The REVEAL Educational Environmental Narrative Framework for Playstation VR

J. Habgood, D.R. Moore, S. Granero, C. Ferguson, H. van Oostendorp

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The REVEAL project is pioneering the use of PlayStation VR for educational applications which engage audiences in Europe's rich scientific and cultural heritage. The REVEAL software framework facilitates the development of Educational Environmental Narrative (EEN) games in virtual reality for the PlayStation 4. The framework is composed of a set of software layers and editor plugins which augment an existing game engine technology ("The PhyreEngine") and facilitate its transfer to educational applications. The PhyreEngine was created by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe and is free and open source to registered PlayStation developers, including academic partners under the PlayStation First scheme. The REVEAL framework is built on top of the PhyreEngine and will be made similarly available to PlayStation developers through Sony Interactive Entertainment's developer network. This paper describes the functionality and design of the REVEAL framework, including its graph-based architecture, node-based locomotion system and high-resolution paper artefact rendering system. Key supporting tools are also described, including the Story Scaffolding Tool and its role in collecting detailed game analytics. The application of the framework is illustrated through an EEN case study application based on the life of Dr. Edward Jenner: the 18th century scientist credited with the discovery of vaccination. Finally, we discuss how we will empirically evaluate the effectiveness of a VR application and its components.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 12th European Conference on Game Based Learning (ECGBL2018)
Place of PublicationSophia Antipolis, France
PublisherACPI
Pages175-183
Number of pages10
ISBN (Print)978-1-911218-99-9
Publication statusPublished - 2018
EventECGBL 2018 - SKEMA Business School, Sophia Antipolis, France
Duration: 4 Oct 20185 Oct 2018

Publication series

Name Proceedings of the European conference on games-based learning
ISSN (Print)2049-0992

Conference

ConferenceECGBL 2018
Country/TerritoryFrance
CitySophia Antipolis
Period4/10/185/10/18

Keywords

  • game-based learning
  • virtual reality
  • environmental narrative games

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