Blocks in the Woods trains players’ spatial cognition skills regarding object perspective reasoning, an important skill for careers such as engineering and medicine. Data are collected and analyzed to study if the Q3D model helped players solve the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT) questions, and whether they improved their spatial abilities during the game play or not.
3D perceptual ability tests (PAT) generally give two different views of a three-dimensional object and respondents must select the corresponding third view for each object. However, while the object is 3D, the views given are two-dimensional (2D) on paper-and-pencil tests, such as those used by the North American Dental Association’s Admission Testing and the German Academic Foundation. Further, the views provided in paper-based tests are disconnected from each other.
In 3D object design, engineers assume continuity in their 3D technological drawings. However, 2D views of objects used in paper-based PAT tests are disconnected and need to be related according to a reference system. To reflect this continuity, the Qualitative 3D Descriptor (Q3D model) was developed to relate the views of an object using the depths perceived in each of the perspectives.
The videogame was created to test the Q3D model, and has three playing options:
- The first is Object Building, where players learn to build objects using cubes, and are tasked to reproduce several object models. Players are rated on the time it takes for them to correctly build the object shown.
- The next is Object Description, where players label each level of depth according to the Q3D Descriptor model. Players are once again scored based on the time it took for them to reach the correct answer. In this stage, players are helped by inference rules in order to make the completion of the description easier.
- The last option consists of Perspective Question Answering, where players are given 2 views of an object and must select the correct 3rd view from a selection of 4 possibilities. Players have two options for help, the first adds a visual grid on top of the object, which separates each cube, and the second labels each cube with their respective depth level using the Q3D description. There are 20 questions presented, and two levels of difficulty. Players only receive points for selecting the right answer, and are also scored on the amount of time spent to solve each question.
Blocks in the Woods runs on devices with Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' or higher. It's available in English, Spanish, and Catalan.
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