Vol 10 - Issue 3

Technology and Innovation

List of Articles

Serious games as artifacts and serious play activities go back a long way. In the introduction to this issue of Technology & Innovation, we’d like to take a look at the history of playful practices and devices used for serious purposes. The history of these games can be dated back to early man, or to the first jacks (knucklebones) and dices found in archaeological excavations. But in written terms, it’s from the 5th century B.C. onwards that the first references to games in a utilitarian context appear. Quickly identified for some of its teaching qualities for children, or for adults by metaphor, it was also diverted to less praiseworthy ends such as betting, the staging of power or the manipulation of crowds. While these practices did not disappear over the centuries, they were more discreet until the year 1000, when they began to take on a new lease of life. However, it wasn’t until the 18th century that new edutainment activities appeared. Children’s games and military games were the focus of numerous experiments. With wargames, military games were also used to test ideas. Next came business and health games, which continued to develop well into the computer age. Indeed, from the very beginning, digital technology offered new, serious uses for games, and from the 1970s onwards enabled the development of a variety of utility games, the number of which has grown exponentially over the decades. This has led to the emergence of numerous sub-categories (advert games, newsgames, persuasive games, games with a purpose, agile games, etc.) and the resurgence of activities based on analog games or components thereof (serious gaming, serious play, gamification, etc.).

The aim of this paper is to determine whether the Serious Game is a human invention. To answer this question, we propose to check whether both Serious Game and Serious Play can be found in the animal kingdom. If such a census proves negative, then we can conclude that the Serious Game could indeed correspond to a human invention. If this were not the case, then Serious Play would be better regarded as inter-species activities. This would then lead us to study whether it is possible to identify common aspects and specificities between species. If, at the same time, it is possible to identify animals that also used objects to play for utilitarian purposes, then we could see the Serious Game not as an invention, but rather as the object of human innovation. To carry out this study, we will conduct a hypothetico-deductive analysis combining readings from ethology, biology and the humanities.

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing professions, requiring a growing number of competent decision-makers. The need to make adequate decisions is not limited only to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists, but is also largely the responsibility of management. One of the methods to improve decision-making is to train through scenario-based serious games offering a preparedness review before a crisis materializes. The decision scope also changes with some new actors: politically, financially and psychologically motivated groups targeting cyber assets. Serious games often treat security in red (offensive) and blue (defensive) terms. This paper is mapping the potential differences that arise when the threat actor profile is presented in addition to the scenario, allowing the response plans of hospitals to be tailored to the specific threat. As the result, two contrasting scenarios are introduced, generating a response plan for a geopolitically-motivated hacker group and ideologically-motivated hacktivist. This approach could be further applied to cyber preparedness in hospitals, utilizing the process described in this study.

Agile games form a special category of serious games, because they are historically and above all associated with so-called agile methods. These methods emerged in the 1990s and they were structured around a manifesto in the early 2000s. Initially, these methods were essentially designed to improve the management of software and information technology design and development teams. Since then, their scope has been extended to the management of almost all types of projects and organizations. The success of some of their implementations has made the adjective "agile" trendy, leading to its overuse as a language element to describe a company as competitive or innovative. After a brief presentation of these methods, we turn in this text to the agile games that have been developed to promote them or support certain steps in their implementation. We draw up a cartography of these games, based on data collected from five websites and one book dedicated to them. Based on this collection, we estimate the variety and usefulness of these games. In fact, we present different sub-categories of these games, qualifying them and describing the most popular among the sources surveyed.

This paper explores the use of serious games as provocative methods in research. Through a detailed case study of research through gaming, the authors demonstrate how the researcher becomes a provocative agent who influences the dynamics studied, revealing behaviors otherwise inaccessible through traditional methods. This interdisciplinary approach enriches research but presents challenges in terms of method validation. Serious games require diverse skills and raise important ethical questions, particularly regarding participant protection. Ultimately, they transform research practice, promoting a more creative and engaged exploration of social phenomena.

A computer system’s ability to analyze texts semantically involves interpreting figurative content. Analogy is often used to convey new ideas through similarity with known ideas. Comparison and metaphor can be modeled as an analogical square A : B :: C : D (meaning A is to B what C is to D) with one or more variables whose most relevant values must be found. This article presents two games for collecting lexical data related to analogies. The first game, Analogia, is an adaptation of JeuxDeMots to analogies, where the player has to provide the most relevant answers for an analogy to a variable. For example, find x for “coal is to black what snow is to x”. The second game, Intersector, involves answering questions to find out what the 4 terms in an analogy have in common. The terms proposed are those taken from the analogies in the Analogia game. All the data collected by these games makes it possible to automatically resolve analogies, and thus interpret figurative content.

The aim of this paper is to present a range of terms and concepts: “Ludopedagogy”, “Serious Game”, “Gamification”, “Ludification”, “Ludicization”, “Serious Toy”, “Serious Gaming”, “Degamification” and “Toyification”. They are all related to “ludopedagogy”. To contextualize what we are saying, we will use an artifact - a sponge - as a support. The aim of this approach is to show how a simple artifact can be instrumentalized to help people discover different play-related concepts and utilitarian applications. This approach shows that social constructs and individual subjectivity are at work in understanding all these terms.

French students in the Management Control and Performance Management (CG2P) course of the University Bachelor of Technology (BUT) of the speciality Business Organisation & Management (GEA) are often focused on obtaining quantitative results, i.e. essentially carrying out calculations and applying formulas, which limits their understanding of the managerial and economic concepts being worked on. To correct this shortcoming, a role-playing game (RPG) learning approach applied to a case study in management control is presented. This pedagogical method engages students by immersing them in practical scenarios that require them to mobilize management control concepts. The aim is to show how tabletop roleplaying can transform “academic” learning into skills through a scripted management simulation. The paper details the organization of a tabletop roleplaying session where students play the role of consultants, using a game built on the basis of an exam annal (French Accounting and Management Diploma - 2011). In a dynamic, interactive context, students are encouraged to apply theory and analysis to reinforce quantitative aspects, thus fostering commitment, collaboration and autonomous learning. The results of this experience are positive, with the majority of students reporting a better understanding of management control concepts, increased commitment and support for teamwork. However, a few points of attention stand out, such as the complexity of the scenarios and workload management.

How can students be trained in collaborative management? This research question guided the construction of the teaching system presented below. Starting with the implementation of an innovative edutainment experiment, this proposal invites students to construct a theory through a game. Three theoretical foundations provided a basis for this work: collaborative management learning, cooperative games and the use of visual thinking. 23 students in their 2nd year of a Project Management Master’s course tested the ‘Connec’ Team’ cooperative game before writing up their feedback, leading to the construction of a managerial theory presented in the form of a sketchnote. The participants’ feedback highlights the value of edutainment in learning about collaborative management through the use of a game. Reflective and theorizing work was facilitated by the use of teaching techniques that break down barriers that are usually inhibiting for students, in particular the writing of an abstract text.