Evaluating Gaming Experience with Biometrics
In recent years, an increasing amount of thought and research has gone into user experience as it’s related to video games. As games grow more immersive, more encompassing, and more realistic, we see that user experience follows a similar progression. There are plenty of ways to describe how you feel about a game, but according to a recent publication, a consistent and formal evaluation method for quantifying game play experience has yet to be determined.
That recent study, completed in association with the University of Saskatchewan, lays out a framework by which researchers and engineers can study physiological and technical metrics for an accurate game evaluation.
And how is game play experience tested anyway?
Most methodologies come from software and traditional game testing, typically included in the game’s development process. Of course, you have to make sure that the functionality of the game operates correctly, so companies regularly perform Unit testing, or automated testing of the program code, stress testing – testing software and hardware limitations, soak testing, compatibility testing, regression testing, bug tracking, localization, open beta-testing, and game play metrics to name a few.
Of course, these are a selection of the statistical, more quantitative tests regularly done on new games. There are new and novel methodologies that monitor behavioral tracking and physiological experience during game play too.
For example, psychophysiological player testing has become a standard in the industry. This includes a number of subcategories like Electromyography, a measurement technology used to record the electrical activation of muscles in the body during game play. Emotions are pretty well reflected in facial expressions, and this sort of assessment allows a mapping of emotions based on changing facial expression.
Another one we’ve written about before at Eye Tracking Update is the measuring of electrodermal activity. It’s an easy and frequently used method that measures heat, increased sweat gland activity, and is linked directly to physical arousal.
Electroencephalography is the measurement of brain waves, or EEG scanning, where brain waves are measured and described in terms of frequency bands. Another method is Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, which we’ve also touched on at times on the blog. This is used less frequently for game play testing.
Eye tracking, of course, is another obvious one, measuring gaze fixation and saccades. Other methodologies like Persona Modeling, Game Metrics Behavior Assessment, Player Modeling, and Qualitative interviews/questionnaires are all covered briefly in the paper.
Methods for Evaluating Gameplay Experience in a Serious Gaming Context
Related articles:
- Does Eye Tracking Enhance the Gaming Experience?
- Eye Tracking Looks at What Creates Immersive Gaming Experience
- Eye Tracking in Video Game Player Experience