We are seeking highly motivated and ambitious candidates to join our research team and pursue an industrial PhD in collaboration with the Motivational Digital Systems research unit of Fondazione Bruno Kessler and AWorld.
Aworld is the official platform of ACTNOW, the United Nations Campaign aiming for individual action on climate change and sustainability. Therefore, the PhD candidate will have the unique opportunity to make an impact with their research to awareness and behavioral change related to environmental sustainability.
The PhD Grant endeavors to explore the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to motivational gamified systems, with a particular focus on raising individuals’ awareness of environmental sustainability and promoting positive long-term behavioural change.
In recent years, the rapid evolution of AI models and techniques has presented unprecedented opportunities for enhancing personalised and immersive gaming experiences. Motivational gamified systems, designed with educational, awareness-raising, or behavioural change objectives in mind, stand to benefit significantly from the integration of AI-driven capabilities.
This PhD project aims at harnessing AI to revolutionise player profiling, content generation, adaptation, and personalization within gamified systems and experience. By leveraging AI technologies, motivational gamified systems can dynamically adapt to individual player profiles (e.g., preferences, performances, skills, motivational factors), and fosteri deeper engagement and immersion.
The PhD Grant aims to address the following key objectives:
• Methodologies for pro-environmental gamified systems design: define methodologies and design principles for pro-environmental gamified systems that enable sustained user engagement over time (retention), studying methods to prevent fatigue and maintain high interest.
• AI-driven Game Analytics and Impact Assessment: study and develop gamification analytics to analyse user system usage, monitor progress, measure impact achieved, and evaluate motivational factors influencing user behavior.
• AI-Driven User Profiling and Content Generation: leverage AI-based techniques for user profiling and the creation of highly personalised experiences. This includes personalization of motivational elements such as storytelling, challenges, rewards, and feedback, based on individual user profiles and historical data for enhanced engagement and motivation.
• Experimental studies and validation: implement the above-mentioned AI-driven algorithms and tools aimed at promoting eco-friendly behaviors, raising awareness about environmental issues (such as climate change, pollution, conservation of resources), and encouraging action, and validate them within the AWorld platform.
Through interdisciplinary research, the PhD Grant aims to push the boundaries of AI-driven Game User Research, leading to the creation of a new generation of motivational gamified systems that are not only entertaining but also educational, impactful, and deeply immersive.