Search Results (37)

Blockchain technology has become a game changer in sectors like accounting and auditing. Its usage is still restricted due to a lack of insight into what drives people to adopt it for financial services like accounting and auditing. This research delves into the factors that influence the adoption of blockchain systems in accounting and auditing services by utilizing an enhanced edition of the Theory of Planned Behavior. In this study, alongside the previously established elements like Attitude, subjective norm, and Perceived Behavioral Control, self-perception and personal moral values are included to reflect how identity and ethics impact decision-making processes. Data were gathered via an online survey (N = 751) conducted on the Prolific platform, and the hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling. The hypotheses were examined through the Structural Equation Modeling method. The findings indicate that each of the five predictors plays a significant role in influencing Behavioral Intention, with personal moral values being the influential factor followed by subjective norm and Perceived Behavioral Control. Attitude plays an important role in shaping adoption choices and showcases the complexity involved in such decisions. As such, it is crucial to take into account ethical factors when encouraging the use of blockchain technology. This study adds to the existing knowledge of the Theory of Planned Behavior framework, offering insights for companies aiming to boost the implementation of blockchain systems in professional settings. Future research avenues and real-world implications are explored with an emphasis placed on developing targeted strategies that align technological adoption with personal values and organizational objectives. Full article

Serious games (SGs) have been widely employed in the digital preservation and transmission of architectural heritage. However, the key determinants and underlying mechanisms driving users’ continuance intentions toward ancient-architecture cultural heritage serious games (CH-SGs) have not been thoroughly investigated. Accordingly, a conceptual model grounded in the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework was developed to elucidate the affective and behavioral effects experienced by CH-SG users. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were employed to capture both the linear and nonlinear relationships among model constructs. By integrating sufficiency logic (PLS-SEM) and necessity logic (necessary condition analysis, NCA), “must-have” and “should-have” factors were identified. Empirical results indicate that cultural authenticity, knowledge acquisition, perceived enjoyment, and design aesthetics each exert a positive influence—of varying magnitude—on perceived value, cultural identification, and perceived pleasure, thereby shaping users’ continuance intentions. Moreover, cultural authenticity and perceived enjoyment were found to be necessary and sufficient conditions, respectively, for enhancing perceived pleasure and perceived value, which in turn indirectly bolster CH-SG users’ sustained use intentions. By creating an immersive, narratively rich, and engaging cognitive experience, CH-SGs set against ancient architectural backdrops not only stimulate users’ willingness to visit and protect heritage sites but also provide designers and developers with critical insights for optimizing future CH-SG design, development, and dissemination. Full article

Virtual reality (VR) devices that integrate eye-tracking and hand-tracking technologies can capture users’ natural eye–hand data in real time within a three-dimensional virtual space, providing new opportunities to explore users’ attentional states during natural 3D interactions. This study aims to develop an attention-state prediction model based on the multimodal fusion of eye and hand features, which distinguishes whether users primarily employ goal-directed attention or stimulus-driven attention during the execution of their intentions. In our experiment, we collected three types of data—eye movements, hand movements, and pupil changes—and instructed participants to complete a virtual button selection task. This setup allowed us to establish a binary ground truth label for attentional state during the execution of selection intentions for model training. To investigate the impact of different time windows on prediction performance, we designed eight time windows ranging from 0 to 4.0 s (in increments of 0.5 s) and compared the performance of eleven algorithms, including logistic regression, support vector machine, naïve Bayes, k-nearest neighbors, decision tree, linear discriminant analysis, random forest, AdaBoost, gradient boosting, XGBoost, and neural networks. The results indicate that, within the 3 s window, the gradient boosting model performed best, achieving a weighted F1-score of 0.8835 and an Accuracy of 0.8860. Furthermore, the analysis of feature importance demonstrated that the multimodal eye–hand features play a critical role in the prediction. Overall, this study introduces an innovative approach that integrates three types of multimodal eye–hand behavioral and physiological data within a virtual reality interaction context. This framework provides both theoretical and methodological support for predicting users’ attentional states within short time windows and contributes practical guidance for the design of attention-adaptive 3D interfaces. In addition, the proposed multimodal eye–hand data fusion framework also demonstrates potential applicability in other three-dimensional interaction domains, such as game experience optimization, rehabilitation training, and driver attention monitoring. Full article

As robots become increasingly integrated into society, a future in which humans and robots collaborate is expected. In such a cooperative society, robots must possess the ability to predict human behavior. This study investigates a human–robot cooperation system using RoboCup soccer as a testbed, where a robot observes human actions, infers their intentions, and determines its own actions accordingly. Such problems have typically been addressed within the framework of multi-agent systems, where the entity performing an action is referred to as an ‘agent’, and multiple agents cooperate to complete a task. However, a system capable of performing cooperative actions in an environment where both humans and robots coexist has yet to be fully developed. This study proposes an action decision system based on self-organizing maps (SOM), a widely used unsupervised learning model, and evaluates its effectiveness in promoting cooperative play within human teams. Specifically, we analyze futsal game data, where the agents are professional futsal players, as a test case for the multi-agent system. To this end, we employ Tensor-SOM, an extension of SOM that can handle multi-relational datasets. The system learns from this data to determine the optimal movement speeds in x and y directions for each agent’s position. The results demonstrate that the proposed system successfully determines optimal movement speeds, suggesting its potential for integrating robots into human team coordination. Full article

Online gamers have increased exponentially in the last few years in all types of online games, including mind-sport games. These games, like Bridge or Chess, have been traditionally played face-to-face. Nowadays more and more players prefer to use online platforms to play mind-sport games. Previous studies have investigated different aspects of online games and even a few on mind-sport games. However, the frameworks WOM (Word-of-Mouth) and SCT (Social Cognitive Theory) have been sparsely used in this context. In this manner, the present article proposes two objectives: (1) using the SCT in order to analyse the impact of the sociological factor on user engagement in mind-sport online games and (2) analysing how the WOM affects user engagement in mind-sport online games. Specifically, the proposed PLS-SEM model is defined by combining five constructs from these frameworks: (1) health consciousness, (2) WOM and emotional behaviour, (3) self-efficacy, (4) cognitive engagement, and (5) behavioural intention. The findings reveal that health consciousness affects WOM and emotional behaviour in a positive way as players desire well-being. Also, WOM and emotional behaviour affect cognitive engagement, as positive comments encourage high-skill gamers in mind sports. Finally, this study shows how the environmental factor of SCT is represented by WOM and emotional behaviour in an indirect way and the personal factor represented by self-efficacy in a direct way to positively influence behaviour intention. Full article

In recent years, with widespread access to virtual reality (VR) headsets, VR has become an affordable supplement to physiotherapy. Researchers explore the use of existing commercial games or develop new ones to enhance physiotherapy sessions, finding that gamers exhibit reduced nervousness, report less pain, and experience increased enjoyment. However, ensuring consistent exercise adherence poses a challenge. Another area of interest involves integrating robots to aid patients. In our study, we seamlessly integrated a Kuka LBR Med 7 R800 with Unity through a meticulously developed Application Programming Interface (API). This fusion of robotics and video games assists in physiotherapeutic exercises. The games were developed specifically for compatibility with the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset, chosen as the preferred VR platform for this study. Two games, using common game-design concepts with distinct approaches, were evaluated for system acceptance via the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and usability through the System Usability Scale (SUS). In a well-distributed group of 15 participants with an average age of 22 years, greater technology acceptance was observed among women. Those playing more hours per day reported lower perceived ease of use, though one game achieved an excellent SUS rating of 83.3. Conversely, the other game, which was tested with 11 participants with an average age of 20 years, showed a potential negative impact on behavioral intention. The particular sample used in the study has limitations, so the study should be repeated to obtain more reliable and conclusive results. In conclusion, the successful integration of VR and robot assistance in physiotherapy games relies on the proper application of the game design principle. Full article

The Game Theory is aiding global tourism research to leverage destination appeal and competitiveness in the context of climate change advocacy. As global tourism continues to play a vital role in economic development and cultural exchange, there is a growing need to unravel the complexities of tourist behavior and destination competitiveness. Therefore, this study aims to utilize the Game Theory to investigate the relationships between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Regenerative Tourism Destination Competitiveness (RTDC), Tourist Visit Intention (TVI), and Destination Loyalty (DL) within the UAE, with the moderating role of Climate Advocacy. An online survey (using Google Forms) was distributed via social media platforms (primarily Facebook groups), resulting in data collection from 296 respondents. Smart PLS 4 and SPSS were utilized for data analysis. The findings revealed that RTDC had significant positive relationships with FOMO, DL, and TVI, thus supporting hypotheses 1 to 10. However, the hypothesis regarding Climate Advocacy moderating DL and TVI was not supported. Based on the Game Theory, this study contributes to the theoretical understanding of regenerative tourism destination competitiveness and offers practical implications for destination management strategies. Limitations include reliance on self-reported data and context-specific considerations. Future studies should also consider cultural contexts, to enhance the external validity of research outcomes. Full article

The dissemination and preservation of cultural heritage has attracted much attention globally, and serious games play an important role in cultural heritage dissemination and preservation; however, it is not clear which experiences of serious games are effective in increasing people’s attention to cultural heritage. This study combines the experience economy and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory to construct a theoretical model to explore which experiences of serious games influence users’ behavioral intention to care about cultural heritage. We surveyed 302 users who experienced serious games and analyzed the data and measurement model using SPSS 27 and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that the four experiences of serious games (educational, entertaining, escapist, and esthetic) had a significant effect on users’ perceived value and memory and that perceived value and memory significantly influenced users’ participation. In addition, this study found that the entertainment experience was not only a key factor influencing perceived value and memory, but also the most significant factor directly affecting user participation. This finding provides specific recommendations for game developers and cultural heritage organizations to enhance user engagement. Enhancing the four experience dimensions and strengthening users’ perceived value and memory can effectively encourage users to pay attention to cultural heritage through serious games and contribute to the preservation and sustainable development of cultural heritage. Full article

Location-based AR games have been discussed as a promising means of providing visitors with meaningful experiences at cultural heritage sites, with great potential to enhance users’ positive emotions and well-being. This research created a conceptual model to empirically evaluate the impact of location-based AR games on the experiential intentions of cultural heritage sites based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. The model was empirically validated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) on 260 visitors who had played location-based AR games at several Chinese cultural heritage sites. The results suggested that visitors’ positive emotions (fulfillment, enjoyment, and self-existence) in location-based AR games positively impact the intention to use location-based AR games. Further, this study demonstrated that competence, relatedness, immersion, presence, interaction existence, emotional existence, and social existence significantly impact tourists’ positive emotional experience. The findings of this study help to complement the application of positive-affect expansion and building theory to the field of cultural heritage research while providing practical insights into the experience of cultural heritage sites. Full article

Being able to quantify gaming motivation in a valid, systematic way has important implications for game designers and gaming user experience researchers. In the present study, we aimed to develop and validate a 30-item Gaming Instinctual Motivation Scale (GIMS) based on Dillon’s 6–11 Framework on instinctual gaming motivation and Lazzaro’s gaming experience model. To validate the scale, we recruited 194 regular gamers (M_age = 22.70 years old, SD = 4.38) to complete the GIMS based on their general gaming experience and their experience playing role-laying games (RPGs), first-person shooters (FPSs), real-time strategy, puzzle, and action games. We used a cross-validation approach and performed exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to test the structure of the scale and the reliability and validity of the scale, respectively. The final version of the GIMS had a one-dimensional structure with 15 items. It also had good construct validity, χ² (N = 117, df = 86) = 126.28, p = 0.003, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, and RMSEA = 0.064 (90% CI [0.04, 0.09]), and reliability (CR = 0.89), and an acceptable convergent validity (AVE = 0.35). The one-dimensional structure was generalizable to RPG and FPS games, demonstrating the applicability of the scale to these two gaming genres. Higher scores on the GIMS were also associated with a greater intention to play games. Full article

Human–machine shared control of intelligent vehicles is considered an important technology during the industrial application of autonomous driving systems. Among the engineering practices in driver assistance systems, shared steering control is one of the important applications for the human–machine interaction. However, how to deal with human–machine conflicts during emergency scenarios is the main challenge for the controller’s design. Most shared control approaches usually generate machine-oriented results without enough attention to the driver’s reaction. By taking the human driver and machine system as two intelligent agents, this paper proposes a game-based control scheme to achieve a dynamic authority allocation during the lane changing maneuver. Based on the modeling of predicted trajectories of the human driver, a human-intention-based shared steering control is designed to achieve dynamic Nash game equilibrium. Moreover, a human-oriented shared steering mechanism is employed to not only benefit from automated machine assistance, but also make full play of human contributions. Using quantitative comparative analysis in lane changing scenarios with different human–machine conflicts, a better performance by considering both driving comfort and safety is achieved. Full article

The aim of this study is to explore the dynamics and impediments in exploring the digital transformation process of energy enterprises, considering industry competition and government involvement. Compared with other industries, energy enterprises have both economic tasks and social responsibilities at the same time, while their business modes have certain “inertia”. Therefore, the process of their digital transformation cannot avoid the balance of interests between the different agents. From the perspective of competition and cooperation in the sector, this study constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model among the government and energy enterprises, analyzes the evolutionary stable strategies of the game system, and simulates different initial intentions and key parameters for all roles. The results show that in the process of digital transformation, the symbiotic relationship between energy enterprises and the cooperative relationship between enterprises and government can be embodied, and the effective game process has sufficient economic guidance. The government plays the guiding role in the digital transformation of energy enterprises, and its initial intention has a significantly stronger impact than the energy enterprise’s intentions. The effective strategy reflects the principle of “waiting for an opportunity to act, giving priority to efficiency, and giving consideration to justice”. Under the given policy environment, energy enterprises with comparative advantages in terms of transformation costs, direct benefits and synergy will become the leading role that is more sensitive to the opportunities of digital transformation, and the following energy enterprise will adjust its own strategies in time according to the effect of the leading role’s digital transformation so as to achieve the stability of the system. Accordingly, this study can provide reference support for energy enterprises to develop digital transformation strategies and for governments to formulate reasonable and effective policies. Full article

The rapid increase in mobile phone usage among Gen Z online gamers has become more prevalent due to the pandemic. However, the limited processing power of mobile devices has prompted the need for alternative solutions, such as cloud gaming. As an alternative, cloud gaming could be used to lessen the expenses and have the processing power of a high-end computer. Cloud gaming allows users to stream games on various devices, including low-end devices such as smartphones and older computers. This extends the lifecycle of hardware by enabling users to access the latest games without the need for constant hardware upgrades. As a result, e-waste generation decreases, reducing the environmental impact associated with the production and disposal of gaming hardware. This study aimed to determine the acceptance of Gen Z towards cloud gaming as a potential solution in achieving sustainability in the digital gaming industry. The extended technology acceptance model (TAM) was utilized to explore the potential for cloud gaming adoption in the Philippines and the attitudes of Gen Z towards this technology. It was found out that for the average Filipino user, attitude plays the highest significant role in cloud gaming adoption. On the other hand, perceived enjoyment and perceived ease of use were found to have a significant influence on attitude, which in turn, affects the behavioral intention to use cloud gaming among Gen Z. Thus, cloud gaming presents a promising avenue for sustainability in the gaming industry, combining energy efficiency, resource optimization, reduced e-waste, and improved accessibility. Full article

The rise of mobile games during the COVID-19 pandemic era was evident, especially in Asia. One of the most popular online mobile games that has been evident across the world due to its live worldwide competition is “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” (MLBB). This study aimed to determine factors influencing the behavioral intention to play MLBB by utilizing the integrated model of UTAUT2 and System Usability Scale (SUS). A total of 507 MLBB players voluntarily answered an online questionnaire that consisted of 69 items. Through convenience sampling, the online survey was collected from November 2021–January 2022 from different social media platforms. Several factors such as hedonic motivation, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, perceived usefulness, security, perceived usability, facilitating conditions, social influence, habit, behavioral intention, and SUS were considered in this study. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), results showed that habit was the most significant factor in behavioral intention, followed by perceived usability, facilitating conditions, social influence, and hedonic motivation. In addition, it was evident from the results that when the mobile application is free and resources are available, then continuous patronage of the mobile application will be considered. In-game resources may be capitalized on by developers after gaining these habits and hedonic motivations among users. This is the first study that evaluated MLBB by utilizing the integrated models of UTAUT2 and SUS during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study could be beneficial for developers to entice users for team play and entertainment-based mobile applications. Finally, the model considered may be extended and applied to other mobile applications worldwide. Full article

Mega sports events play an important role in the development of the host city. This study examined the relationship between event prestige, city image, place attachment, and event involvement intention of the host community. Data were obtained using questionnaires distributed to college students in Chengdu, China 2022, when it was the host of the World University Games. The results show that the event’s prestige as perceived by college students had a significant positive impact on the intention to participate in the event, and the event’s prestige had a significant positive impact on the image of the city but had no effect on the place attachment of college students. City image and place attachment has a chain mediating effect between the event prestige and the participation intention. Moreover, hosting an event can form a positive image of the host city, thus further enhancing the place attachment of college students, and providing talent protection for urban development. The implications of these findings for the event’s organization strategies as well as future research directions are discussed. Full article