Graphics-intensive computer games are no longer restricted to high-performance desktops, but are also available on a variety of portable devices ranging from notebooks to PDAs and mobile phones. Battery life has been a major concern in the design of both the hardware and the software for such devices. Towards this, dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) has emerged as a powerful technique. However, the showcase application for DVFS algorithms so far has largely been video decoding, primarily because it is computationally expensive and its workload exhibits a high degree of variability. This paper investigates the possibility of applying DVFS to interactive computer games, which to the best of our knowledge has not been studied before. We show that the variability in the workload associated with a popular First Person Shooter game like Quake II is significantly higher than video decoding. Although this variability makes game applications an attractive candidate for DVFS, it is unclear if DVFS algorithms can be applied to games due to their interactive (and hence highly unpredictable) nature. In this paper, we show using detailed experiments that (surprisingly) interactive computer games are highly amenable to DVFS. Towards this we present a novel workload characterization of computer games, based on the game engine for Quake II. We believe that our findings might potentially lead to a number of innovative DVFS algorithms targeted towards game applications, exactly as video decoding has motivated a variety of schemes for DVFS. Read more...

With the recent advances in mobile networking, context-aware computing, and sensor-based computing, researchers and game designers are able to explore the potential of combining these new technologies to develop mobile, networked, context-aware, augmented reality multiplayer games. As part of new research collaboration between Lancaster University, Cisco Systems, Microsoft Research and Orange - MIPv6 Systems Research Lab, such a mobile context-aware multiplayer game is proposed and explored. The proposed game, Real Tournament, gathers real-time contextual information, e.g. physical location and orientation, from the players and injects them into the game engine to generate game events. Read more...

The present study examined the long-term effects of a computer intervention for the development of phonological awareness in Dutch kindergartners. Native Dutch and immigrant children worked with the software 15 min/week during one school year. Following a pretest - interim test - post-test - retention test design, the effects on rhyming, phonemic segmentation, auditory blending, and grapheme knowledge were assessed. The intervention showed significant immediate effects on rhyming and grapheme knowledge. The time spent on the computer games also correlated with the learning gains for the experimental group. In the first grade, retention effects were demonstrated after 4 months of formal reading education. Read more...

The generalization of game-based Learning Objects as serious learning material requires their integration into pre-existing e-learning infrastructure (systems and courses) and the inclusion of gameplay-aware assessment procedures. In this paper, we propose an approach to the production and development of educational graphic adventure videogames that can be deployed as normal Learning Objects in a Learning Management System. The deployment is carried out using a game engine that includes a built-in assessment mechanism that can trace and report the activities of the learner while playing the game. Read more...

Streaming real-time multimedia content over the Internet is gaining momentum in the communications, entertainment, music and interactive game industries as well as in the military. In general, streaming applications include IP telephony, multimedia broadcasts and various interactive applications such as multi-party conferences, collaborations and multiplayer games. Successfully realizing such applications in a highly mobile environment, however, presents many research challenges. In order to investigate such challenges and demonstrate viable solutions, we have developed an experimental indoor and outdoor testbed laboratory. By implementing standard IETF protocols into this testbed, we have demonstrated the basic functionalities required of the mobile wireless Internet to successfully support mobile multimedia access. These requirements include signaling, registration, dynamic configuration, mobility binding, location management, Authentication Authorization and Accounting (AAA), and quality of service over a variety of radio access network (RAN) technologies (e.g. 802.11b, CDMA/GPRS). In this paper, we describe this testbed and discuss important design issues and tradeoffs. We detail the incorporation and inter-relation of a wide catalog of IETF protocols-such as SIP, SAP, SDP, RTP/RTCP/RTSP, MGCP, variants of Mobile-IP, DRCP, HMMP, PANA, and DSNP-to achieve our goals. We believe that the results and experiences obtained from this experimental testbed will advance the understanding of the pertinent deployment issues for a Mobile Wireless Internet. Read more...