Philosophy can benefit from experiments performed in a laboratory for philosophical experimentation (SophoLab). To illustrate the power of Experimental Computational Philosophy, we set up and ran several experiments on a part of Harsanyi's theory on utilitarianism. Then it became clear that his theory is underspecified. We filled in the blank spots and discovered that information and its costs are key in the effectiveness of act and rule utilitarianism. We also identified three further elements that have particular influence on the effectiveness of both strands of utilitarianism: group size of agents, decision-making around uncertainty, and social culture towards particular types of actions.
Most serious games have been developed without a proper and comprehensive design theory. To contribute to the development of such a theory, this article presents the underlying design philosophy of LEVEE PATROLLER, a game to train levee patrollers in the Netherlands. This philosophy stipulates that the design of a digital serious game is a multiobjective problem in which trade-offs need to be made. Making these trade-offs takes place in a design space defined by three equally important components: (a) Play, (b) Meaning, and (c) Reality. The various tensions between these three components result in design dilemmas and trilemmas that make it difficult to balance a serious game. Each type of tension is illustrated with one or more examples from the design of LEVEE PATROLLER.
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The focus of the research is 'Automated Analysis of Human Performance Data'. The three interconnected main components are (i)Human Performance (ii) Monitoring Human Performance and (iii) Automated Data Analysis . Human Performance is both the process and result of the person interacting with context to engage in tasks, whereas the performance range is determined by the interaction between the person and the context. Cheap and reliable wearable sensors allow for gathering large amounts of data, which is very useful for understanding, and possibly predicting, the performance of the user. Given the amount of data generated by such sensors, manual analysis becomes infeasible; tools should be devised for performing automated analysis looking for patterns, features, and anomalies. Such tools can help transform wearable sensors into reliable high resolution devices and help experts analyse wearable sensor data in the context of human performance, and use it for diagnosis and intervention purposes. Shyr and Spisic describe Automated Data Analysis as follows: Automated data analysis provides a systematic process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modelling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions and supporting decision making for further analysis. Their philosophy is to do the tedious part of the work automatically, and allow experts to focus on performing their research and applying their domain knowledge. However, automated data analysis means that the system has to teach itself to interpret interim results and do iterations. Knuth stated: Science is knowledge which we understand so well that we can teach it to a computer; and if we don't fully understand something, it is an art to deal with it.[Knuth, 1974]. The knowledge on Human Performance and its Monitoring is to be 'taught' to the system. To be able to construct automated analysis systems, an overview of the essential processes and components of these systems is needed.Knuth Since the notion of an algorithm or a computer program provides us with an extremely useful test for the depth of our knowledge about any given subject, the process of going from an art to a science means that we learn how to automate something.
Within the framework of the “Greening Games” project, we will develop, test and distribute flagship didactic materials addressing the interdisciplinary nature of green digital gaming. These will be tested in selected higher education programs and finally shared as open access content for the broader academic and teaching community. It is our core strategic responsibility to educate students about the relations between digital games and environment. We believe that the more aware students of today will become greener game designers, programmers, and academic leaders of tomorrow. At the centre of our partnership’s didactic philosophy are human responsibility, ethical game design and sustainable gaming culture. Societal IssueVideo games serve as technological marvels and cultural reflections. McKenzie Wark suggests they are integral to a shared culture, fostering critical thinking. Games act as arenas for cultural values and environmental awareness. Climate-aware video games, often referred to as 'green games' or 'eco-games,' raise ecological consciousness and reconnect players with nature. For example, Riders Republic, which replicates real-world terrain using satellite imagery, inspires eco-awareness. However, the environmental footprint of video games, reliant on digital electronics and resource-intensive consoles, poses challenges. Developers, manufacturers, and gaming giants must address these impacts. Benjamin Abraham emphasizes sustainable game development as a holistic solution beyond incorporating green content.Benefit to societyBy developing teaching materials on green gaming for higher education, we create the following impact. We will…- increase the awareness of this subject among Bachelor’s and Master’s students.- enhance students’ knowledge of green gaming and their ability to integrate existing solutions into their game projects.- stimulate more research interest among research staff as well as students.- facilitate the uptake of pedagogical resources on green gaming by lecturers and professors.- create a European research community around the topic.- raise the visibility of green game studies among the game industry and wider public.
Social enterprises (SEs) can play an important role in addressing societal problems. SEs are businesses whose primary objective is to generate social impact (e.g. well-being, social wealth and cohesion, and ecology) through a market-based model. SEs achieve this through a hybrid business model, trading-off financial and social value creation objectives. SEs typically face higher costs, for example because of ethical sourcing principles and/or production processes centering around the needs of workers who are vulnerable or hard-to-employ. This results in SEs’ struggling to scale-up due to their relatively costly operating model. Traditional management techniques are not always appropriate, as they do not take into account the tensions between financial and social value creation objectives of SEs. Our project examines how continuous improvement, and in particular the philosophy and tools of Lean can be harnessed to improve SEs competitiveness. Lean organizations share many values with SEs, such as respect for people, suggesting a good fit between the values and principles of Lean and those of SEs. The consortium for this project is a cooperation between the research groups Improving Business and New Marketing of the Center of Expertise Well-Being Economy and New Entrepreneurship and the minor Continuous Improvement of AVANS Hogeschool, and the SME companies Elliz in Company and Ons Label. The project consists of two phases, an exploratory phase during which the question “in what ways can the philosophy and tools of Lean be used by Social Enterprises?” will be addressed. Interviews and focus groups will be conducted with multiple SEs (not only partners). Participant observation will be conducted by the students of the minor Continuous Improvement at the partner SEs. During the second phase, the implementation of the identified principles and tools will be operationalized through a roadmap. Action research will be conducted in cooperation with the partner SEs.
