LudoScience

PhD in Information and Communication Science

Current status

Since 2010

Researcher and consultant in Serious Game and Game Technologies at IDATE and LUTIN UserLab.

Fron 2008 to 2009

Post-doctoral researcher in the Lannion Orange Labs research laboratory.

Since 2007

PhD in Information and Communication Science and researcher at IRIT laboratory.

Since 1998

Videogame designer (serious games and casual games)

Main references: TF1, éditions Bayard, Dupuis, Milan, EMI Music France.

Full ludography (from GameClassification)

Portfolio and galery : http://www.ja-games.com

Since 1996

Freelance multimedia developper and designer

Main references : CNES, ENAC, Université Paul Sabatier, Rectorat de Toulouse, INP, France Télécom, EDF/GDF...

Since 1994

Multimedia and game design teacher
From Bachelor to Master degree, and professional instruction.

PhD Thesis

From videogame to serious game: cultural, pragmatical and formal approaches

PhD thesis in Information and Communication Science

Toulouse Universities II and III, LARA and IRIT laboratories

December 17th, 2007

Keywords: Serious Game, Video Game, Classification, Gameplay, Game Design, learning, pedagogy, teaching scenario, Problem-based-learning, PBL, Multimedia, Computer Human Interface, Usability, Gameplay Bricks, Game Bricks, Play Bricks.

Summary

This thesis is situated on the border of the Computer Science and the Social Sciences. It concerns the conception of Serious Games and their use within the context of targeted learning. By a Serious Game we mean a computer application, whose initial intention is to combine coherently the serious aspects (Serious) in a neither exhaustive nor exclusive manner, with instruction, learning, communication or further on information, assorted with the playing aspect of Video Games (Game). A Serious Game is thus for us a way to integrate an educational scenario into a Video Game. Our questioning will lead us to see how this relationship will be realized. After having examined the principal mains of application of the Serious Game and having defined it, the study of this questioning is realized in three phases concerning the cultural, pragmatic and formal systems in accordance with the Game Designers Salen and Zimmerman. Thus the cultural system means a transversal approach, taking into account in our case, the human, economic, technical, artistic, pedagogical, playing and organizational aspects. This system is explored by the development of a Serious Games for pupils at the Secondary School. We particularly try to understand the complexity and the multitude of parameters that come up at different levels during such a realization, during the phases of conception, production and use. The pragmatic system allows us subsequently to refocus our approach and study the game and educational aspects. The aim is to identify a form of pedagogy that takes into account the use of a Serious Game. The formal system, at last, leads us to close our field of investigation and focus on the Gameplay which according to Jean-Noël Portugal is a link between the learning and the Video Game. This leads us in particular to analyse within a computer context, some of the game rules and to conceive a classification of these games. Once this classification realized, we then compare the rules of the pedagogical screenplay and those of the Video Game. At this stage of this study we try to observe if Serious Game is a new kind of computer.