Professor, Blekinge Institute of Technology (Sweden)

Biography

Sara Eriksén, professor of Informatics and Human Work Science at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Sweden, since 2005. Main research interests: work practice studies in HCI research,  partici­patory and user driven service design in the areas of e-health and e-government, and in the interdisciplinary research area Applied Health Technology. Interested in user experience, user motivation, and serious games for healthy living – and looking for meaningful use of big data.

Currently project leader of the Indo-Swedish collaborative Health in Hand project (2014-2016), which is being co-funded by Sweden’s Innovation Agency VINNOVA and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, India, and is run in collaboration between BTH, Lund University, IIT-M and IIT-M:s Rural Technology & Business Incubator (RTBI) along with regional partners in the ICT and health service industry and the public sector. The focus of the Health in Hand project is on transforming healthcare delivery with innovative mobile techno­logies for health promotion and disease prevention.

Abstract

Can game immersion be measured objectively? Do such measurements align with the player’s own subjective evaluation of game immersion? What does immersion in games have to do with risk of addictive behavior in relation to digital games (if anything)? The aim of the research project we are currently initiating, in which big data from the domains of gaming analytics and public health meet detailed studies of gaming practices, is to develop new knowledge through multi-disciplinary research collaboration focusing on game player interaction with games, combining perspectives and methods from game technology and interaction design research with perspectives and methods from game addiction research.

The Department of Creative Technologies at Blekinge Institute of Technology is specialized in computer graphics, game technology and human-computer interaction. Main areas of teaching are in computer science and game develop­ment. The game development education is highly popular and attracts a large number of new students each year.

The research edge in Digital game technology is within computer graphics and how to effectively generate images and animations from 3D models or other data, but we are also exploring the interaction between the game player and the game, and how this relates to various attributes of the player and of the game. In the overlap between games for entertainment and serious games for motivating healthy living habits, we have begun to explore game interaction in relation to immersion in games, which in turn has raised questions about game addiction. In collaboration with the Addiction Center in the Region of Skåne, and their research team in game and gambling addiction, we have now applied for funding from the research council of Svenska Spel for a postdoctoral position in game interaction and game addiction.