Ambient occlusion (AO) is a popular rendering technique that enhances depth perception and realism by darkening locations that are less exposed to ambient light (e.g., corners and creases). In real-time applications, screen-space variants, relying on the depth buffer, are used due to their high performance and good visual quality. However, these only take visible surfaces into account, resulting in inconsistencies, especially during motion. Stochastic-Depth Ambient Occlusion is a novel AO algorithm that accounts for occluded geometry by relying on a stochastic depth map, capturing multiple scene layers per pixel at random. Hereby, we efficiently gather missing information in order to improve upon the accuracy and spatial stability of conventional screen-space approximations, while maintaining real-time performance. Our approach integrates well into existing rendering pipelines and improves the robustness of many different AO techniques, including multi-view solutions. ... Read more

In recent years, many promising developments have taken place around augmented, virtual and mixed-reality technology. One could wonder whether these technologies can be combined to yield a mix of video games and sports, involving physical activities previously deemed impossible: creating a superhuman sport. This work investigates how mixed-reality can be used to create a fun, intuitive and engaging superhuman sport. To this end, the game League of Lasers was developed, in which two teams compete in a mix between football and Pong, using the physical movement of the players as main means to interact within mixed-reality. An evaluation of League of Lasers with a user study with 32 participants showed that League of Lasers is perceived as a fun and immersive skill-based game. ... Read more

Working in teams is a common approach to solving problems. However, new teams often suffer from a form of cold start, by which individual members are not yet comfortable expressing their ideas. Previous work has shown that ideation can be stimulated by promoting a sense of psychological safety among team members and instilling an ambiance of openness, and that games are helpful at establishing such social bonds. However, most such games only partially target psychological safety or openness, and often rely on the expertise of a facilitator, who may be unavailable for many teams. The ubiquity of mobile platforms opens up many opportunities for overcoming such drawbacks. We developed the mobile game Grapplenauts, a novel serious game directly focused on psychological safety and openness, that generates a beneficial atmosphere for ideation and does not require any facilitator. In Grapplenauts, team players have to gradually work together towards a team-wide goal, first in pairs and then among pairs, which has shown to be quite successful in promoting communication and collaboration. Play testing has shown that Grapplenauts was perceived as a fun, engaging and challenging collaborative game. In addition, results of a preliminary user study are cautiously optimistic about the success of the game in improving the perceived atmosphere within
newly-formed teams. ... Read more