Problem solving is a big part of design, however a lot of emphasis is put on creativity in research related to the effects of stress. Research has shown that the amount of stress we feel affects idea generation. Stress may also affect the ability to solve problems, however the researchers don?t seem to agree about what the effect of stress actually does.The study was made through experimental sessions where the respondents were asked to solve 4 Matchstick Puzzles of similar difficulty. Depending on their outcome they experienced more or less stress.

Sudoku is a popular game of logic in the form of a puzzle. Sudoku puzzles are printed daily in Swedish newspapers. The challenge of solving these puzzles have inspired many programmers to develop Sudokusolving algorithms. These algorithms use different approaches in order to quickly and efficiently solve the puzzles. One such approach is the use of logical strategies initially developed for human players.

This essay examines the narrative aspect of interactive fiction. The study uses Janet H. Murrays analysis of the digital environment and the properties of it as procedural, participatory, spatial and encyclopedic. From this, her three characteristic pleasures in digital narratives - immersion, agency and transformation - are examined from the perspective of interactive fiction. The study also examines Nick Montforts analysis of interactive fiction as a potential narrative and a simulated world or environment.

Sudoku solvers are a widely researched topic among mathematicians and computer scientists. This report investigates the differences in execution time and time complexity between backtracking and human strategies for classes with 17-21 clues. Backtracking is compared to our implementation of human strategies with test data that contains 99 Sudoku puzzles for each class. The study shows that the execution time and time complexity is improved for human strategies compared to backtracking for each class. The conclusion shows that it is always favorable to implement the human strategies investigated in the report. .

Den här uppsatsen handlar om hur pussel och skr äck kan kombineras i ett och samma digitala spel. Hur man som utvecklare kan f å en j ämn balans mellan skr äcken och pusslen som presenteras f ör spelaren i spelet. Den typ av skr äck som den h ar uppsatsen har fokus på är genren 'Survival-Horror' och anv änder sig av den typ av skr äck som i digital spel kategoriserats som 'Survival-Horror'-spel. Den här uppsatsen visar en analys av 'Survival-Horror', samlar information om pussel och skr äck f or att utforma en hypotes hur dessa kan kombineras. F ör att kontrollera om hypotesen st ämmer utf ördes en intervju innan pussel- och skr äckmomenten implementerades i ett digitalt spel. Efter implementationerna genomf ördes det speltester i tv å omg ångar f ör att analysera resultatet mellan de tv å omg ångarna..

An alternate reality game, often abbreviated as ARG, is a mix between a game and a crossmedia interactive story using mainly the Internet as a platform. The game is built around the idea of teamwork among its participants. The players cooperate to solve puzzles allowing them to go forward in the story of the game. The marketing element is in different ways included in the story.A few Alternate Reality Games such as The Beast, The Art of the H3ist and The Lost Ring have previously been launched as marketing campaigns. This bachelor thesis aims to examine the possibilities of Alternate Reality Games as an alternative marketing tool for profit-driven companies.

Abstract"The Care of Work" is a study whose background comes from the problems surrounding work-life balance and equality that permeates social debates today. The problematic work-life-balance and gender equality are just as relevant today as they were 35 years ago. The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not men and women have a satisfactory work-life balance and if the organization they work for is doing something to make their life puzzles function. Last, but not least, the purpose is to see if gender equality is in the interest of the individual or the state.The study is based on work-life balance, gender equality and gender as the theoretical frames of reference. Eight respondents, four men and four women, from established IT companies were interviewed.

Abstract"The Care of Work" is a study whose background comes from the problems surrounding work-life balance and equality that permeates social debates today. The problematic work-life-balance and gender equality are just as relevant today as they were 35 years ago. The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not men and women have a satisfactory work-life balance and if the organization they work for is doing something to make their life puzzles function. Last, but not least, the purpose is to see if gender equality is in the interest of the individual or the state.The study is based on work-life balance, gender equality and gender as the theoretical frames of reference. Eight respondents, four men and four women, from established IT companies were interviewed.

The aim in this essay is to investigate students? attitudes to homework in grade six, and closerstudy the attitudes of the students who think homework is difficult and boring. I have chosento investigate and find out why homework is perceived as boring and cumbersome for somestudents in sixth grade. I hope to identify the aspects that contribute to the negativeconsequences that arise in connection with the homework. The following questions are usedto make the study: Do some students experience homework as boring and difficult? Do somestudents get any form of support at home, if so, how do students perceive the support fromhome? How do students feel that homework affects their leisure?What is the reason that the homework is perceived as difficult and boring according to thestudents? How should the shape of homework change according to the students who believethat homework is difficult and boring?I have chosen to do the study with older students who have more experience with homework.I used both qualitative and quantitative methods, those are interviews and questionnaires.

With the digital revolution within video games, the need for Digital Rights Management (DRM) has increased significantly, alongside with the increasing problem of copyright pirates. To counter pirates, DRM was created to prevent illegal copying of software, this to ensure that the Distributors received an income for their work. DRM has, since the start of its use, been getting, a lot of bad criticism from the users of the software protected by DRM. The main function of this paper is to describe the creation and development of DRM by analysis of the vision of different groups on this phenomenon. The main questions are as follows, is it possible to define the very reason for why DRM was created and if so, can its development through time be defined too? What differences in opinions are there when it comes to DRM, counting the two major groups of creators, sellers, distributors (referred to as distributors) versus individual users (referred to as consumers)? In what way will the research results suggest that the future DRM will develop?The development has gone from solving puzzles in a handbook to start the game each time the user wants to play, to serial numbers that is needed during the installation of the game.

The aim of this study is, from a norm-critical approach, to find, investigate and analyse human representation in the visual culture of one preschool in order to understand if the children enrolled are represented or not. The research questions are: In what ways is there imagery of human representations in images and materials designed for play? What skin-colors and origins are dominant in the data collected?We carried out a qualitative study in the form of visual ethnography. This method allowed us to use a combination of different data collection tools such as photography and ethnographic field notes to collect our data. The photographs we took of images and material used for play, was then analysed through semiotic picture analysis.

The aim of this study is, from a norm-critical approach, to find, investigate and analyse human representation in the visual culture of one preschool in order to understand if the children enrolled are represented or not. The research questions are: In what ways is there imagery of human representations in images and materials designed for play? What skin-colors and origins are dominant in the data collected?We carried out a qualitative study in the form of visual ethnography. This method allowed us to use a combination of different data collection tools such as photography and ethnographic field notes to collect our data. The photographs we took of images and material used for play, was then analysed through semiotic picture analysis.

All since Thomas Kuhn?s strongly influential The Structure of Scientific Revolutions the Philosophy of Science and ?even more so ?the Social Sciences have contained a greater amount of theories that could be described as more or less relativistic, meaning that the standards of justification or truth thereafter more often were said to be relative to language, culture, or biological makeup. One of the more elaborate ways of developing Thomas Kuhn?s theories in a more relativistic direction ismade by the philosopher Richard Rorty. Rorty, mainly a supporter of Thomas Kuhn, is also a philosopher who has been seen as a main exponent of a so called Postmodern philosophy.My intention in this thesis is to evaluate whether Kuhn's and Rorty's theories of science and knowledge could be regarded as relativism, in respects of their view of incommensurability, rational argumentation, and of their position vis-á-vis the more conventional picture of scientific knowledge and truth.

The main purpose of this study is to examine differences and similarities concerning teamwork and interactive skills among preschool children while they interact with an Ipad respective a number of selected traditional artifacts. The traditional artifacts chosen for this study are small Lego blocks, JovoToys (click and construct system) and large puzzles. The study takes its starting point on the basis of both a social- and a learning perspective when different groups of preschool children in the ages from three to five years interact in fellowship groups with respective artifact. Primarily the main focus is to examine differences and similarities that appear from without the social perspective.The overall objective is to identify what eventual differences and similarities can be found purposely on both what is happening in the social interaction between the preschool children themselves but also what is taking place in the interaction between the children and each artifact. This study will also via theoretical frameworks create an understanding why eventual differences and similarities exist.The results are based on both a literature review and a field study.