Interactive gamified 3D-training of affine transformations

Abstract

This article presents the Gamified Training Environment for Affine Transformations (GEtiT). GEtiT uses a 3D environment to visualize the effects of object rotation, translation, scaling, reflection, and shearing in 3D space. It encodes the abstract knowledge about homogeneous transformations and their order of application using specific game mechanics encoding 3D movements on different levels of abstraction. Progress in the game requires mastering of the game mechanics of a certain level of abstraction to modify objects in 3D space to a desired goal position and/or shape. Each level increases the abstraction of the representation towards a final 4 × 4 homogeneous matrix representation. Executing the game mechanics during the gameplay results in an effective training of knowledge due to a constant repetition. Evaluation showed a learning effect that is equal to a traditional training method while it achieved a higher enjoyment of use indicating that the learning quality was superior to the traditional training method.