Alexander Pfeiffer

University for Continuing Education Krems · Faculty of Education, Arts and Architecture

Not only have virtual currencies in digital games from the pre-Blockchain era helped to understand digital currency systems, but the idea that digital objects can have monetary value is a question of faith that has been expressed primarily through the gaming industry. In the world of business this is now called the 'token economy'. Blockchain as a...

Qualified digital/electronic signatures from human employees or legal entities can be used to generate sub-signatures for AI-powered software or robots/bots at the moment the dedicated tasks are being executed. This makes it not only possible to determine who gave the order, but also to store milestones of the respective order on a decentralised di...

Blockchain-basierte Technologien tragen das Potenzial zu einer selbstbestimmten und egalitären Teilhabe an gesellschaftlichen, ökonomischen, kulturellen und kommunikativen Prozessen in sich. Gleichzeitig bestimmen Berichte über Missbrauchsmöglichkeiten, Betrugsanfälligkeit (tatsächliche wie behauptete) negative Potenziale dieser neuen Technologien...

Das Abstract wurde für Researchgate seperat erstellt: Dieses Kapitel beleuchtet den innovativen Einsatz von Blockchain-Technologien in der schulischen Bildung, insbesondere im Kontext von Serious Games und Gamification. Es diskutiert, wie Blockchain die Sicherheit und Integrität digitaler Lernumgebungen und Bewertungstools verstärken kann, indem...

The inclusion of women player cards in EA’s FC24 Ultimate Team (FUT) represents a significant shift in sports video gaming, marking the first time female footballers have been integrated into this popular mode. This study explores the community’s evolving perceptions of this inclusion through a qualitative content and sentiment analysis of two key...

As educational settings increasingly explore innovative technologies, blockchain technology emerges as a promising tool for managing digital identities and credentials. This paper examines blockchain technology in the context of educational gaming, based on interviews with 20 students from a game studies and media education class at the University...

As the adoption of generative AI in educational settings becomes increasingly prevalent, understanding its implications for learning and teaching is essential. This paper presents findings from online interviews with 21 students at the Center for Applied Game Studies at the University for Continuing Education Krems. It examines their perceptions an...

This opinion paper examines the sociocultural implications of gambling, theater, and gamification in Las Vegas. Utilizing the theories of scholars such as Roger Cail-lois and Erving Goffman, the paper explores how gambling acts as a mirror and a stage, reflecting and shaping societal values and individual identities. It highlights the role of casin...

Das Kapitel „Die Fallout-Serie als Lehr- und Lernressource: Eine Untersuchung am Beispiel von Fallout 3 und Fallout 4“ widmet sich der Frage, wie die beliebte Spielserie Fallout als innovatives Medium im Unterricht genutzt werden kann. Die Autoren heben die immersive und detaillierte Spielwelt hervor, die durch interaktive Szenarien und moralische...

This paper provides a critical examination of Music Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) within the context of the digital transformation of the music industry, focusing on the implications for equitable artist compensation. As digitalization reshapes consumption and revenue models, the advent of Music NFTs, predicated on blockchain technology, presents a nu...

This position paper revisits the concept of gamification from a novel perspective, extending the definition by Pfeiffer and colleagues to encompass data collection, assessment, and evaluation within educational settings. Building upon the core idea of gamification as the application of game mechanics in various contexts — ranging from real-life act...

This paper delves into the critical role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in reshaping educational paradigms, preparing learners for a future dominated by digital and AI-driven technologies. It highlights the primary reasons for integrating AI into educational institutions, emphasizing its potential to prepare students for a rapidly evolving digital...

Within the context of the Green eCommerce project where we build tailored add-ons for webshops to increase climate-friendly shipping, we analyzed reasons for returns using a modified rule learning algorithm but found no actionable rules. However, since many returns are driven by wrong size information, we have also developed a prototype Fitting Too...

At present, the e-commerce sector is characterised by rapidly increasing volumes of parcel deliveries, causing congestion, noise and air pollution in public spaces. The number of CEPs is also increasing due to more partial deliveries, multiple delivery attempts and a high number of returns. According to the "eCommerce Study Austria", the return rat...

Es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sich Kinder zunehmend in hochimmersiven virtuellen Räumen Avatare bauen und damit in Metaversen für ihre Altersgruppe Unterhaltung, Spiel, Kreativangebote und Kommunikation finden werden. Aber wird ihnen das guttun? Realisieren sich düstere Szenarien mit kindlichen Cyborgs in hochkommerzialisierten Welten voller...

The global workforce is today facing a critical period of job and skills instability. With a big portion of today’s jobs set to disappear or become displaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and automation, the world today requires a human workforce which possesses proficient digital skills. Pursuant to such predictions, the World Economic...

This research paper investigates the potential of game-based learning and informal assessment as means to enhance language and cognitive skill acquisition, particularly in preschool and primary school learners. It proposes that these methods can be especially beneficial for students from diverse cultural backgrounds, languages, and abilities, often...

This paper presents a first literature review on the game mechanics of loot boxes, with a focus on their impact in Electronic Arts' (EA) FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT). It introduces a player type model categorizing players based on their engagement with loot boxes and provides a preliminary analysis of each category's experience. The purpose of this sho...

In unserem Paper untersuchen wir das Metaverse aus drei verschiedenen Perspektiven: Gesellschaft, Nachhaltigkeit und Technologie. Der gesellschaftliche Teil erörtert die möglichen Auswirkungen des Metaverse auf die Gesellschaft, wie z. B. Veränderungen am Arbeitsplatz und die Entstehung neuer sozialer Strukturen. Der technische Teil konzentriert si...

Aufsatz im Magazin "GAIN" Ausgabe 20, 2023; Über die Geschichte und Ausblick des Themas KI in der Spielebranche.

In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis of two iconic films, Highlander (Mulcahy, 1986) and Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of the Jedi (Lucas, 1983), which have significantly contributed to the science fiction and fantasy genres. Our methodology combines film analysis and literature study methods to provide an in-depth examination of these f...

Today's children and young people are growing up as "digital natives". Digital media are used naturally and intuitively and play an important role in everyday life - especially digital games. Successful digital games have one thing in common: they motivate. Players are motivated to play and to acquire knowledge in and around the game environment. S...

There is little doubt that the shift from offline- to online learning environments goes hand in hand with an increasing use of gamification- and game-based learning strategies. The potential benefits of digital game-based learning (GBL) applications and strategies have been explored thoroughly (Annetta 2010; Bers 2010; Koenig, Pfeiffer and Wernbach...

The continuing spread of the COVID19 virus shows that adequate preparation for telepresence scenarios such as teleteaching is elementary for structured teaching in secondary education. There should be no negative impact on teaching quality, either in times of general crisis or simply as a measure to ensure institutional stability and individual fle...

Games have the potential to be a powerful educational tool. By their very nature, games are designed to engage players and motivate them to achieve specific goals. When applied to teaching, learning and assessment, game design can be utilised to create engaging and effective learning experiences that can be, in turn, used to assess a variety of ski...

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets that are unique, meaning that each individual token is different from any other. For example, NFTs can represent an original digital artwork or serve as a digital reference to it. In both cases providing digital references to the original work is achieved through a distributed ledger, which is usu...

The continuing spread of the COVID19 virus shows that adequate preparation for telepresence scenarios such as teleteaching is elementary for structured teaching in secondary education. There should be no negative impact on teaching quality, either in times of general crisis or simply as a measure to ensure institutional stability and individual fle...

Übliche Schutzmechanismen in IT-Netzwerken können Manipulation und Fälschung digitaler Dokumente nicht gänzlich verhindern. Auch Prüfungsergebnisse und Zeugnisse sind potenziell bedroht. Ist Blockchain-Technologie die Lösung? Erschienen in on. lernen in der digitalen Welt: https://elibrary.utb.de/doi/abs/10.5555/on-10-2022_13

Throughout the years, technology has been increasingly adopted in assessment practices to support the process of data gathering, analysis, and interpretation. However, the application of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), to digital assessment goes beyond the mere administration of data and has the potential to enhance the...

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTa) can either represent an original digital artwork, or act as a digital reference to the actual work. In both as digital references to the actual work. In both cases the record in the distributed ledger, mostly a blockchain-based database, intends to serve as a proof of ownership or transfer of rights. NFTs might also add a...

When it comes to initiatives engaging children - especially girls - in STEM education or careers, parents are often a neglected group, despite being regarded as the most important gatekeepers in this field because they can have an impact very early on. They frequently feel under-informed and, as a result, lack the self-confidence to take on this ro...

Despite evidence that digital tools have the potential to foster student learning and self-regulation, digital educational practices continue to suffer a lack in the level of personalization and adaptivity. On the other hand, emerging technologies and techniques, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and gamification, are constantly informing educat...

From February to (originally) November 2021, the Esports School League Vienna was organised; including the preliminary round matches up to and including the semi-finals. Due to the COVID-19situation, which had drastically intensified from the beginning of November in Austria, the final was postponed to 2022. This paper will recap the last months fr...

The shift to the virtual world through activities such as gaming, e-sports, streaming and time spent onsocial networks continues. Next to the leisure sector, current developments around COVID-19 causeda massive increase in the use of online educational resources in 2020/2021. However, not all of theschools and universities in the EU were well prepa...

The “Embracing the Sustainable Development Goals through Creative Arts” Erasmus + project addresses the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focusing on three inparticular: #14 Life Below Water- to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marineresources for sustainable development, #4 Quality Education- to ensure incl...

Digital identities of collaborative robots/robots and human-robot/robot-human interactions are critical components in building systems. These digital agents (AI-powered software or robots/bots) are entrusted with tasks on behalf of specific individuals/companies using these identities. In this review paper, the authors synthetize several approaches...

Urban planning needs to discover and incorporate new energy sources to meet climate protection targets in the future. Waste heat from industrial and urban infrastructure has proven to be a viable solution, but its proper identification can be challenging, especially for smaller and unconventional sources. Our project relies on the principles of gam...

Blockchain technologies are already being used in many different applications to secure specific data sets. For the same purpose, blockchain is also used in digital games. This technology is not only discussed, but also actively implemented in the educational sector, for example, in such projects as “Blockcerts”. Typical applications are issuing ce...

Since 2012 we have been building the augmented reality system Magic Mirror based on Kinect V1 and V2’s native API. It relies on the magic mirror metaphor, where a large screen shows a mirrored camera view with overlaid graphical elements. In our case, it shows a different face mesh over the person’s face which reliably tracks face poses in real tim...

Availability of reliable data is one of the most important elements for fact-based decisions. Urban planning and spatial energy planning often suffers from a lack of availability of good, validated and up-to-date data sets. Furthermore, integrated spatial and energy planning needs to incorporate new spatially distributed energy sources and understa...

As the majority of people in Austria and all over Europe play video games - regardless of gender, age, social or cultural background - video games have become an important part of today's society. Around this fascination, a "video game culture" has developed. However, in this context, it is not only the mere consumption of video games that plays a...

Despite a variety of measures to promote cycling, the overall share of bicycle traffic in Austria has changed only slightly in favour of the bicycle in recent years (BMVIT, 2017 and 2013). As part of its mobility strategy, the Austrian government has therefore set itself the goal of doubling the proportion of bicycle traffic in 7 years. In times of...

Despite various measures to promote cycling, the overall proportion of journeys taken by bike in Austria has improved only slightly in recent years. As part of its mobility strategy, the Austrian Federal Government has set itself the target of doubling the proportion of journeys taken by bike in in 7 years. To this end, motivational or behavioural...

The education system is subject to an ongoing digital transformation. The administrative departments should be able to handle grading, admissions, enrolments and recognition of certificates securely and quickly. Course managers should not only have faith in e-learning but also in e-assessment. And finally, learners should be able to access course m...

Internationally and nationally, efforts to promote active, health-promoting and sufficient mobility are increasingly becoming the focus of attention. This is being triggered by, amongst other things, a growing lack of exercise, intensified climate protection efforts and the increasing burden of motorized private transport (e.g. the increase in poll...

In recent years, a clear trend towards personalised learning experiences has emerged. Individual preferences are in the foreground and should be made possible, for example, through selectable choices. If these courses take place in the same educational institution, the handling of credit and the clear allocation to learning outcomes is usually poss...

In addition to the actual core content of games, the user journey or user experience in digital games is becoming more and more important. The menu structure should be as intuitive as possible. Features that are important should be displayed to the player at the moment when the game engine assumes that access is necessary. The player should then re...

In the last decade, various pricing models have been developed around computer games. The classic model is games that are bought at a fixed price and no further spending is necessary. However, for some of these games, there are frequent content expansions, such as new stories, available to purchase. Other games have an initial price and a subscript...

In addition to the general intentional scattering of fake news and its conscious or unconscious sharing on social media networks, the problem of checking the origin of source material from the perspective of the consumer is evident. This is especially the case if the original material was not created and registered with great care by established an...

This paper examines the use of digital storytelling by Austrian non-profit organizations (NPOs). Storytelling is an innovative communication tool that is particularly well suited to arouse emotions and build relationships. In today's stimulus-flooded society, stories communicate what really counts and consequently social media have created new plat...

The music industry has evolved significantly over the last few decades, from cassette to compact disk to MP3 and now to subscription-based streaming. Simultaneously, there has been a return to analogue, especially to vinyl records. In 2021, a major record label will introduce a new kind of vinyl. From the original master tapes, one-of-a-kind copies...

Peer2Peer communication can take place in the traditional way via e-mail, forums or social media. One also finds dedicated apps for communication or organized in groups, such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Discord, the latter being particularly popular with digital gamers. Online games are another medium which can foster communication between people over...

Games and gamification can potentially inform and transform learning by providing meaningful and engaging learning environments. The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms and systems in education is envisaged as an opportunity to provide students with adaptive and personalized learning, especially in the context of mobile learning...

The rise of interest of Esports combined with the interest of spectating other people playing games has increased immensely over the last years. For example, according to a study conducted in 2019 on behalf of Austrian Entertainment Software Association, 5.3 million people currently play games in Austria alone, 2.6 million of them daily. To compare...

While the technological dimension of our digital world is advancing at a rapid pace, the Covid-19 crisis has revealed that the digital transformation and readiness of schools and adult education, is having difficulties in adapting and keeping up. However, at the same time, the crisis has exposed the importance and central role of digital technologi...

Many games take us into a fantasy world. “The Sims“ take us into a kind of everyday life. The game “The Sims“ has coined the term life simulation as a new genre of digital games. A life simulation is a digital game that enables the simulation and presentation of a life cycle of an object or person according to previously defined rules. Thus, it rep...

Digital technologies have changed and continue to shape the way students interact with learning material, both in traditional and informal education. Adaptive learning methodologies offer an interesting avenue for personalized learning, whereas every individual student is presented with tailormade content, specifically based on the distinct strengt...

The forgery and fraudulent behaviour associated with examination results and academic certificates at the different stages from storing, publishing, transfer to verification, remain a major cybercrime issue within the educational sector. In this paper, the authors discuss the technological dimension underpinning such issues and propose a system con...

The games segment is growing steadily and is a major part of the entertainment industry. In particular, the Free2Play games, or games that primarily rely on mechanics like in-game purchases which are playable on mobile devices, play an important role. In the context of virtual items, online role-playing games and multiplayer online battle arenas, s...

In Cycle4Value (C4V), a transparent and low-threshold reward model to promote cycling based on the key technology blockchain is being researched and tested in practice for the first time. The economic, health and ecological benefits are presented in a simple and comprehensible way and, after a plausibility check using a pretrained machine learning...

In Cycle4Value (C4V), a transparent and low-threshold reward model to promote cycling based on the key technology blockchain is being researched and tested in practice for the first time. The economic, health and ecological benefits are presented in a simple and comprehensible way and, after a plausibility check using a pretrained machine learning...

Gambling (such as slot machines, betting or casino games) and games (such as board games or digital games) have common roots that began thousands of years before Christ with games like Senet or The Royal Game of Ur. An aspect that is often forgotten or only appears as a marginal note in modern (digital) game studies. This could be because game stud...

https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/mp/article/view/5241: Dieser Medienimpulsebeitrag soll die Überlegungen aufzeigen, welche dem neu gegründeten digital/medienlab Space21Future in Floridsdorf/Wien zugrunde liegen. Weiters soll erläutert werden, wie das Space21Future inmitten der Covid-19-Situation aufgebaut wird und trotz eines ständigen Wech...

In Cycle4Value (C4V), a transparent and low-threshold reward model to promote cycling based on the key technology blockchain is being researched and tested in practice for the first time. The economic, health and ecological benefits are presented in a simple and comprehensible way and, after a plausibility check using a pretrained machine learning...

An important aspect of knowledge management is the transfer of know-how between generations. This raises the question of how new employees, especially young professionals, can acquire this knowledge from older generations in an efficient and sustainable way. This can potentially necessitate the creation of incentives for both sides. For the older g...

In the educational sector even the most sophisticated digital environments will not make human interaction obsolete, as learning and education are inherently social processes. This also means that any application that involves learning and assessment must deal with problems resulting from human error. Some of these problems can effectively be count...

Besides the pure application of serious games as tools for knowledge transfer, a further trend has been observed in the last few years: The creation of games as an opportunity to gain practical experience and thereby also build up valuable knowledge. In this context several approaches are possible, such as using paper prototyping, game maker tools...

The rapidly enforced lockdown and school closures in many countries have shaken up school and university life from one day to the other. Educational institutions which, due to geographical circumstances, focus on adult continuing education or are by charter defined as pilot schools, have been able to react quickly to these new circumstances. Howeve...

Bullying can have various negative short and long-term consequences for adolescents. With online technology expanding the occasions for bullying, developing solutions to prevent bullying and cyberbullying has become even more pressing. We have developed two prototypes of educational games to raise awareness of the consequences of bullying among ado...

The rapid changes brought about by digital technologies in education offer rich, personalised and differentiated modes of e-learning. However, the anytime, anywhere access to teaching, learning and assessment material requires a paradigm shift in the conceptualisation and implementation of validation, verification, authentication and storing of stu...

The modern gamification movement, following the classical definition of Deterding (2011), is focused on the use of game elements in non-game applications. According to this definition, gamification elements use familiar elements from games to satisfy player needs, increase the user experience and motivation; hence ensuring a long-term use. However,...

Der folgende Artikel gibt eine kurze Einführung in das Thema Blockchain-Technologien. Ein gutes Jahrzehnt nach Veröffentlichung des ersten Konzeptes wie eine Blockchain aufbaut werden soll, beginnen Blockchain-basierte Anwendungen für verschiedene Bereiche immer relevanter zu werden. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Bildungssektor.

Best Poster Award at ECIAIR 20: Posthuman network architecture is presupposed by the earliest projects on blockchain, such as the white paper of Bitcoin. Vidan and Lehdonvirta notice: “Nakamoto here seems to appreciate Actor-Network Theory’s call for symmetry by equating participants and nodes, votes, and CPUs. His imagined community fully embraces...

Digital/electronic identities are essential components of collaborative robots/robots and human-robot/robot-human interactions. Through such identities, digital agents (AI powered software or robots/bots) are entrusted with tasks in the name of certain individuals/companies. Digital identities can come from various sources; these can be assigned by...

This poster looks at three examples in regards to Blockchain and education developed by the team of authors. First: Gallery-Defender a Serious Game, which was adapted to serve as a demonstrator in a stand-alone version to show the possibility to carry out exams directly from within the game and store the grades and meta-data on Blockchain. Second:...

This paper looks at current projects in the field of Blockchain in education, their specific areas of application, possible advantages and weaknesses. Three examples developed by the team of authors are introduced in detail. First: Gallery-Defender a Serious Game, which was adapted to serve as a demonstrator in a stand-alone version to show the pos...

Das Bildungssystem unterliegt einem ständigen digitalen Wandel. Die administrativen Abteilungen sollten in der Lage sein, Benotung, Zulassung, Immatrikulation und Anerkennung von Zeugnissen sicher und schnell zu handhaben. Kursverantwortliche sollten nicht nur Vertrauen in E-Learning, sondern auch in die Online-Bewertung haben. Und schließlich soll...

Facebook has proposed to integrate the cryptocurrency 'Libra' into its services, a plan which has been heavily discussed in science, businessand politics. On Steemit.com one receives a tradable-token namend Steem in return for writing popular articles or post comments while at Wildspark.me one is rewarded for discovering the next big YouTube video....