WELCOME TO CRISISTUDY

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WELCOME TO CRISISTUDY
CLICK TO ENTER
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• So, whats it all about?
• Crisistudy aims to test and evaluate the usage of
  online multi-user computer games as a simulation
  tool for human behavior under conditions such as
  emergencies and disasters.
• In order to accomplish the above aims an
  experimental multi-user strategy game named
  Disasterville was created with a number of gaming
  modules that include a Post Earthquake, Pandemic,
  and an Armed Offender scenarios.

Who is behind the research? The Crisistudy
project is carried out by Ilan Schwartz, a Ph.D.
student at the Natural Hazards Research Centre,
department of Geological Sciences, University of
Canterbury, New Zealand, and is supervised by
Assoc. Prof. Tim Davies from the Natural Hazards
Research Centre, department of Geological
Sciences, University of Canterbury, and by Dr.
Richard Green from the Computer Sciences, School
of Engineering, University of Canterbury, New
Zealand.
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Participation Where Lab 2 (room 133), Floor
level, Erskine Building (Maths and Computer
Sciences) What does participation include? In
most cases, the computer will be already on and
logged in into the game, so all you have to do
start to play. Within the game you will do the
following 1. Read a short background about the
experiment and sign an electronic consent form
(about 5 minutes), 2. Answer the first part of a
questionnaire (about 5 minutes), 3. Undergo a
step-by-step tutorial that teaches you in a how
to use the game interface and controls (about 20
minutes). 4. Play the game for as long as you
can! 5. Answer the final part of the
questionnaire (about 5 minutes). (Note that pilot
studies show that the average time a participant
spent in the lab was around 100 minutes).
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A short synopsis of game scenarios Post
earthquake and pandemic You are a lucky person
that got an invitation from his relatives in
Disasterville to stay with them during the summer
and explore the city. Disasterville is an old
port city situated between the seashore on one
side and an active volcano on the other. Historic
documents state that the city was destroyed and
rebuilt quite a few times during the last 200
years. Inhabitants experience the wrath of Mother
Nature on a daily basis. However, just a few
hours before your arrival, a large earthquake
hits the citythe city is left with almost no
food or water, no municipal services, huge rats
and garbage piled in the streets that are vectors
for a deadly virus, and chaos is everywhere...
You need to compete with other participants for
that little left, and not only that - you also
have to feed your relatives, who so generously
invited you to stay with them. Here is where your
big adventure starts
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A short synopsis of game scenarios Armed
offender in this scenario an armed offender
enters into the famous Disasterville university
student village. Depending upon scenario you
can play either a police officer that chases the
shooter, a first aid person that assists the
injured crowd, an innocent student that tries to
escape or hide, or play the shooter himself
trying to create as much damage as he can.
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• What data is collected during the game?
• Factual data
• Roaming patterns of the player during the game.
• Actions taken (entering into houses, talking to
  other characters, eating, attacking, giving or
  taking items).
• Subjective data
• Questionnaire answers (demographic data).
• Tagging of interactions (rating of various
  interactions by player according to his
  impression).
• Note that NO PERSONAL DATA is collected (all
  computers have unique login names, and characters
  have predefined names).

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• Information that can be retrieved from the game
• Violence levels
• Roaming patterns
• Virus infection patterns
• Mortality rates
• Evacuation patterns
• Immersion level
• Planning/ strategy of gaming and more

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Some screenshots of the game
NeverWinter Nights Aurora - content creation
toolset
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• Views of Disasterville

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• A typical street

The tutorial area
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• Interior of a typical home

Interior of the sector post
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• Some of the characters in the game (from right to
  left)
• Law enforcement (blue), sector post (red), health
  professional (white), crowd members.

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• Items used in the game
• (from top to bottom)
• A food ration you will need to eat
  periodically in order to survive.
• A voucher you are given these by you family
  and exchange them for food (as long as there is)
• Gold coins used to purchase goods.
• An aid kit expensive, but can save you from
  the pandemic.
• A key to your family house.
• An old baseball bat wonder what that can be
  used for

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Thats all.Thank you for the time you dedicated
to read this this presentation.Hope to see you
in the lab!(and remember the game is designed
so that everybody can play it, you dont need to
be a gamer in order to play it).