recent development of low-cost motion simulation platforms, consumers have begun to use these devices in the home. Research regarding motion simulation and its effects in recreational experiences is needed now more than ever, and in this position paper we outline several reasons for its importance.Item Towards Ceramics Inspired Physiotherapy for Recovering Stroke Patients(The Eurographics Association, 2023) Hajzer, Sándor P.; Jones, Andra; Jones, David E.; Miles, Helen C.; Ellis, Victoria; Povina, Federico V.; Sganga, MagalÃ; Swain, Martin T.; Bennett-Gillison, Sophie; Vangorp, Peter; Hunter, DavidPeople prescribed physiotherapy exercises can struggle to engage with exercises due to a lack of mental stimulation in the repetitive tasks. The introduction of VR to motion-based physiotherapy can be beneficial, however, currently available physiotherapy applications are focused on gaming and the gamification of physiotherapy, something that will not appeal to all patients. This project presents work in-progress towards a VR ceramics painting inspired physiotherapy application, where patients are guided to perform a series of simple motion exercises under the supervision of physiotherapists. Literature shows that art-based therapy can improve patient outcome, and ceramics involves a range of 3D movements that can be aligned with physiotherapy exercises. The work presented is intended to inform future research and development efforts.Item Adi's Maze and the Research Arcade: A Long-term Study on the Impact of Gendered Representation on Player Preferences(The Eurographics Association, 2021) Headleand, Christopher J.; Davies, Bethany; Williams, Benjamin; Xu, Kai and Turner, MartinGender representation in games is a much discussed topic in the field of games design. A number of papers have explored the issues around sexist, and sexualised representation, and there even evidence that the assumed gender of a character has an impact on player behaviour. We introduce Adi's maze, a simple arcade game with 4 selectable characters, with male, female, and ambiguous gendered representation. In the game, the player has to collect coins in a maze while avoiding enemy NPCs in a similar format to the popular 1980's game Pac-Man. Regardless of the selected character, the player has the same objective to complete. We installed this game on two publicly accessible arcade machines (the Research Arcade) and left them in situ for 18 months. We collected all data regarding the character selection and player behaviour and we report the results from this study. Furthermore, we report insights from the development of the research arcade, and comment on it's effectiveness as a research tool.Item The University on Lincoln Island: Reimagining a University Campus as a Role-Playing Video Game(The Eurographics Association, 2021) Headleand, Christopher J.; Davies, Bethany; Threlfall, Danielle; Williams, Benjamin; Xu, Kai and Turner, MartinThis paper presents the University of Lincoln Island (TULI), a work-in-progress project where the University of Lincoln campus has been recreated digitally and re-imagined as a fantasy role-playing computer game. Universities have had to respond to a number of key challenges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving teaching and research online has been facilitated by a number of mature software platforms and tool-sets and the institutional expertise to wield them. However, there are fewer core activities that have digital provisions, thereby requiring a more creative approach. One of these areas is campus familiarisation, traditionally managed through timetabled events such as guided tours and scavenger hunts. However, these activities will be untenable until social distancing measures are lifted, forcing us to consider alternatives. This paper presents gamified virtual environments as a digital solution to support students in this area. We identify a number of key challenges and opportunities in the hopes that it will provide insight for future work in this domain.Item Strategies for More Energy Efficient Volume Analysis and Direct Volume Rendering Descriptor Computation(The Eurographics Association, 2023) Hauenstein, Jacob D.; Newman, Timothy S.; Vangorp, Peter; Hunter, DavidA study of energy use (in an x86-class environment) for computation of descriptors used in analysis and in one common scientific visualisation strategy, direct volume rendering (DVR), of volumetric data is presented. Focus is on descriptors used by classic ray-casting-based DVR, including gradients and curvature. Modified computational strategies are considered versus standard approaches on x86. The modified strategies explored include two memory-based ones and four computation-based ones. Use of energy-optimal strategies was able to achieve close to 20% energy savings for gradient descriptor determination. Factor-of-two improvement in energy efficiency for curvature descriptor determination was achieved through these strategies.