Peter Fikar

University of Vienna | UniWien · Department of Sociology

Games are popular heuristics of sociological theory. However, their potential for empirical research has not yet been systematically recognized and tested. In this working paper, we attempt to combine qualitative grounded theory methodology and game design in the sense of design games. With the rise of digital media as a major sociological topic, s...

Was bedeutet das Gewicht der digitalen Medien für jene engagierte Protest- und Bewegungsforschung, die sich für eine gesellschaftliche Demokratisierung und damit auch für ein anerkennendes Verständnis von Protest und sozialen Bewegungen einsetzt? Reicht es noch, die Wirkung digitaler Technologien zu beschreiben und zu analysieren, oder muss die Pro...

Interaction design and tangible computing offer rich opportunities for supporting children with impairments by means of enhanced therapeutic toys and educational materials. In order to explore how technology can be utilized to meet special requirements in the education of visually impaired children (and teenagers), we set up a practice-based resear...

Early Intervention Services support children with disabilities in their development from early age on. To this end, therapeutic toys are regularly employed within training sessions. These toys often draw on interactive elements to make exercising more appealing, and hence, to motivate the children. While there is some research about interactive the...

Conventional ball runs are usually made from wood and used with marbles. Their easy handling and comprehensible principle of action and reaction -- a marble placed into it will run down the slope -- make them a popular therapeutic toy among occupational therapists and related professionals when exercising with impaired children. However, traditiona...

This paper introduces LightSight, a new interactive toy for children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI). Since affected children face different challenges in their perception and processing of information, it is important to provide them with appropriate tools to train their vision skills and related competencies. To address this need, we design...

Treating neurological conditions like cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and related disabilities is a complex challenge where the needs of the affected persons have to be considered individually. It is also commonly agreed that stimulating the body's senses, as part of early intervention programs, is a crucial activity in therapy. With this paper, w...

Cortical Visual Impairment in children is a severe issue caused by prenatal injury of the brain affecting timely development during childhood. Therapists work with affected children to foster general development, to improve their learning, and to train sensory skills. In order to support effective and playful practices in Early Intervention we desi...

Health issues, due to a sedentary lifestyle and a decrease of physical activity are a raising issue in today's society. In order to provide incentives to stay physically active the potential of digital games gets evaluated in a scientific context towards their motivational effects. Games or game related applications offer a range of opportunities r...

Smoking is a serious health problem and there exists a number of different aids to quit this habit. However, nicotine dependency is a complex addiction and not all means of cessation suit every smoker. In this work we present Vibrette, a mobile tangible device designed to ease the smoking craving by offering a distractive game. We illustrate the de...

We present preliminary results of work on a low-cost multi-user immersive Virtual Reality system that enables collaborative experiences in large virtual environments. In the proposed setup at least three users can walk and interact freely and untethered in a 200 m2 area. The required equipment is worn on the body and rendering is performed locally...

Serious games can help to improve efficacy of motor rehabilitation especially in a home environment. We introduce "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", a serious game improving strength and mobility of the shoulder area targeting support of supervised physiotherapy. It proposes a customizable environment for supplementary exercises in the context of rehabil...