ADAPTIVE COMPANION- MEDIATED BEHAVIOR CHANGES ON ARITHMATOPIA GAME USER CASE STUDY: NPC DESIGN

• Main Author: Nursyahrinanto Muis, Alfika
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/53192
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Arithmatopia is a math education game aimed at elementary school children, especially first graders. It can be played by up to six players at once, which is divide into two groups. By applying the genre of real-time action strategy (ARTS), arithmatopia provides dynamic games with different characteristics of opponents. To maintain children's motivation during play, an adaptive companion is applied as a form of non-player character companion (NPC). The given role is to help guide to the required location as a form of intervention, in the hope of increasing attention and increasing the number of child's interactions with their mission. In this study, adaptive companion evaluated children's performance based on interactions performed within a predetermined period and compared them with opposing groups. Heuristic modeling implements to determine the difference in conditions between players in real terms based on interaction data, time, and position obtained through sensors. Thus the system can adapt to give commands to the companion to act actively or passively. Tests have been conducting to see the difference in performance and the impact it has on players. Based on the results of data collected through experiments on 18 first-grade children, It succeeded in increasing the children's performance they accompanied, compared to their opponents who played without accompaniment. The intervention carried out by the adaptive companion successfully motivates children to interact more when the performance decreases so that it has a higher win-rate.