Virtual Reality (VR) has been widely adopted in domains such as gaming, education, and healthcare, where 3D props play a central role in enabling immersive interaction. With the advancement of generative AI, 3D props can now be created rapidly; however, little research has explored how gestures and speech can be integrated to support prop generation. To address this gap, we introduce GestuProp, a VR prop generation system driven by co-speech gestures. Building on a formative study with 30 participants, we proposed a gesture design space and developed the VR system GestuProp. We then conducted a user study with 14 participants, which showed that GestuProp demonstrates good usability and favorable user experiences, while also revealing how object categories influence gesture use and interaction. These findings highlight the potential of gesture–speech synergy to advance prop generation in VR.
Training resources for parasports are limited, reducing opportunities for athletes and coaches to engage with sport-specific movements and tactical coordination. To address this gap, we developed BRIDGE, a system that integrates a reconstruction pipeline, which detects and tracks players from broadcast video to generate 3D play sequences, with an embodiment-aware visualization framework that decomposes head, trunk, and wheelchair base orientations to represent attention, intent, and mobility. We evaluated BRIDGE in two controlled studies with 20 participants (10 national wheelchair basketball team players and 10 amateur players). The results showed that BRIDGE significantly enhanced the perceived naturalness of player postures and made tactical intentions easier to understand. In addition, it supported functional classification by realistically conveying players’ capabilities, which in turn improved participants’ sense of self-efficacy. This work advances inclusive sports learning and accessible coaching practices, contributing to more equitable access to tactical resources in parasports.
Adolescence is often associated with emotional upheaval and teens themselves value support with their emotions. HCI research on emotion regulation has focused on lab-based interventions for those with the greatest needs. This paper explores how adolescents use commercially available videogames in their daily environments and how these practices relate to emotion regulation. We conducted a 2-week diary and interview study with eleven teens asking them to reflect on their videogame practices and emotions. We deployed a multimodal diary to encourage authentic teen voice on factors not typically considered in intervention studies. Our findings indicate that teens use videogames to regulate their emotions and to recover from stress in diverse ways. These processes are often intertwined with adolescents’ social relationships and can be mediated through game affordances. We argue that traditional approaches to emotion regulation may be too individualistic to recognise or support the social dynamics that define teens’ emotional lives.
Emotionally challenging experiences are central to player experience in games, and psychological horror provides particularly intense and thought-provoking moments. However, HCI research has largely overlooked how these experiences might influence reflection and mental health awareness. To address this gap, we interviewed two groups of eight players who experienced recent psychological horror games such as Alan Wake 2 and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Our analysis suggests that player reflection and a broader perspective on mental health are more likely to emerge when a game’s mechanics and narrative allow players to experience the characters’ mental states through gameplay. These findings highlight the potential of psychological horror games to encourage reflection on real-world experiences and offer ethical and future design considerations in crafting narratives centered around mental health.
Processing speech in noisy environments is a core challenge for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and few studies investigated evidence-based interventions. Disrupted visual attention and audiovisual integration are key contributors to these difficulties. Virtual reality (VR) games offer potential to support attention and audiovisual integration training, yet few are designed for this purpose. Current approaches using VR games emphasize either clinical fidelity or entertainment, creating an imbalance between neural engagement and sustained motivation. We developed a VR game through a co-design approach, informed by neural mechanisms and clinical expertise, and embedding child-centered interaction to sustain engagement. The game includes variations in interaction modes and difficulty levels, iteratively refined with neurodevelopmental specialists and children. We conducted an exploratory study with 11 participants, including neurotypical and ADHD children. Findings highlight task performance and insights from the target user group, while also suggesting implications for balancing clinical potential with user engagement.
Painting therapy has become an important approach to the treatment of depression in adolescents. However, depressed adolescents face low self-confidence, low engagement, and self-absorption when undergoing painting therapy. Informed by need-finding investigations, We developed Realms of the Heart, a human-AI collaborative gamified complementary treatment system for depressed adolescents. Realms of the Heart includes two AI-driven strategies: the transformation of natural objects collected by teens’ exploration into brushes, and the generation of sketches corresponding to natural objects by using brushes based on ControlNet. We conducted a randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized into an experimental group and a control group. The results showed that Realms of the Heart increased users’ motivation and significantly alleviated their level of depression. These findings not only shed light on the role of human-AI co-created painting therapy in the treatment of adolescent depression but also pave the way for more informed design strategies for art therapy.
In the rehabilitation process of women with substance use disorders, difficulties in emotion regulation represent a major risk factor for relapse, while shame, low self-esteem, and cognitive impairments further undermine their ability to learn and sustain emotion regulation skills. To address the lack of research on long-term skill transfer among marginalized populations in closed environments, we designed and evaluated a seven-day phased breathing biofeedback game based on low-cost audio input. The game was intended to support skill acquisition and transfer, strengthen self-efficacy and self-acceptance, and sustain attention and long-term engagement. In a six-week controlled study involving 60 participants, the results demonstrated that the game not only maintained high levels of engagement but also effectively improved breathing skills, facilitated their transfer into daily life, and alleviated negative emotions. Finally, we discussed and reflected on five design implications that emerged from these findings.