High-resolution gaming: Interfaces,notifications, and the user experience

Advances in technology and display hardware have allowed the resolution of monitors – and video games – to incrementally improve over the past three decades. However, little research has been done in preparation for the resolutions that will be available in the future if this trend continues. We developed a number of display prototypes to explore the different aspects of gaming on large, high-resolution displays.By running a series of experiments, we were not only able to evaluate the benefits of these displays for gaming, but also identify potential user interface and hardware issues that can arise. Building on these results, various interface designs were developed to better notify the user of passive and critical game information as well as to overcome difficulties with mouse-based interaction on these displays. Different display form factors and user input devices are also explored in order to determine how they can further enhance the gaming experience. In many cases, the new techniques can be applied to single-monitor games and solve the same problems in real-world, high-resolution applications.     

Influence of Different Types of Vibrations on Technical Acceptance of a Mobile Game Aiming for Hedonic Satisfaction

Rapid increases in the smartphone gaming industry have made in-game usability increasingly important. However, industrial usability is still focused on performance although high performance is not necessarily a goal in actual games. Mobile gamers largely want to increase their hedonic satisfaction. So already established usability guidelines can fail in mobile gaming. Focusing on vibrations as a haptic feedback, this study analyzed the influences of intensity and length of vibrations on user perceptions based on the technology acceptance model aiming for hedonic satisfaction when mobile gaming. A smartphone game was modified to generate seven types of vibrations for a human factors experiment with 70 subjects and administered a questionnaire to measure their perceptions of the game influenced by the vibrations. The results show that including vibrations significantly increases the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and cognitive concentration in the game. The stronger vibration intensity significantly improves user perceptions of the usefulness and cognitive concentration, whereas the length of vibration is not a critical factor as long as vibrations exist.     

Evaluating user experience of adaptive digital educational games with Activity Theory

Adaptive digital educational games (DEGs) providing players with relevant interventions can enhance gameplay experience. This advance in game design, however, renders the user experience (UX) evaluation of DEGs even more challenging. To tackle this challenge, we developed a four-dimension evaluation framework (i.e., gaming experience, learning experience, adaptivity, and usability) and applied it to an empirical study with a DEG on teaching geography. Mixed-method approaches were adopted to collect data with 16 boys aged 10–11. Specifically, a so-called Dyadic User Experience Tests (DUxT) was employed; participants were paired up to assume different roles during gameplay. Learning efficacy was evaluated with a pre-post intervention measurement using a domain-specific questionnaire. Learning experience, gaming experiences and usability were evaluated with intensive in situ observations and interviews guided by a multidimensional scheme; content analysis of these transcribed audio data was supplemented by video analysis. Effectiveness of adaptivity algorithms was planned to be evaluated with automatic logfiles, which, unfortunately, could not be realised due to some technical problem. Nonetheless, the user-based data could offer some insights into this issue. Furthermore, we attempted to bridge the existing gap in UX research – the lack of theoretical frameworks in understanding user experience – by adopting Engeström's (1987) extended framework of Activity Theory (AT) that provides contextual information essential for understanding contradictions and breakdowns observed in the interactions between the game players. The dyadic gameplay setting allows us to explore the issue of group UX. Implications for further applications of the AT framework in the UX research, especially the interplay between evaluation and redesign (i.e., downstream utility of UX evaluation methods), are discussed.     

Multimodal augmented reality tangible gaming

This paper presents tangible augmented reality gaming environment that can be used to enhance entertainment using a multimodal tracking interface. Players can interact using different combinations between a pinch glove, a Wiimote, a six-degrees-of-freedom tracker, through tangible ways as well as through I/O controls. Two tabletop augmented reality games have been designed and implemented including a racing game and a pile game. The goal of the augmented reality racing game is to start the car and move around the track without colliding with either the wall or the objects that exist in the gaming arena. Initial evaluation results showed that multimodal-based interaction games can be beneficial in gaming. Based on these results, an augmented reality pile game was implemented with goal of completing a circuit of pipes (from a starting point to an end point on a grid). Initial evaluation showed that tangible interaction is preferred to keyboard interaction and that tangible games are much more enjoyable.     

Playability: analysing user experience in video games

Currently, few studies focus on analysing the degree of the Player eXperience (PX) in video games. Video games have now become interactive entertainment systems with a high economic impact on society; these are interactive systems characterised by their subjectivity, which differ from other systems in that their main objective is to entertain and amuse the user (player). This work discusses the analysis and evaluation of the User eXperience (UX) in interactive entertainment systems, exploring how usability, given its definition, objectives and the fact it is one of the main dimensions of UX, is not sufficient to characterise the PX, giving rise to a new concept: Playability. In this paper, we present a framework for the analysis and evaluation of the UX in video games. The results show the need and importance of a framework to help us understand and measure the experience that players feel using these types of interactive systems, in order to improve the experience during play time. The proposed framework characterises the experience using attributes to identify and properties to measure UX. It thus provides a multifaceted analysis mechanism to assess the impact of the gaming experience and its relationship with the elements of a video game. We therefore present a system to represent UX based on this framework, with the aim of ensuring and measuring a satisfactory experience of the entertainment system. Finally, we discuss a practical experiment in which an evaluation of the playability of a commercial video game was carried out using the methods proposed in this work.     

On the usability and likeability of virtual reality games for education: The case of VR-ENGAGE

Educational software games aim at increasing the students’ motivation and engagement while they learn. However, if software games are targeted to school classrooms they have to be usable and likeable by all students. Usability of virtual reality games may be a problem because these games tend to have complex user interfaces so that they are more attractive. Moreover, if the games acquire an educational content they may lose the attractiveness and appeal that they have on users who are familiar with commercial games. Consequently, likeability may also be questioned. In this paper, we address the issue of usability and likeability of a virtual reality game that is meant to teach students geography. We describe the evaluation experiments conducted, which involved three categories of students in terms of their level of game-playing expertise: novice, intermediate and expert game players. The evaluation results showed that the game was indeed usable and likeable but there was scope for usability and likeability improvement so that the educational benefits may be maximised for all categories of students. The evaluation studies reported in this paper, revealed important issues about further research on virtual reality educational games.     

Bringing tabletop technology to all: evaluating a tangible farm game with kindergarten and special needs children

The tangible interaction approach has in recent years become a promising alternative to multitouch tabletops for very young children. Children learning with tangible user interfaces can benefit from the same pedagogical values as learning with materials in physical play. The NIKVision tabletop and games have been designed to provide leisure and fun while reinforcing physical manipulation and co-located gaming for young children (3- to 6-year-olds). Interaction is provided in NIKVision by the handling of conventional toys and computer augmentation on a table surface. First of all, the paper sets out the results of a summative evaluation carried out in nurseries and schools summarising the performance of the tabletop in terms of usability, user experience and physical and co-located gaming. Secondly, the paper presents an evaluation carried out in a special education school with children with cognitive disabilities, in an attempt to widen the range of possible beneficiaries of tangible interfaces. The challenge in this case is to ensure children’s comprehension of the game and to adequately combine feedback on the application with teacher interventions. In fact, the initial results reinforce the idea of not trying to substitute but rather to assist teachers and emphasise the possibilities offered by the tabletop as a tool to promote student autonomy.     

Performance Characterization of Game Recommendation Algorithms on Online Social Network Sites

Since years,online social networks have evolved from profile and communication websites to online portals where people interact with each other,share and consume multimedia-enriched data and play different types of games.Due to the immense popularity of these online games and their huge revenue potential,the number of these games increases every day,resulting in a current offering of thousands of online social games.In this paper,the applicability of neighborhood-based collaborative filtering(CF) algorithms for the recommendation of online social games is evaluated.This evaluation is based on a large dataset of an online social gaming platform containing game ratings(explicit data) and online gaming behavior(implicit data) of millions of active users.Several similarity metrics were implemented and evaluated on the explicit data,implicit data and a combination thereof.It is shown that the neighborhood-based CF algorithms greatly outperform the content-based algorithm,currently often used on online social gaming websites.The results also show that a combined approach,i.e.,taking into account both implicit and explicit data at the same time,yields overall good results on all evaluation metrics for all scenarios,while only slightly performing worse compared to the strengths of the explicit or implicit only approaches.The best performing algorithms have been implemented in a live setup of the online game platform.     

Gaze controlled games

The quality and availability of eye tracking equipment has been increasing while costs have been decreasing. These trends increase the possibility of using eye trackers for entertainment purposes. Games that can be controlled solely through movement of the eyes would be accessible to persons with decreased limb mobility or control. On the other hand, use of eye tracking can change the gaming experience for all players, by offering richer input and enabling attention-aware games. Eye tracking is not currently widely supported in gaming, and games specifically developed for use with an eye tracker are rare. This paper reviews past work on eye tracker gaming and charts future development possibilities in different sub-domains within. It argues that based on the user input requirements and gaming contexts, conventional computer games can be classified into groups that offer fundamentally different opportunities for eye tracker input. In addition to the inherent design issues, there are challenges and varying levels of support for eye tracker use in the technical implementations of the games.     

Evaluation of semi-automatically generated accessible interfaces for educational games

The increasing body of evidence supporting the use of videogames in educational settings (usually referred to as serious games) is pushing their deployment across different areas of the educational system. However, this increased adoption also raises serious ethical issues: videogames are one of the least accessible forms of multimedia, and if education is to embrace serious games, there is an imperative need for universal accessibility in serious games to prevent a digital divide. However, producing accessible games is expensive and effort consuming, and serious games development already fare with limited budgets. In this work we explore the potential impact of the (semi-) automatic adaptation of game interfaces as a way to facilitate accessible game development (and thus trim the cost down). We propose a game interface model optimized for point-and-click adventure games, a popular genre among serious games that we have used to perform different semi-automatic adaptations in a game. We have tested the resulting adapted game with end users with specific disability profiles. Our tests discovered that the automatic adaptations produced usable games that retained part of their attractive, although different usability issues had a negative impact on the user experience. We also discuss the origins of such limitations and propose possible remediation actions, as well as a refined interface model.     

Automatic analysis and identification of verbal aggression and abusive behaviors for online social games

Online multiplayer games create new social platforms, with their own etiquette, social rules of conduct and ways of expression. What counts as aggressive and abusing behavior may change depending on the platform, but most online gaming companies need to deal with aggressive and abusive players explicitly. This usually is tied to a reporting mechanism where the offended player reports an offense. In this paper, we develop tools for validating whether a verbal aggression offense report refers to a real offense or not, in the context of a very popular online social game, called Okey. Our approach relies on the analysis of player behavior and characteristics of offending players. In the proposed system, chat records and other social activities in the game are taken into account, as well as player history. This methodology is sufficiently generic, and it can be applied to similar gaming platforms, thus describing a useful tool for game companies. We report our results on data collected over a six months period, involving 100,000 users and 800,000 game records, and illustrate the viability of such analysis, while providing insights on the factors associated with verbal aggression and abusive behavior for social games.     

Body in the interactive game: How interface embodiment affects physical activity and health behavior change

Does the delivery platform for a health behavior game contribute to its effectiveness? With the growing popularity of interactive video games that combine physical exercise with gameplay, known as “exergames,” there has been a burgeoning interest in their impact on users’ exercise attitudes and behavioral outcomes. This study examines how the level of user interface embodiment, the degree to which the user’s body interacts with the game, affects the user’s experience, game behavior, and intention for behavior change. We conducted a between-participants experiment in which participants (N = 119) played an exergame under one of the three levels of user interface embodiment (low, medium, and high). Our results revealed a significant positive main effect of user interface embodiment on user experience (i.e., the sense of being in the game, “presence,” and enjoyment); level of energy expenditure (change in heart rate); and intention to further engage in exergame-play exercise but not necessarily to increase exercise in the physical world. A further analysis revealed the mediating roles of user experience in the association between user interface embodiment and intention to repeat exergaming and a potential link between heart rate change and level of presence in the game. We conclude that type of interface is a key variable in this health communication environment, affecting user experience, behavior, and some intention for behavior change.     

A usability study of multimodal input in an augmented reality environment

In this paper, we describe a user study evaluating the usability of an augmented reality (AR) multimodal interface (MMI). We have developed an AR MMI that combines free-hand gesture and speech input in a natural way using a multimodal fusion architecture. We describe the system architecture and present a study exploring the usability of the AR MMI compared with speech-only and 3D-hand-gesture-only interaction conditions. The interface was used in an AR application for selecting 3D virtual objects and changing their shape and color. For each interface condition, we measured task completion time, the number of user and system errors, and user satisfactions. We found that the MMI was more usable than the gesture-only interface conditions, and users felt that the MMI was more satisfying to use than the speech-only interface conditions; however, it was neither more effective nor more efficient than the speech-only interface. We discuss the implications of this research for designing AR MMI and outline directions for future work. The findings could also be used to help develop MMIs for a wider range of AR applications, for example, in AR navigation tasks, mobile AR interfaces, or AR game applications.     

Digital Game Dynamics Preferences and Player Types

In this study, we examine digital game preferences by identifying game dynamics, i.e. player–game interaction modes, of 700 contemporary digital games, and players' (N = 1717) desire to play games with specific types of dynamics. Based on statistical analysis of the data, 5 game dynamics preference categories (“assault,” “manage,” “journey,” “care,” and “coordinate”) and 7 player types were revealed. The results show that identifying player types requires including both preferred and undesired game dynamics categories in the analysis. The findings unveil digital gaming as a more multifaceted phenomenon than common stereotypes suggest. The original game preferences model we present in this study can be conceptualized as a complementary approach for motivations to play and player behavior studies.     

Swordplay: Innovating Game Development through VR

With the movement towards 3D input devices in gaming, we explored the use of 3D user interfaces in the context of Swordplay, an immersive sword-fighting and spell-casting game aimed toward casual gamers. Developed as part of a course on "innovating game development" at Brown University, Swordplay is an attempt to determine what types of interaction techniques could be useful with natural human expression in virtual 3D environments. The result is a fun, lightning-fast game intended to push the skills and dexterity of its users, similar to the popular button-mashing games of the early 1980s     

Creating scalable location-based games: lessons from Geocaching

Location-based games seek to move computer gaming out from behind the PC and into the “real world” of cities, streets, parks, and other locations. This real-world physicality makes the experience fun for game players, yet it brings the unique challenge of creating and orchestrating such a game. That is, location-based games are often difficult to create, grow, and maintain over long periods of time. Our research investigates how location-based games can be designed to overcome this challenge of scalability. We studied the well-established location-based game of Geocaching through active participation and an online survey to better understand how it has succeeded in maintaining user involvement and growth over the last decade. Findings show that Geocaching benefits by having players directly create game content, including both lightweight and elaborate creations. Geocaching has also made it simple for players to perform game orchestration by monitoring game content, other players, and even non-players. We then characterize location-based games according to various attributes and suggest how the lessons learned from Geocaching could be applied more generally to the design of other location-based games and in which cases they should not be applied.     

Exertion interfaces for computer videogames using smartphones as input controllers

As mobile phones become smarter and include a wider and more powerful array of sensory components, the opportunity to leverage those capabilities in contexts other than telephony grows. We have in particular identified those sensory capabilities as key components for modern user interfaces that can detect movement, actions and intentions to enrich human-computer interaction in a natural way. In this work, we present research around using smartphones as input controllers in the context of exertion videogames. We propose a conceptual framework that identifies the core elements of such interfaces, regardless of the underlying technological platforms, and provides a design pattern for their integration into existing videogames without having to change the game’s source code. We present a proof of concept implementation for the framework, with two smartphone input controllers, which using a soft button and accelerometer data, interface to a target-shooting exertion game played while exercising on a stationary bicycle. We present findings from a user experience evaluation.     

Movement Awareness for Ubiquitous Game Control

This paper describes a sensing system for recognising and characterising human movements and its application to ubiquitous gaming. In particular this paper considers the control of computer games through players interacting with the physical environment around them in a natural and appropriate manner. This pushes the interface into the environment, and pulls ubiquitous computing into the game. This is achieved using a sentient computing system. Such a system senses the location, motions, actions and even physiological responses of users. This sensory data can be used to interface and control a game. A good example is 3D first-person games and we demonstrate a system in which actions in the game are mapped to similar actions in the real world. Correspondence to: R. Headon, Laboratory for Communications Engineering, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK. Email: rph25@cam.ac.uk     

Typology and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Massively Multiplayer Online Game Players

To date, there has been relatively little research comparing different types of online gamers. The main aim of this study was to provide robust benchmark data on different types of Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) players using a large sample of online gamers. An online survey was used to recruit 4,374 Hungarian online gamers from websites offering different types of MMOGs. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, the study also collected data on gaming preference, amount of time spent gaming, amount of money spent on the game, and whether they played at an amateur or professional level. A latent profile analysis of gaming preferences differentiated between eight specific gamer types, of which four types emerged as clear categories, indicating clear preference for a specific type of game (role-playing games, first-person shooter games, real-time strategy games, and other games). Overall, 79% of gamers belonged to these four categories. First-person shooter gamers were almost exclusively male, younger aged, lower educated, and of lower socioeconomic status. Real-time strategy gamers were older. Female gamers were most likely to play “Other” games and/or role-playing games. In relation to time spent gaming, role-playing gamers appeared to be the most vulnerable. The results indicated that a significant number of gamers have clear gaming preferences, and these specific gaming types are associated with significant differences regarding sociodemographic and gaming characteristics of gamers.     

Making Mii: studying the effects of methodological approaches and gaming contexts on avatar customization

In this paper we present an analysis of the character creation interface on the Nintendo WiiU and explore the pragmatics of avatar customisation through a between-subjects, qualitative user study involving 24 participants. Our Mii research – or ‘Miisearch’ – is motivated by our desire to highlight the agency these interfaces have in self-representational practices; specifically, to understand the effects of interface affordances on avatar customisation in games. Furthermore, as self-representational practices are often studied using distance methods and self-reporting (e.g. surveys), we compare data on avatar customisation from two sources: a survey and participant observation via micro-ethnography. Results of our study reveal discrepancies between the survey data and participant observation, challenging popular methodological approaches in both the game studies and HCI communities. Most significantly, our findings illustrate the combined effects of gaming contexts and interface affordances on avatar customisation.