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Having been a promising visualization tool since 1950s, ironically, virtual reality is not widely used in the architectural design and evaluation process due to several constrains, such as the high cost of equipments and advanced programming skills required. This paper described the collaboration between design computing courses and architecture design studios that have been taught at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2004 and 2005. These courses explored several practical methods to integrate Low Cost Virtual Reality Aided Design (LC-VRAD) in the architectural design process. As a summary of the collaboration, this paper refers to three main aspects: (1) How to use game engine to design an affordable VR system in the ordinary studio environment. (2) How to integrate VR, into the design process, not only as a visualization tool, but also as a design instrument. (3) How to evaluate different methods of representing architectural models based on the efficiency of workflow, rendering quality and users' feedback.

Support by the Game and Interactive Design Department at SCAD, students in the School of Building Arts implemented two Low Cost VRAD methods in various design phases, starting from site analysis, schematic design, design development to the final presentation. Two popular game engines, Epic Game's Unreal engine and Director MX's Shockwave engine, were introduced to students to visualize their project in real-time. We discussed computer-aided design theories including the application of VR, as well as digital computing and human computer interaction. At the end of each quarter, feedbacks from students and faculties were collected and analyzed. These methods were revised and improved consistently across 2004 and 2005 academic year.

Ideation, which is the generation of ideas, is the most crucial step in the early stage of innovation projects. Creativity methods can be applied for ideation purposes. Here, the paper aims to present a concept for combining a multi‐player online game called refQuest with concepts from the Synectics method.

After presenting the two concepts of the refQuest gaming engine and the Synectics method, an approach of how the elements of the gaming engine can be used to implement the Synectics method is shown. Beside this, an initial evaluation of the usefulness of using serious gaming for ideation purposes is given.

It is found that the elements of the Synectics method fit very well with the concepts of the gaming engine of refQuest. A concept for integration could be derived.

The online game refQuest is suitable to support the ideation process. Including concepts from Synectics is possible and would enhance the gaming concept.

Traditional construction planning relies upon the critical path method and bar charts. Both of these methods suffer from visualization and timing issues that could be addressed by 4D technology specifically geared to meet the needs of the construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new construction planning approach based on simulation by using a game engine.

A 4D automatic simulation tool was developed and a case study was carried out. The proposed tool was used to simulate and optimize the plans for the installation of a temporary platform for piling in a civil construction project in Hong Kong. The tool simulated the result of the construction process with three variables: equipment, site layout and schedule. Through this, the construction team was able to repeatedly simulate a range of options.

The results indicate that the proposed approach can provide a user-friendly 4D simulation platform for the construction industry. The simulation can also identify the solution being sought by the construction team. The paper also identifies directions for further development of the 4D technology as an aid in construction planning and decision making.

The tests on the tool are limited to a single case study and further research is needed to test the use of game engines for construction planning in different construction projects to verify its effectiveness. Future research could also explore the use of alternative game engines and compare their performance and results.

The authors proposed the use of game engine to simulate the construction process based on resources, working space and construction schedule. The developed tool can be used by end-users without simulation experience.

This paper aims to enquire into how building information modelling (BIM) and gaming can be integrated to support professionals in their learning about the spatial layout of a new building. This knowledge is important to prepare building operation and facilities management (FM).

Ingrained in task–technology fit theory, this paper reports from a case study of a serious game staged in the graphical environment of a building information model. A series of interviews with the client, subject-matter experts and software developers involved in developing the game were conducted. The industrial setting for the study is a major hospital construction project in Norway. The project has been awarded BuildingSMART’s 2015 award for “outstanding open BIM practice”, making it Norway’s role model for BIM practice.

Importing and exporting geometry from BIM into a game engine remain challenging. The transfer of data between the two requires workarounds using intermediary software. Apart from issues related to technical interoperability, several sociotechnical challenges influential for the integration of BIM and gaming have been identified, related to: the collaboration among construction, operational and gaming experts; clear communication of information needs; and better contractual agreements.

BIM’s geometric and semantic data enabled the creation of a sophisticated game for preparing building operation. Test-users perceived the game to be superior to classroom teaching for learning about the spatial layout of the building. However, quantifying the business value of the game for operation after occupancy of the new facilities was beyond the scope of this study.

The work presented exemplifies a novel application area of BIM and gaming technology in FM. The findings presented in this article are relevant for professionals and scholars seeking to expand the utility of BIM for starting up the operation of new facilities.

Despite the popularity of the Computational Thinking (CT) paradigm and the call for broad social diffusion of CS fundamentals, the authors argue that the concept is inherently limited and limiting and does not sufficiently convey an understanding of how to enable people to create with computational technologies. The authors suggest an alternate paradigm, procedural creativity, that calls for the development of conceptual creative spaces governed by procedurally generative principles. The authors also call for game development to be the focus of procedural creativity pedagogy.

The authors first discuss the limitations of the CT paradigm, focusing, in particular, on the issue of abstraction and representation as opposed to execution and action. The authors then define procedural creativity in more detail. Following that, they discuss the use of game development as pedagogy, with a focus on Margaret Boden’s notion of conceptual creative spaces.

CT is limited because it focuses overly on solutions to computational “problems”, because it is tied too closely with economic concerns and because it focuses on abstraction at the cost of action. Procedural creativity, on the other hand, focuses on the individual’s capacity for personal expression with the computer and on the generative capacity of code in action. Game development is in ideal platform for procedural creativity because it emphasizes the development of creative domains and conceptual spaces.

This paper offers a challenge to the CT status quo and presents a novel way forward for understanding computation as a creative practice.

The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry exists in a dynamic environment and requires several stakeholders to communicate regularly. However, evidence indicates current communication practices fail to meet the requirements of increasingly complex projects. With the advent of Industry 4.0, a trend is noted to create a digital communication environment between stakeholders. Identified as a central technology in Industry 4.0, virtual reality (VR) has the potential to supplement current communication and facilitate the digitization of the AEC industry. This paper aims to explore how VR has been applied and future research directions for communication purpose.

This research follows a systematic literature assessment methodology to summarize the results of 41 research articles in the last 15 years and outlines the applications of VR in facilitating communication in the AEC domain.

Relevant VR applications are mainly found in building inspection, facility management, safety training, construction education and design and review. Communication tools and affordance are provided or built in several forms: text-based tools, voice chat tool, visual sharing affordance and avatars. Objective and subjective communication assessments are observed from those publications.

This review contributes to identifying the recent employment areas and future research directions of VR to facilitate communication in the AEC domain. The outcome can be a practical resource to guide both industry professionals and researchers to recognize the potentials of VR and will ultimately facilitate the creation of digital construction environments.

Engaging with digital heritage requires understanding not only to comprehend what is simulated but also the reasons leading to its creation and curation, and how to ensure both the digital media and the significance of the cultural heritage it portrays are passed on effectively, meaningfully, and appropriately. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization defines ‘digital heritage’ to comprise of computer-based materials of enduring value some of which require active preservation strategies to maintain them for years to come.

With the proliferation of digital technologies and digital media, computer games have increasingly been seen as not only depicters of cultural heritage and platforms for virtual heritage scholarship and dissemination but also as digital cultural artefacts worthy of preservation. In this chapter, we examine how games (both digital and non-digital) can communicate cultural heritage in a galleries, libraries, archives, and museums [GLAM] setting. We also consider how they can and have been used to explore, communicate, and preserve heritage and, in particular, Indigenous heritage. Despite their apparently transient and ephemeral nature, especially compared to conventional media such as books, we argue computer games can be incorporated into active preservation approaches to digital heritage. Indeed, they may be of value to cultural heritage that needs to be not only viewed but also viscerally experienced or otherwise performed.

With the recent advances in mobile networking, context‐aware computing, and sensor‐based computing, researchers and game designers are able to explore the potential of combining these new technologies to develop mobile, networked, context‐aware, augmented reality multiplayer games. As part of new research collaboration between Lancaster University, Cisco Systems, Microsoft Research and Orange – MIPv6 Systems Research Lab, such a mobile context‐aware multiplayer game is proposed and explored. The proposed game, Real Tournament, gathers real‐time contextual information, e.g. physical location and orientation, from the players and injects them into the game engine to generate game events.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel undergraduate course on serious game design and development that integrates both game and instructional design, thus providing an effective approach to teaching serious game design and development. Very little effort has been dedicated to the teaching of proper serious game design and development leading to many examples of serious games that provide little, if any, educational value.

Organized around a collection of video clips (that provided a brief contextualized overview of the topic and questions for further exploration), readings, interdisciplinary research projects and games, the course introduced the principles of game and instructional design, educational theories used to support game-based learning and methods for evaluating serious games. Discussions and activities supported the problems that students worked on throughout the course to develop a critical stance and approach toward implementing game-based learning. Students designed serious games and examined potential issues and complexities involved in developing serious games and incorporating them within a teaching curriculum.

Results of student course evaluations reveal that the course was fun and engaging. Students found the course fun and engaging, and through the successful completion of the final course project, all students met all of the course objectives. A discussion regarding the techniques and approaches used in the course that were successful (or unsuccessful) is provided.

It should be noted that a more detailed analysis has not been presented to fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the course. A more detailed analysis may have included a comparison with, for example, past versions of the course that was not based on an online problem-based learning (PBL) approach, to better quantify the effectiveness of the course. However, such a comparison could not be carried out here, given there was no measure of prior knowledge of students taken before they took course (e.g. no “pre-test data”).

Unlike the few existing courses dedicated to serious game design, the course was designed specifically to facilitate a fully online PBL approach and provided students the opportunity to take control of their own learning through active research, exploration and problem-solving alone, in groups and through facilitated class discussions.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the feasibility of modifying a commercial off‐the‐shelf video game that incorporates elements of information literacy.

This paper examines six game design elements of educational video games and discusses the resources required to design and build Benevolent Blue, a “modded” video game.

This paper provides a discussion of the skills, time and funding required to build a “mod” incorporating information literacy.

Although modifying commercial videogames is quite popular, very little discussion or work is written about “modding” and its potential use designing video games for libraries. Further research is required to determine if the knowledge transfer of information literacy skills occurs with players. Additional study could look at incorporating information literacy into video games of different genres and well as the impact that video games have on undergraduate student engagement and satisfaction.

This paper outlines the resources needed to modify a commercial off‐the‐shelf video game and provides suggestions on how others in libraries might do the same.

This paper looks at serious educational games in a new way – the modification of commercial off the shelf games to develop complete game play experiences that sit outside the classroom and emphasize the importance of play.