Gesture Activated Mobile Edutainment (GAME): Intercultural Training of Nonverbal Behavior with Mobile Phones

An approach to intercultural training of nonverbal behavior is presented that draws from research on role-plays with virtual agents and ideas from situated learning. To this end, a mobile serious game is realized where the user acquires knowledge about German emblematic gestures and tries them out in role-plays with virtual agents. Gesture performance is evaluated making use of build-in acceleration sensors of smart phones. After an account of the theoretical background covering diverse areas like virtual agents, situated learning and intercultural training, the paper presents the GAME approach along with details on the gesture recognition and content authoring. By its experience-based role plays with virtual characters, GAME brings together ideas from situated learning and intercultural training in an integrated approach and paves the way for new m-learning concepts.