Search Results (22)

Despite rapid progress in natural language processing, current interactive AI systems continue to struggle with interpreting ambiguous, idiomatic, and contextually rich human language, a barrier to natural human–computer interaction. Many deployed applications, such as language games or educational tools, showcase surface-level adaptation but do not systematically probe or advance the deeper semantic understanding of user intent in open-ended, creative settings. In this paper, we present Semantrix, a web-based semantic word-guessing platform, not merely as a game but as a living testbed for evaluating and extending the semantic capabilities of state-of-the-art Transformer models in human-facing contexts. Semantrix challenges models to both assess the nuanced meaning of user guesses and generate dynamic, context-sensitive hints in real time, exposing the system to the diversity, ambiguity, and unpredictability of genuine human interaction. To empirically investigate how advanced semantic representations and adaptive language feedback affect user experience, we conducted a preregistered 2 × 2 factorial study (N = 42), independently manipulating embedding depth (Transformers vs. Word2Vec) and feedback adaptivity (dynamic hints vs. minimal feedback). Our findings revealed that only the combination of Transformer-based semantic modelling and adaptive hint generation sustained user engagement, motivation, and enjoyment; conditions lacking either component led to pronounced attrition, highlighting the limitations of shallow or static approaches. Beyond benchmarking game performance, we argue that the methodologies applied in platforms like Semantrix are helpful for improving machine understanding of natural language, paving the way for more robust, intuitive, and human-aligned AI approaches. Full article

Serious games (SGs) have been widely employed in the digital preservation and transmission of architectural heritage. However, the key determinants and underlying mechanisms driving users’ continuance intentions toward ancient-architecture cultural heritage serious games (CH-SGs) have not been thoroughly investigated. Accordingly, a conceptual model grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework was developed to elucidate the affective and behavioral effects experienced by CH-SG users. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were employed to capture both the linear and nonlinear relationships among model constructs. By integrating sufficiency logic (PLS-SEM) and necessity logic (necessary condition analysis, NCA), “must-have” and “should-have” factors were identified. Empirical results indicate that cultural authenticity, knowledge acquisition, perceived enjoyment, and design aesthetics each exert a positive influence—of varying magnitude—on perceived value, cultural identification, and perceived pleasure, thereby shaping users’ continuance intentions. Moreover, cultural authenticity and perceived enjoyment were found to be necessary and sufficient conditions, respectively, for enhancing perceived pleasure and perceived value, which in turn indirectly bolster CH-SG users’ sustained use intentions. By creating an immersive, narratively rich, and engaging cognitive experience, CH-SGs set against ancient architectural backdrops not only stimulate users’ willingness to visit and protect heritage sites but also provide designers and developers with critical insights for optimizing future CH-SG design, development, and dissemination. Full article

The objective of this study is to verify the usability of gesture interactions such as tilting or shaking, rather than conventional touch gestures, on mobile devices. To this end, a prototype was developed that manipulates the text size in a mobile text messaging application through tilt gestures. In the text input interface, three types of tilt gesture interaction methods (‘Shaking’, ‘Leaning’, and ‘Acceleration’) were implemented to select the text size level among five levels (extra-small, small, normal, large, and extra-large). Along with the gesture-based interaction methods, the conventional button method was also evaluated. A total of 24 participants were asked to prepare text messages of specified font sizes using randomly assigned interaction methods to select the font size. Task completion time, accuracy (setting errors and input errors), workload, and subjective preferences were collected and analyzed. As a result, the ‘Shaking’ method was generally similar to the conventional button method and superior to the other two ‘Leaning’ and ‘Acceleration’ methods. This may be because ‘Leaning’ and ‘Acceleration’ are continuous operations, while ‘Shaking’ is an individual operation for each menu (font size level). According to subjective comments, tilting gestures on mobile devices can not only be useful if users take the time to learn them, but also provide ways to convey intentions with simple text. Although tilting gestures were not found to significantly improve text editing performance compared to conventional screen touch methods, the use of motion gestures beyond touch on mobile devices can be considered for interface manipulations such as app navigation, gaming, or multimedia controls across diverse applications. Full article

AI-generated content (AIGC) is uniquely positioned to drive the digital transformation of professional education in the animation, comic, and game (ACG) industries. However, its collaborative application also faces initial novelty effects and user discontinuance. Existing studies often employ single-variable analytical methods, which struggle to capture the complex mechanisms influencing technology adoption. This study innovatively combines necessary condition analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and applies them to the field of ACG education. Using this mixed-method approach, it systematically explores the necessary conditions and configurational effects influencing educational users’ continuance intention to adopt AIGC tools for collaborative design learning, aiming to address existing research gaps. A survey of 312 Chinese ACG educational users revealed that no single factor constitutes a necessary condition for their continuance intention to adopt AIGC tools. Additionally, five pathways leading to high adoption intention and three pathways leading to low adoption intention were identified. Notably, the absence or insufficiency of task–technology fit, and perceived quality do not hinder ACG educational users’ willingness to actively adopt AIGC tools. This reflects the creativity-driven learning characteristics, and the flexible and diverse tool demands of the ACG discipline. The findings provide theoretical and empirical insights to enhance the effective synergy and sustainable development between ACG education and AIGC tools. Full article

Public touchscreens, such as those used in automated teller machines or ticket payment systems, which are accessed by different people in a short period of time, could transmit pathogens and thus spread infections. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and test a prototype of a touchscreen system for the public sector that disinfects itself quickly and automatically between two users without harming any humans. A quartz pane was installed in front of a commercial 19” monitor, into which 120 UVC LEDs emitted laterally. The quartz plate acted as a light guide and irradiated microorganisms on its surface, but—due to total reflection—not the user in front of the screen. A near-infrared commercial touch frame was installed to recognize touch. The antibacterial effect was tested through intentional staphylococcus contamination. The prototype, composed of a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with a display, a touchscreen, and a touch frame, was developed, and a simple game was programmed that briefly switched on the UVC LEDs between two users. The antimicrobial effect was so strong that 1% of the maximum UVC LED current was sufficient for a 99.9% staphylococcus reduction within 25 s. At 17.5% of the maximum current, no bacteria were observed after 5 s. The residual UVC irradiance at a distance of 100 mm in front of the screen was only 0.18 and 2.8 µW/cm² for the two currents, respectively. This would allow users to stay in front of the system for 287 or 18 min, even if the LEDs were to emit UVC continuously and not be turned off after a few seconds as in the presented device. Therefore, fast, automatic touchscreen disinfection with UVC LEDs is already possible today, and with higher currents, disinfection durations below 1 s seems to be feasible, while the light guide approach virtually prevents the direct irradiation of the human user. Full article

The burgeoning metaverse market, encompassing virtual and augmented reality, gaming, and manufacturing processes, presents a unique domain for studying user behavior. This study delineates a research framework to investigate the antecedents of behavioral intention, bifurcating users into inexperienced and experienced cohorts. Utilizing a cross-sectional survey, empirical data were amassed and analyzed using structural equation modeling, encompassing 372 responses from 131 inexperienced and 241 experienced users. For inexperienced users, the analysis underscored the significant impact of perceived usefulness on both satisfaction and adoption intention, while perceived enjoyment was found to bolster only satisfaction. Innovativeness and satisfaction do not drive adoption intention. Conversely, for experienced users, satisfaction was significantly influenced by perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived enjoyment. Continuance intention was positively affected by perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, trust, innovativeness, and satisfaction. This research extends valuable insights for both theoretical advancements and practical implementations in the burgeoning metaverse landscape. Full article

The Game Theory is aiding global tourism research to leverage destination appeal and competitiveness in the context of climate change advocacy. As global tourism continues to play a vital role in economic development and cultural exchange, there is a growing need to unravel the complexities of tourist behavior and destination competitiveness. Therefore, this study aims to utilize the Game Theory to investigate the relationships between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Regenerative Tourism Destination Competitiveness (RTDC), Tourist Visit Intention (TVI), and Destination Loyalty (DL) within the UAE, with the moderating role of Climate Advocacy. An online survey (using Google Forms) was distributed via social media platforms (primarily Facebook groups), resulting in data collection from 296 respondents. Smart PLS 4 and SPSS were utilized for data analysis. The findings revealed that RTDC had significant positive relationships with FOMO, DL, and TVI, thus supporting hypotheses 1 to 10. However, the hypothesis regarding Climate Advocacy moderating DL and TVI was not supported. Based on the Game Theory, this study contributes to the theoretical understanding of regenerative tourism destination competitiveness and offers practical implications for destination management strategies. Limitations include reliance on self-reported data and context-specific considerations. Future studies should also consider cultural contexts, to enhance the external validity of research outcomes. Full article

As the basic unit of residents’ activities and social management, communities are the disaster bearers of various public security emergencies. To improve the ability and level of community governance, as well as to strengthen the construction of resilient communities, a tripartite evolutionary game model of local government, developers, and home buyers is built, and numerical simulation is carried out using Matlab to analyze the impact mechanism of main parameters on the evolutionary stability strategy. The results show that: (1) The three parties’ different initial intentions will lead to different evolutionary stability strategies of the system, and the system’s final evolution result will reach the ideal state only when the initial willingness of developers and buyers is high. (2) The greater the government’s subsidy coefficient and the greater the regulatory intensity, the more likely it is that developers will choose to build resilient communities. (3) Public awareness of disaster prevention and mitigation is an important determinant of the purchase of resilient community housing strategies. To achieve rapid development of resilient communities, the intensity of regulation must be continuously improved, the public’s awareness of disaster prevention and mitigation must be strengthened, and the government’s regulatory costs must be reduced. Full article

The rise of mobile games during the COVID-19 pandemic era was evident, especially in Asia. One of the most popular online mobile games that has been evident across the world due to its live worldwide competition is “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” (MLBB). This study aimed to determine factors influencing the behavioral intention to play MLBB by utilizing the integrated model of UTAUT2 and System Usability Scale (SUS). A total of 507 MLBB players voluntarily answered an online questionnaire that consisted of 69 items. Through convenience sampling, the online survey was collected from November 2021–January 2022 from different social media platforms. Several factors such as hedonic motivation, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, perceived usefulness, security, perceived usability, facilitating conditions, social influence, habit, behavioral intention, and SUS were considered in this study. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), results showed that habit was the most significant factor in behavioral intention, followed by perceived usability, facilitating conditions, social influence, and hedonic motivation. In addition, it was evident from the results that when the mobile application is free and resources are available, then continuous patronage of the mobile application will be considered. In-game resources may be capitalized on by developers after gaining these habits and hedonic motivations among users. This is the first study that evaluated MLBB by utilizing the integrated models of UTAUT2 and SUS during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study could be beneficial for developers to entice users for team play and entertainment-based mobile applications. Finally, the model considered may be extended and applied to other mobile applications worldwide. Full article

Along with the proliferation of the mobile information system, broadcasters depend on multiple channels to distribute the massive amount of Olympic content. Users’ viewing habits for the Olympics gradually tend to be diverse, and undergo changes from the outlets of television to mobile broadcasting on smartphones. Through the mobile application of rights holding broadcasters, the users not only watch high-quality live-streaming content via multiple platforms but also enjoy interviews with athletes after the competition. In this way, it is necessary to investigate the users’ potential attitudes and intentions toward mobile viewing regarding the emerging techniques. In this study, we conduct an online survey to reveal the influencing factors of users’ attitudes and continuance intention of Olympic viewing on a mobile app during the period of Tokyo 2020 Summer and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, where a total of 439 valid responses are collected. A conceptual model integrating the technology acceptance model and information system success model is established, which consists of information quality (IQ), system quality (SYQ), subjective norms (SN), innovativeness (INN), perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived enjoyment (PE), attitude (ATT), and continuance intention (CI). For the measurement, partial least square structural equation modeling is adopted to test the proposed model. The results show that respondents hold positive attitudes and robust continuous intentions towards mobile viewing. We also find that the constructs of IQ, SYQ, SN, INN, PEOU, and PE have a direct impact on attitude and continuance intention, which explained 80.6% and 70.8% of the variance, respectively. Although PEOU, PE, and SN are unexpected to have no direct correlation with CI, all of them can indirectly impact CI via the mediation of ATT. Therein, the moderation effects of average time focusing on Olympic contents and app usage time per session exists between PEOU and CI and SN and CI, accordingly. Through empirical investigation, this study offers a glimpse into individuals’ perception and willingness to mobile Olympic viewing, which aims to provide a reference for relevant Olympic service providers. Full article

Video game streaming has become a popular leisure activity which, depending on content, level of skill, and user interest, reaches a wide array of audiences. Using streaming platforms, client users are able to broadcast their video gameplays and use chat rooms to interact with other viewers and game players in real time. This paper aimed to develop and examine a theoretical explanation concerning the formation of client users’ satisfaction with, perceived net benefits of, and continuance intention to use a particular streaming platform. The study employed the updated IS Success Model. An online questionnaire was designed for individuals who were game streaming users of a streaming platform. A total of 632 usable responses were used in the data analysis. The results pointed out that system quality, information quality, service quality, and user motivation all positively and significantly affected user satisfaction. User satisfaction had a positive and significant effect on perceived net benefits and continuance intention to use a streaming platform. Perceived net benefits positively and significantly related to continuance intention to use a particular streaming platform. The moderating effect of emotional involvement between user satisfaction and perceived net benefits was confirmed. Full article

Mobile learning has become an essential telematic tool to facilitate and compliment online teaching and learning during the pandemic. This study investigates the change of behaviour and acceptance of using mobile learning specifically for engineering undergraduates due to this shift. The data collected pre-Covid19 (n = 326) and post-pandemic (n = 349) indicated an inclination for utilizing laptops than smartphones, while Telegram prevails as a popular tool for communicating and sharing information within the learning community. Next, while video conferencing tools and online learning management systems utilization increased, educational games and reading behaviour via mobile devices declined. Concurrently, behavioural intention post-pandemic were found to reduce marginally as importance were also given towards establishing learning communities via social influence compared to perceived usefulness. The outcome of this study contributes to the limited body of literature on engineering education mobile learning acceptance, and recommendations are provided for further investigation to ensure continuous sustainable use. Full article

The present study investigates the effect of an educational program hybridized between the Model of Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) and the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) in physical education classes on the health and psychosocial variables of students, as well as knowing the advantages and disadvantages of its implementation by teachers. The applied program lasted 11 weeks in two Secondary Education centers with a total of four teachers (two in the experimental group and two in the control group) and 99 students (55 from the control group and 44 from the experimental group). We use research methodology Mixed Methods with a quasi-experimental design, where students completed a questionnaire before and after the educational program and teachers were interviewed at the end of the intervention. The results of the questionnaires indicate significant improvements in the experimental group over time in terms of the intention to be physically active, as well as in autonomous motivation, the self-determination index, the index of psychological mediators, personal and social responsibility, and enjoyment. Moreover, the interviews show positive opinions regarding the organizational capacity of the session using this methodology and the interest of teachers in continuing to apply it in the future, as well as the need for initial and ongoing training for proper implementation. In conclusion, the hybridization between the TPSR and TGfU model is presented as an effective alternative to be applied in the educational context with the aim of improving young peoples’ intention to be physically active and psychological variables, such as motivation, responsibility, and enjoyment, in physical education classes. Full article

This study is focused on the massively multiplayer online games’ acceptance. In general, while specialized literature reveals that the online gaming industry has grown strongly in recent years, little evidence is identified on its user acceptance. In this manner, the present study is an attempt to fill this gap. Concretely, two aims are defined: (1) proposing an acceptance model to predict the continuance usage of massively multiplayer online games, and (2) knowing how this continuance usage encourages social well-being. The model proposed employing the structural equation modeling with partial least squares (PLS-SEM) methodology. This PLS-SEM model has been defined using a combination of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the self-determination theory (SDT), comprising eight constructs: (1) autonomy and competence, (2) relatedness, (3) achievement and challenge, (4) flow experience, (5) perceived enjoyment, (6) social well-being, (7) perceived ease of use, and (8) continuance intention. The findings reveal that continuance intention impacts on social well-being. Moreover, the pivotal role of flow experience for continuance intention has been demonstrated. Additionally, continuance intention has been impacted by the perceived enjoyment, showing that it is a key construct for the acceptance of massively multiplayer online games. Thus, two contributions are highlighted. First, these results provide the gaming industry and software developer companies with considerations on gamers’ motivations in the online game design, in order to stimulate and incentivize its use. Second, the present study can be useful for academicians and practitioners to understand the online gamers’ emotions and well-being, showing some light over their psychology and mental health. Finally, limitations and future directions are exposed. Full article