Game Technology and ExperienceExperience

Frank Van Reeth

IBBT-EDM-Uhasselt

&

Mieke Van Gils

IBBT-CUO-KU Leuven

� Experience items

� Survey gaming

� Measuring user experiences in digital games

� IBBT game experience research

� Technology items

Presentation overview

� Technology items

� Technological activity areas

� Scalable 3D Networked Virtual Environments

� Specific applications

� Rendering on mobile devices

� Technical aspects influencing user experience

Survey gaming

Survey GAMING, IBBT-MICT UGent

Online survey of 2895 Flemish gamers

Conclusion:

� The gamer doesn’t exist

� Division in four categories:

3

� Division in four categories:

� The convinced omni gamer

� The convinced competitive gamer

� the escapistic gamer

� the pass-time gamer

Measuring user experiences in digital games

� Overall game experiences� focus groups

� surveys

� In-game experiences� breaks the flow

� physiological measurements, facial analysis, eye tracking

� usability testing

� observations

� traditional HCI performance metrics

� usability = ‘gatekeeper on the fun of the game’

Usability testing of digital games

� Post-game experiences� Hard to describe or communicate

� Limited generic terms

� Questionnaires, in-depth interviews,...

How to measure e.g. flow, immersion?

Multi-method, multi-measure approach

IBBT game experience research

� TranseCare

� Braingames for elderly

� IBBT-CUO KULeuven

� Observations and questionnaires (likeability, playability)

Conclusions:

6

� Social aspect of gaming

� Need for useful games

IBBT game experience research

� Teleon

� IBBT-CUO KULeuven

� Usability of controls with non-gamers

� Storytelling and emotion

� Film: linear, non-interactive

� Games: non-linear, interactive (difficult)

� Avatars

� Realism through non-verbal communication

IBBT game experience research

� Teleon

� IBBT-SMIT VUB

� Design ethnography of 3D worlds

� Gaming experience: influence of social environment and interactions on game experienceexperience

� Method: ethnographic research= 5 households during 6 months

� Goal: identify deeper attitudes, motivations and behaviour

� Results: recommendations for game development

Technological activity areas

� Scalable 3D models

-> Separate break-out session

� New interaction techniques

-> Separate break-out session

� Scalable 3D Networked Virtual Environments� ALVIC� ALVIC

� Teleon

� Specific applications� ALVIC / A4MC3 / ASCIT / Teleon

� Rendering on mobile devices� Local vs. remote rendering

� Technical aspects influencing user experience

Scalable 3D Networked Environments

� Overall R&D goal: realize software architectures that enable large numbers of users to interact and communicate simultaneously in a 3D Networked Virtual Environment on currently available network infrastructures

Scalable 3D Networked Environments

� ALVIC

Scalable 3D Networked Environments

� Teleon

Scalable 3D Networked Environments

� Teleon

Specific Applications

� ALVIC / A4MC3 / ASCIT / Teleon

Rendering on mobile devices

� Local rendering vs. remote rendering

Technical aspects influencing user experience

� Artificially introduce networking impairment (packet loss & delay) and investigate the influence on user experience

Invitation & discussion

IBBT Workshop gaming 11/09/08