Games can teach many skills, both technical, like critical thinking and problem solving, and soft, like socialisation and team-building skills. In this team we explore how we can use games and gamification to improve teaching and learning. In particular, we look at how VR and AR can be used to complement and engance or even replace traditional modes of teaching. We also look at the games that can be used in the classroom as one of the modes of content delivery. Finally, we look at how gamification can enhance supporting systems, such as an online learning platform, in order to support the students in the learning process and facilitate engagement with the classroom.​
Environmental Sustainability Theme Lead: Dr David Cole.​

Gamification has been used in healthcare in the treatment for mental health conditions. Examples include games which aim to reduce anxiety and depression in young people by teaching therapy techniques. It has also been used for cognitive training and for improving social skills in Autistic Spectrum disorders. Another application in the healthcare sector has been in medical education where VR gamification has been used for paediatric emergency medicine education and for laparoscopic surgical training. In this theme, we are interested in how VR, AR, games and gamification can be used to offer personalised treatments for mental health and for medical trainee/clinician opportunities for enhanced learning and skills maintenance.​
Healthcare Theme Lead: Dr Mel McKendrick.​

Games can teach many skills, both technical, like critical thinking and problem solving, and soft, like socialisation and team-building skills. In this team we explore how we can use games and gamification to improve teaching and learning. In particular, we look at how VR and AR can be used to complement and engance or even replace traditional modes of teaching. We also look at the games that can be used in the classroom as one of the modes of content delivery. Finally, we look at how gamification can enhance supporting systems, such as an online learning platform, in order to support the students in the learning process and facilitate engagement with the classroom.​
Teaching & Learning Theme Lead: Dr David Cole.​

In the time of rapid technological development, games have become powerful tools to address big societal issues, e.g. to improve refugee integration, promote peace in war-torn zones, fight poverty or build community resilience in rural areas prone to natural hazards. In this theme, we are interested to study how to use games and technology to bring social change and make the society more inclusive. We look at how VR, AR and games can be used to develop awarness about and help integrate people with disabilities, how games and gamification can serve people in more deprived areas in developing countries and how they can improve resilience of communities around the world.
Societal Transformation Theme Lead: Dr Agnessa Spanellis.

Gamification and games found their way into the organisational environment. Companies have been experimenting with using gamification games for training and team-building, to increase sales and improve service provision. In this theme, we are interested, how to use games, gamification and play to help organisations learn and develop. We look at how gamification can facilitate the work of organisational communities, improve company’s innovative performance, bring cultural change, accelerate structural transformation, improve learning and knowledge management and enhance business analytics. We also look at how gameplay across and between cultures and age groups can lead to the design of future cross-sectorial product-process-production lifecycles and intelligence.​
Organisational Learning & Development Theme Lead: Dr Agnessa Spanellis.

How and to what extent can game-based systems ubiquitously and pervasively capture human and machine knowledge interactions, generate new knowledge and safe mission-critical reuse?​
Human Machine Knowledge Partnerships Theme Lead: Dr Theo Lim.​