The book is about user interfaces to applications that have been
designed for social and physical interaction. The interfaces are
'playful', that is, users feel challenged to engage in social and
physical interaction because that will be fun. The topics that will be
present in this book are interactive playgrounds, urban games using
mobiles, sensor-equipped environments for playing, child-computer
interaction, tangible game interfaces, interactive tabletop technology
and applications, full-body interaction, exertion games, persuasion,
engagement, evaluation and user experience. Readers of the book will not
only get a survey of state-of-the-art research in these areas, but the
chapters in this book will also provide a vision of the future where
playful interfaces will be ubiquitous, that is, present and integrated
in home, office, recreational, sports and urban environments,
emphasizing that in the future in these environments game elements will
be integrated and welcomed.