See It is a research project at Simon Fraser University, Canada. This means that professors and students are studying the game to learn how people participate in it so that they can create a better gaming experience. It also means that in order to play, you need to read and accept the following research consent form.
Research Project Title: Pervasive Games for Families
Application Number: 2010s0629
Principal Investigator: Dr. Carman Neustaedter
The Simon Fraser University Research Ethics Board has approved this research study.
This consent form, a copy of which is available to you on the See It website (in the side navigation bar), is part of the process of informed consent. It should give you the basic idea of what the research is about and what your participation will involve. If you would like more detail about something mentioned here, or information not included here, you should feel free to ask the investigator(s). Please take the time to read this carefully and to understand the information.
What is See It:
See It is a multimedia treasure hunt. People use multimedia in the forms of images or video to find the location of “treasures” hidden around the world. People can also hide these treasures for others to find. All See It caches, known as “spots,” contain a hidden item (e.g., plastic or metal case) holding a logbook for you to sign, plus optional toy items for you to trade. They also contain a starting point listed on a spot’s page. Each starting point is within 1 kilometer (or 1.6 miles) of the actual hidden spot container. The way you navigate to each spot can vary but will always involve you using content shown in images or videos to identify the location of the hidden spot.
Purpose:
The purpose of this research is to understand how people use multimedia in the form of images and/or video to find locations and hidden items. This includes, but is not limited to, learning how people:
- match multimedia content to real world locations
- make use of visual landmarks to find locations
- participate in the activity either as individuals or groups
Our goal is to learn how to best design pervasive games like See It in order to maximize fun and enjoyment for family members.
Participant Recruitment and Selection:
To participate, you must create a user profile within the See It website. Only those 19 years of age and older may create an account. Data collection as part of the study will commence each time you login to the See It site and sessions will end each time you logout. As such, your entire participation in the study will last while you maintain an active account with See It. You are free to withdraw from the research project at any time without prejudice. If you are a student, you may withdraw without adverse effect on your grades or evaluation in any classroom activities or coursework. At the time of withdrawal, you may request that your data be permanently deleted.
All data is deleted after a period of five years, regardless of whether your account is still active. If you wish to have the data remain (such as the number of spots you have found), you are free to request this from the investigators.
We recognize that participants may participate in See It by finding or hiding spots with individuals who do not have an account at the See It website. This may include family members or friends, some of whom may be under 19 years of age. These individuals will not be considered as participants of the study as we will not collect any data from them through the website.
Procedure:
Your participation in the study is ongoing as long as you maintain an active See It account. You may search and hide as many or as few spot as you like during this time. We ask that you record your hunting activities on the See It web site.
Data Collection:
The See It web site logs your web activities while you are logged in to your account. This includes activities such as searching for spots, creating spot pages, and logging reports about individual spots. We do not log your activities on any other web sites. The See It web site may prompt you with questions about your usage of the site and the See It activity while you are using the web site. Answers to these questions are also recorded.
Confidentiality:
Your anonymity will be strictly maintained. We seek to publish reports and presentations describing the research; however, within these publications, we will refer only to a participant identification number or pseudonym. Confidential information will be hidden from photos and videos prior to the publication of results from this study, unless prior consent is given.
All data collected as part of the study will be kept on a secure server computer. Our server is located in Canada at Simon Fraser University, Surrey campus.
We may contact you periodically using the email address you have included when you created your See It account. This contact may include sharing of information relating to See It or asking if you would be willing to participate in additional interviews, surveys, or other questionnaires about your participation in See It. We will not provide your contact information to any other organizations.
Benefits and Risks:
The research project will benefit you by allowing you to participate in a fun, treasure hunt activity. The risks of participation are intended to be none or minimal. This is because when hiding or finding spots, you will be doing common everyday activities such as walking, driving, bicycling, or hiking.
Spots can be created by any user with a registered See It account. The rules and regulations of See It are designed to ensure new spots present none to minimal risk. For example, videos and images may not contain:
- pornography
- racist or discriminatory acts
- violence or bullying
- other inappropriate acts as deemed so by the principal investigator
All new spots are approved by the project investigators, however, we can not always ensure that every aspect of a spot adheres to the rules at all times. We ask that participants report incidents of rule violation to the project investigators who will deal with them in a timely manner.
See It involves physical activities in the real world. As such, participation may involve risk to both persons and property, for example, fatigue from walking or “wear and tear” on one’s vehicle from driving. While we attempt to create a safe and risk free activity, there are many¬ variables that must be considered prior to you seeking or hiding a spot. These may include weather, fitness level, terrain features, or outdoor experiences that are out of the control of the project investigators. Be prepared for weather and driving conditions and always exercise common sense and caution. By participating in the research project, you assume all risks arising in connection with hiding a spot, seeking a spot, or any other related activity.
Research Results:
Research results can be obtained by contacting the investigator.
Investigators:
Dr. Carman Neustaedter is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University.
Acceptance of this Form:
Your acceptance of this form indicates that you have understood to your satisfaction the information regarding participation in the research project and agree to participate as a subject. Your continued participation should be as informed as your initial consent, so you should feel free to ask for clarification or new information throughout your participation. If you have further questions concerning matters related to this research, please contact:
Dr. Carman Neustaedter at carman_neustaedter@sfu.ca.
If you have any concerns about the way you’ve been treated as a participant or concerns with the research project, please contact Dr. Hal Weinberg, Director, Office of Research at hal_weinberg@sfu.ca or 778-782-6593.
To accept this form, please check the box below, and type your name and today’s date in the following boxes as a form of digital signature.