Entertainment Computing最新文献

{"title":"Paykan: Virtual reality gaming as a therapeutic tool for target panic disorder","authors":"Hesam Sakian Mohamadi ,&nbsp;Faraz Bakhshi ,&nbsp;Yoones A. Sekhavat ,&nbsp;Mallesham Dasari ,&nbsp;Kazem Gobadi Ansaroudi ,&nbsp;Mahdi Ahmadzadeh Haji Alilou","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The detrimental effects of stress and anxiety on mental and physical health are well-documented. In the context of professional athletics, high levels of pressure and anxiety can lead to a decline in performance and a regression in well-honed skills, a phenomenon known as performance blocks. While traditional methods have been employed to mitigate these blocks, recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of digital approaches, especially virtual reality and serious games, in addressing mental and physical disorders. The application of digital treatments to target panic, a specific type of performance block which is a prevalent issue among professional archers, remains understudied. Furthermore, the relationship between personality traits and treatment efficacy remains unclear. This study reports on the findings of a formal user study involving 30 archers over a four-week period. A comprehensive system was designed and developed, integrating a virtual reality game as the software component alongside the necessary hardware, serving as the medium for treatment. Additionally, a tailored questionnaire addressing target panic was formulated to facilitate data collection. The results reveal a statistically significant difference between the proposed method and traditional approaches, as well as a strong positive correlation between achievements in the digital environment and real-world performance. The findings suggest that digital treatment can be a viable tool for archers experiencing target panic disorder, and that certain personality traits, such as conscientiousness, are closely tied to treatment effectiveness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101013"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144887211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of social media on the psychological well-being of rural Youth- A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis","authors":"M. Anshida ,&nbsp;P.P. Murugan ,&nbsp;M. Senthilkumar ,&nbsp;M. Chandrakumar ,&nbsp;G. Vanitha","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rise of social media has profoundly influenced the mental health of young people, including rural youth who face unique socio-economic challenges. This systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis investigates the impact of social media on the psychological well-being of rural youth, examining both positive and negative aspects. Social media fosters social connectivity and educational access but also contributes to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem through social comparison and cyberbullying. A systematic search of peer-reviewed articles from 2019 to May 2024 was conducted using the Scopus database. Inclusion criteria focused on studies addressing the psychological effects of social media on rural youth. Data were analyzed using Bibliometrics, an R package for bibliometric analysis, to identify trends, collaborations and key themes. The findings highlight the dual nature of social media’s impact. While it provides opportunities for interaction and access to resources, excessive or maladaptive use, particularly exposure to idealized content and cyberbullying, poses significant mental health risks. Rural youth are especially vulnerable due to isolation and limited access to mental health support. Understanding this nuanced role is vital for designing interventions that maximize social media’s benefits while mitigating risks, promoting the psychological well-being of rural youth in the digital age.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101012"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating artificial intelligence and gamification in rehabilitation: A scoping review","authors":"Minkai Wang ,&nbsp;Jingdong Zhu ,&nbsp;Wei Qian ,&nbsp;Hanjie Gu","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and gamification represents a promising direction in rehabilitation, enabling personalized training, real-time feedback, and enhanced patient engagement. However, research in this area remains fragmented, necessitating a structured synthesis. This scoping review analyzed 20 studies published over the past two decades and indexed in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore. Stroke rehabilitation was the most frequently addressed condition (9 studies), followed by motor dysfunction (2), rheumatoid arthritis (2), cognitive impairment (3), phantom limb pain (2), ADHD (1), and multiple sclerosis (1). AI techniques included machine learning (10 studies), deep learning (4), and unspecified methods (6), while game-based interventions were categorized as gamification (4), serious games (8), and digital games (8). Reported outcomes indicated improvements in motivation, therapy adherence, and various metrics of rehabilitation performance. Nonetheless, key challenges persist, including small sample sizes, methodological heterogeneity, data privacy concerns, and the lack of large-scale clinical trials. Barriers related to cost, accessibility, and ethics also hinder broader implementation. Future research should prioritize multimodal data integration, AI-driven remote rehabilitation platforms, and wearable technologies to enhance scalability and clinical impact.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101011"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144841429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reflection Stamps: A simple and positive method to support self-evaluation in illustration drawing","authors":"Seina Tajika,&nbsp;Hiroki Watanabe,&nbsp;Yoshinari Takegawa,&nbsp;Keiji Hirata","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100998","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100998","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this research, which targets illustration drawing, we designed, implemented and evaluated a system, called ‘Reflection Stamps’, to reduce the effort and mental burden of the act of reflecting on one’s work and encourage positive reflection. When drawing an illustration, it is important for the learner to reflect positively on their own work to aid the development of their technique. However, the majority of existing reflection methods require a great deal of effort, or else involve a negative approach of indicating points for improvement, which results in the problem that the act of reflection imposes a mental burden. The proposed ‘Reflection Stamps’ system is equipped with a word stamp function that makes it easy to record evaluation and feedback on each part of an illustration. The system is furnished with a large number of stamps with positive content to encourage the learner’s sense of self-affirmation. The results of the evaluation experiment showed that the proposed system reduced the time required for reflection by 60% in comparison to the comparative method, which was a conventional method. In addition, there was a 133% increase in positive reflections when compared to the comparative method, demonstrating that the proposed system facilitated many more positive reflections. Furthermore, the system received a rating of 79 points on the System Usability Scale, confirming that it has good usability. However, it also became clear that to increase operability it is necessary to improve the placement of the stamps, and the enlarge/reduce function. In future we aim to construct a system to better support skill improvement in illustration, by increasing the variety and range of expression of the stamps to enable effective and accurate reflection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 100998"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144841431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Personalizing empathy training with immersive virtual reality games: Development and user experience study","authors":"Jiyoung Moon ,&nbsp;Teemu H. Laine ,&nbsp;Sunny Thapa Magar ,&nbsp;Hae Jung Suk","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Immersive virtual reality (IVR) has been successfully applied in various areas of psychology and learning. IVR has also been adapted for empathy training, but previous studies failed to consider various empathy types. We aimed to provide learners with personalized recommendations of empathy training content for different empathy types. Consequently, we presented Robot’s Dream, an IVR game suite providing personalized content based on the learner’s empathy type. We then conducted a mixed-method evaluation with 35 fifth and sixth-grade students who played Robot’s Dream and answered a post-test questionnaire on usability, user experience, and impact. The user study results demonstrated adequate usability and user experience with emotional engagement of the participants. However, the participants gave mixed reactions to realism and discomfort with the IVR hardware. The results also showed high perceived potential for empathy training and raising awareness of empathy. By retrospectively analyzing the development process and the user study results, we presented learned lessons and identified aspects in Robot’s Dream for future improvement. The presented development account of Robot’s Dream and the user study results can be helpful for educators, researchers, and developers interested in personalizing empathy training and other psychological training with IVR games.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101004"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chasing the Rush: How horror games trigger adrenaline and fuel Fear-Inducing elements","authors":"Klarisse Nicole N. Savino ,&nbsp;Ronila Angela B. Mateo ,&nbsp;Ardvin Kester S. Ong","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fear has been capitalized through horror video games, driving players to develop a craving for adrenaline-fueled fear, fostering fear-inducing elements, and leading to unhealthy behavioral patterns. This study examined how fear and adrenaline are triggered in horror video games, influencing play intention and actual gameplay, and how these experiences contribute to fear-inducing elements analyzed based on their stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) aspects. The objective was to determine significant predictors of actual gaming of horror video games by analyzing data from 1,015 valid players using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach with SOR-based analysis. Findings revealed that fear-inducing elements strongly influenced psychological response and emotional value. In contrast, game design elements primarily impacted perceived control and play intention. It was revealed that both psychological and physiological responses contribute to emotional value, while cognitive processing played a more dominant role than physiological arousal in shaping emotional impact. In accordance, play intention strongly predicts actual gameplay, but excessive fear-inducing elements can reduce actual gameplay. These results highlight the need for game designers and developers to balance fear elements with adaptive difficulty, strategic pacing, and perceived control to enhance immersion while being physiologically, and psychologically safe. Horror game players can use these insights to manage their expectations and experiences effectively. For gaming industry marketers and publishers, responsible promotion of horror games should emphasize thrilling engagement and psychological safety, ensuring sustainable and innovative gaming practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101001"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144723462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamic difficulty adjustment using a large language model: A case study in magic: The Gathering","authors":"Xiaoxu Li ,&nbsp;Zifan Ye ,&nbsp;Yi Xia ,&nbsp;Ruck Thawonmas","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100997","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100997","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a framework called LLM-MTG-DDA, which uses a large language model (LLM) in the real-world card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG) to act as a player and implement a dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) mechanism. LLMs, as a highly useful technology, have been explored across various fields. However, research on using LLMs for DDA in games, particularly in complex turn-based games, is very limited. In this paper, GPT-4o acts as two players in a simplified version of MTG. One GPT-4o player plays as a regular player (LLM-Player), while the other GPT-4o player adjusts its strategy based on the current game state to balance the difficulty (LLM-DDA). Our LLM-MTG-DDA framework, with a suitable objectives for different players, demonstrates reasonable DDA, with the LLM-Player’s win rate and the win rate per round (excluding draws) both approaching 50%. This framework provides insights for applying LLMs as DDA mechanisms in other similar games.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 100997"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144739408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI-powered virtual streamers and viewer behavior: An image-inspiration-behavior framework","authors":"Ting (Tina) Li ,&nbsp;Zhongyuan Zhou ,&nbsp;Xianfeng Zhang ,&nbsp;Yang Zhou ,&nbsp;Si Wen","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101000","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101000","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Today, a new form of live-streaming has emerged: virtual streamers powered by Artificial Intelligence technology, which autonomously perform live-streaming tasks as human streamers do. This form of live-streaming has quickly gained popularity. However, studies in this area are scarce. This study aims to fill this research gap by investigating how virtual AI streamers impact viewers by adopting the image-inspiration-behavior framework, in which the image of virtual AI streamers is described by warmth, competence, and coolness, and behavior is studied as interaction and purchase intentions. The data were collected from 559 participants via a scenario-based survey. The partial least squares – structural equation modeling and artificial neural network are used to analyze the data. It was found that the three image dimensions (warmth, competence, and coolness) influence consumer interaction and purchase intentions through the mediating effect of inspiration. The findings of this study advance previous studies mainly by investigating how virtual AI streamers impact viewer behaviors and offer insights to live-streaming companies in their adoption of virtual AI streamers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101000"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144695283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Storytelling in mobile games: Cross-cultural analysis of narrative engagement, retention, and monetization","authors":"JaeJun Lee,&nbsp;Joo-Eun Kang,&nbsp;Soyoun Eom","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100994","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100994","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines storytelling consumption patterns in The Walking Dead: Match3 Tales, a mobile game that integrates a well-known intellectual property into a ludic-focused gameplay experience. Through quantitative analysis of user behavior across 15 countries, we explore how different cultural regions engage with narrative elements in mobile games. The findings reveal that story consumption is highly fragmented, with players dedicating only a small fraction of their session time to storytelling. Regional differences emerge, with Western audiences generally spending more time with narrative content than East Asian players. However, more narrative content consumption does not correlate with higher retention or monetization. Instead, players who consume less story content exhibit higher retention rates and contribute more to in-game revenue. These findings indicate that simply integrating storytelling elements does not automatically lead to higher engagement or monetization, particularly when not supported by the game’s core mechanics and monetization framework. While certain cultural regions may indeed spend more time engaging with narrative features, the broader game structure must effectively integrate those elements to achieve meaningful player retention and revenue gains. Certain player segments in Western markets may allocate more time to story-driven features, yet simply adding narrative content does not ensure better retention or revenue. Instead, effective storytelling in mobile games must work in tandem with the underlying gameplay systems and monetization design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 100994"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Leveraging deep reinforcement learning for dynamic NPC behavior and enhanced player experience in unity3d","authors":"Ahmad Affandi Supli,&nbsp;Xu Siqi","doi":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the innovation of information technology and the improvement of computer hardware and software, players’ needs gradually change from pursuing the ultimate visual and auditory feast to the inner performance, gameplay, interactive elements, etc. As an essential part of game content, game AI plays the role of communication and interaction with players. Since the emergence of game AI, it has been paid attention to by game developers. However, it is also a difficult job to make brilliant game AI. The common approaches to implementing game AI are finite state machines and behavior trees. Still, these two approaches require much work to implement flexible game AI and are difficult to maintain later. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate machine learning to train a compliant and flexible game AI. Specifically, this paper adopts a method to train game AI in Unity scenes using machine learning methods such as deep reinforcement learning with the help of the ML-Agents toolkit and Python programming interface. In order to better test the performance of the machine learning method, this study designs a game based on the Unity game engine, which includes a game AI implemented using behavior trees and machine learning. Through the production process and the final implementation results, this paper compares the differences in design ideas and implementation process between using behavior trees and using machine learning to implement game AI, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. The purpose of this study is to promote machine learning in the field of game research and achieve higher operational efficiency. Relevant existing principles and guidelines inform the game design process. In addition, the game proposed in this paper can be used as future research to promote machine learning in games to achieve a more efficient, more straightforward design and better player experience. After the game implementation, a quantitative research method is used to measure the players’ immersion in the game and the players’ satisfaction with the designed game AI. The evaluation results showed that most respondents believed that the proposed agents performed well against both human players and inbuilt game agents.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55997,"journal":{"name":"Entertainment Computing","volume":"55 ","pages":"Article 101007"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}