Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 4.2
User interacting with
MAID
The majority of participants liked to use MAID and found it easy to learn and to
use. They considered the feedback and the information provided by the application
useful and they were willing to use MAID in public spaces. Most importantly, 50 %
of the participants reported that they were motivated by MAID to implement the
given suggestions. So, MAID seems to have a persuasive effect and may potentially
influence people to change.
Observations revealed that users had fun while using MAID and their friends,
in the audience, were commenting and giving suggestions. In general, participants
considered the gestures natural and appropriate to mimic the real actions, as well as
easy to perform. A few users reported that the hand gesture interface became tiring
after a few minutes of interaction. Applications like MAID should not be used for a
long time and users must be able to accomplish the game objectives in a few minutes.
4.3.2
LEY
LEY (Less energy Empowers You) is as a persuasive pervasive-based serious game
approach to help people understand domestic energy usage and change their habits
(Madeira et al.
2011
). The mechanics of the game are based on real-time domestic
energy consumption data, collected by smart energy monitor devices.
Current version of LEY was developed for Android mobile phones. The LEY's
user interface presents an avatar of the user's house, which is the main game character
(Fig.
4.3
). In the beginning of the game, a profile is assigned to the avatar. This has
to be defined according to some conditions, such as the house typology, appliances
connected and their average number by room, the number of inhabitants, and last
year's consumption. The profile permits that houses with different typologies com-
pete against each other. The first week's consumption values will be used to help
sharpen the profile.
LEY presents a single competition mode, Status View mode, where the application
can monitor the user's house instant consumption, current energy category and total
