  Technology-sustained pervasive games, contrary to technology-supported
pervasive games, can be understood as computer games interfacing with the
physical world. Pervasive games are known to make use of 'non-standard input
devices' and with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), pervasive
applications can be expected to move beyond games. This dissertation is
requirements- and development-focused Design Science research for distributed
technology-sustained pervasive applications, incorporating knowledge from the
domains of Distributed Computing, Mixed Reality, Context-Aware Computing,
Geographical Information Systems and IoT. Computer video games have existed for
decades, with a reusable game engine to drive them. If pervasive games can be
understood as computer games interfacing with the physical world, can computer
game engines be used to stage pervasive games? Considering the use of
non-standard input devices in pervasive games and the rise of IoT, how will
this affect the architectures supporting the broader set of pervasive
applications? The use of a game engine can be found in some existing pervasive
game projects, but general research into how the domain of pervasive games
overlaps with that of video games is lacking. When an engine is used, a
discussion of, what type of engine is most suitable and what properties are
being fulfilled by the engine, is often not part of the discourse. This
dissertation uses multiple iterations of the method framework for Design
Science for the design and development of three software system architectures.
In the face of IoT, the problem of extending pervasive games into a fourth
software architecture, accommodating a broader set of pervasive applications,
is explicated. The requirements, for technology-sustained pervasive games, are
verified through the design, development and demonstration of the three
software system architectures. The ...
