title: A serious game to provide social skills training for people with Asperger's Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism

authors: Bahiss, Khadija

subjects: Serious game

abstract: This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a prototype serious computer game to provide social skill training for young adults and adults with High-Functioning Autism.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition changing the way people see the world and interact with others. It occurs on a spectrum of severity, with individuals at the less severe end classified as having High-Functioning Autism (HFA). Individuals with HFA present above average intelligence but socio-communicative deficits in non-verbal and verbal behaviour. As individuals with HFA transition into adolescence and adulthood, they struggle to sustain education, employment, and social relationships. Socio-communicative deficits can be positively addressed through social skills training interventions, designed and delivered by behaviour therapists. However, these therapies are not readily available to most individuals due to the intervention costs and shortage of specialized therapists. 
Computer interventions designed to address socio-communicative deficits among children, adolescents and adults with HFA show promising results. One style of intervention is the serious game format. Serious games are designed to deliver learning outcomes, but present as games, and so typically have greater appeal than overtly pedagogical software.
A game was created in Unity 3D as a first-person view of a restaurant environment and experience. In the game, the participant walks into a restaurant, interacts with a greeter, is led to a table and seated, and is joined for dinner by a friend. The game integrates features from social skill training interventions with the interactive experience, addressing multiple social skills. 
Evaluation of the game for its effectiveness and usefulness for social skills training showed that it provided a plausible learning environment, in that it raised awareness of skills and neurotypical behaviour, and it reduced anticipated anxiety for most trial participants towards future situations in which the social skills might be needed. The level of realism achieved was not demonstrated to be sufficient to provide a fully immersive experience particularly with respect to the skill of making and maintaining eye contact. Further work is required to make the serious game sufficiently realistic to provide a complete training experience, and to find out if the training it offers can be transferred into real world interactions.

text: A serious game to provide social skills training for people with Asperger's Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a prototype serious computer game to provide social skill training for young adults and adults with High-Functioning Autism.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition changing the way people see the world and interact with others. It occurs on a spectrum of severity, with individuals at the less severe end classified as having High-Functioning Autism (HFA). Individuals with HFA present above average intelligence but socio-communicative deficits in non-verbal and verbal behaviour. As individuals with HFA transition into adolescence and adulthood, they struggle to sustain education, employment, and social relationships. Socio-communicative deficits can be positively addressed through social skills training interventions, designed and delivered by behaviour therapists. However, these therapies are not readily available to most individuals due to the intervention costs and shortage of specialized therapists. 
Computer interventions designed to address socio-communicative deficits among children, adolescents and adults with HFA show promising results. One style of intervention is the serious game format. Serious games are designed to deliver learning outcomes, but present as games, and so typically have greater appeal than overtly pedagogical software.
A game was created in Unity 3D as a first-person view of a restaurant environment and experience. In the game, the participant walks into a restaurant, interacts with a greeter, is led to a table and seated, and is joined for dinner by a friend. The game integrates features from social skill training interventions with the interactive experience, addressing multiple social skills. 
Evaluation of the game for its effectiveness and usefulness for social skills training showed that it provided a plausible learning environment, in that it raised awareness of skills and neurotypical behaviour, and it reduced anticipated anxiety for most trial participants towards future situations in which the social skills might be needed. The level of realism achieved was not demonstrated to be sufficient to provide a fully immersive experience particularly with respect to the skill of making and maintaining eye contact. Further work is required to make the serious game sufficiently realistic to provide a complete training experience, and to find out if the training it offers can be transferred into real world interactions.

year: 2021

title: Joint effect of steel addition and press-and-sinter on the properties of low-cost PM Ti Alloys

authors: Bolzoni, Leandro

subjects: Low-cost titanium alloys

abstract: Cheap alloying elements and creative processing techniques are a way forward to open up more industrial opportunities for Ti in sectors where it is not extensively applied yet, rather than in aerospace and biomedical applications. This study focuses on understanding the joint effect of using a commercial steel powder to add Fe to pure Ti and its processing by press-and-sinter on the behaviour of low-cost PM Ti alloys. It is found that the calibrated addition of steel permits to develop new low-cost Fe-bearing Ti alloys that can satisfactorily be produced using the blending elemental PM approach. Densification of the samples and homogenization of the chemical composition are enhanced by the high diffusivity of Fe. The low-cost α+β alloys reach comparable physical and mechanical properties to those of wrought-equivalent PM Ti alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, and are therefore promising candidates for load-bearing lightweight products.

text: Joint effect of steel addition and press-and-sinter on the properties of low-cost PM Ti Alloys Cheap alloying elements and creative processing techniques are a way forward to open up more industrial opportunities for Ti in sectors where it is not extensively applied yet, rather than in aerospace and biomedical applications. This study focuses on understanding the joint effect of using a commercial steel powder to add Fe to pure Ti and its processing by press-and-sinter on the behaviour of low-cost PM Ti alloys. It is found that the calibrated addition of steel permits to develop new low-cost Fe-bearing Ti alloys that can satisfactorily be produced using the blending elemental PM approach. Densification of the samples and homogenization of the chemical composition are enhanced by the high diffusivity of Fe. The low-cost α+β alloys reach comparable physical and mechanical properties to those of wrought-equivalent PM Ti alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, and are therefore promising candidates for load-bearing lightweight products.

year: 2018

title: Te kōrero kāpehu whenua planning for Te Whakatōhea kai (food) security

authors: Davis, Shannon

abstract: Oral presentation from the Adaptation Futures Conference held at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, Ōtautahi Christchurch.

text: Te kōrero kāpehu whenua planning for Te Whakatōhea kai (food) security Oral presentation from the Adaptation Futures Conference held at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, Ōtautahi Christchurch.

year: 2025