Virtual Movements : A Proposed Theoretical Framework

ABSTRACT This work proposes a theoretical framework for classifying the actions, overall movements and changes and which take place in a virtual environment like video games and develops methods to represent them as well. The framework introduces a hierarchical structure consisting of Ways, Aksions, Combinations, Interactions & Movement. A Way represents an action in its most detailed form, whereas an Aksion generalises different Ways according to their final effect or stimulus they bring to the game. Combination provides a symbolic representation of the aksions involved. The framework further distinguishes between Interaction, which considers relationships involving the player, and Otraction, which considers system-level relationships that exclude the player. These concepts are then represented through Interactive and Otractive Movement matrices, in which rows and columns correspond to entities and matrix entries represent binary-valued combinations. Additional concepts include Action Precedence, Entity Precedence, Rules regarding combinations, revision of rules, which are introduced to establish characteristics for organising and representing these relationships. Examples are based on a Super Mario Bros. environment that demonstrate the proposed classifications, combinatorial counting rules, and matrix constructions. This paper presents Virtual Movements as a proposed conceptual and mathematical framework intended for further development and evaluation across different environments and platforms.