Interactive Motorsports Broadcasting in a Virtual Reality Environment
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Interactive motorsports broadcasting in a virtual reality environment Marcus Johansson Email: [email protected] Interaction design Bachelor 22.5HP Spring/2019 Supervisor: Simon Niedenthal 2 of 43 Contact information Author: Marcus Johansson Email: [email protected] Supervisor: Simon Niedenthal Email: [email protected] Examiner: Jens Pedersen Email: [email protected] 3 of 43 Abstract Interactive TV in motorsport, specifically Formula 1, is an established service that has been developed over the last 20 years. Market research reveals trends in broadcasting pointing towards, in the future, sports, in general, will be consumed via VR. Broadcasting interactive TV with VR acting as the medium, however, is an unfamiliar territory where a gap in research exists in interaction design. The purpose of this thesis is to research the viewing habits of inexperienced and experienced viewers of F1 through empirical work that includes literature review, observation and interviews. The insights gathered are then conceptualized through workshops and sketching. These, in turn, helps produce a set of iterated prototypes that are usability tested to extract insights which reveal design recommendations for ergonomics and interface and elements for augmenting the viewing experience the designer should keep in mind when developing for VR broadcasted interactive motorsport TV. Keywords: Virtual reality; Interactive TV; Immersion; User interface; Design recommendations; 4 of 43 Acknowledgements Big thanks to my family and friends for listening to me rave about Formula 1 and this project for about six months and has still not at the end of it, to my knowledge, become tired of it. I would also like to thank Simon, my supervisor, for being a motorsports fanatic like myself and pushing me during this project, steering me in the right direction when I have been at times feeling lost and needing it the most. And lastly, big thanks to everyone for their valuable time participating in the various stages of the process such as observations, interviews, workshops and usability testing. 5 of 43 Table of contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 3 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 8 1.1 Purpose ................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Delimitations ........................................................................................................ 8 1.3 Target group ......................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Ethical conduct ..................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Research question ................................................................................................ 9 2 Interactive TV & Formula 1 .................................................................................... 10 2.1 An intro to the world of Formula 1 ..................................................................... 10 2.2 Media & Coverage .............................................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Interactive TV ................................................................................................. 11 3 Theory ................................................................................................................... 12 3.1 Virtual reality ...................................................................................................... 12 3.1.1 User interface ................................................................................................. 13 3.1.2 Interactions .................................................................................................... 14 3.1.3 Prototyping and sketching for VR .................................................................. 16 4 Methods ................................................................................................................ 16 4.1 Design process model ......................................................................................... 17 4.2 Literature review ................................................................................................ 17 4.2.1 Types of literature review .............................................................................. 17 4.3 Observation ........................................................................................................ 18 4.4 Interviews ........................................................................................................... 18 4.5 Workshop ........................................................................................................... 19 4.6 Sketching ............................................................................................................ 19 4.7 Prototyping ......................................................................................................... 19 4.8 Usability testing .................................................................................................. 21 5 Design Process ...................................................................................................... 21 5.1 Conceptual exploration ....................................................................................... 21 5.1.1 Existing VR products in sports ........................................................................ 22 5.2 Design criteria ..................................................................................................... 22 5.2.1 Observations .................................................................................................. 22 5.2.2 Interviews ....................................................................................................... 24 6 of 43 5.3 Conceptualization ............................................................................................... 27 5.3.1 Workshop ....................................................................................................... 27 5.3.2 Sketching ........................................................................................................ 30 5.4 Prototyping ......................................................................................................... 31 5.4.1 Low-fidelity prototype ................................................................................... 31 5.4.2 First iteration of high-fidelity prototype ........................................................ 32 5.4.3 First round of usability testing ....................................................................... 34 5.4.4 Second iteration of prototype ........................................................................ 35 5.4.5 Second round of usability testing ................................................................... 37 6 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 38 6.1 Insights & value .................................................................................................. 38 6.2 Critique of own work .......................................................................................... 40 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 40 References ..................................................................................................................... 42 Appendix ....................................................................................................................... 43 7 of 43 Acronyms FOM = Formula One Group FOV = Field of view F1 = Formula 1 UCD = User-Centered Design UI = User interface VR = Virtual Reality 2D = Two dimensional 3D = Three dimensional 8 of 43 1 Introduction As there have been numerous interactive TV services throughout the years in F1, and the technology to broadcast new perspectives within sports is getting better each year, the possibilities to incorporate these into a TV broadcast has grown (Dransfeld, Jacobs, & Dowsland, 1999; Performance Communication, 2018). VR as a medium to broadcast sports is not new. Companies like Oculus and NextVR has created ways of experiencing new perspectives of sports focusing on the social aspect of it (Bashara, 2018; Nelson, 2017). But there is a gap in research in how to spectate interactive motorsport broadcast in a virtual environment. This paper will outline F1 viewers spectating habits, opinions and needs through qualitative empirical work, and utilize literature surrounding VR on how to the design for the medium in order to develop for the target group’s needs. Through an iterative state, following Chu’s (2014) philosophy of prototype, experiment, and test, as VR is a relatively unfamiliar field to design for, a set of recommendations on ergonomics, interface and interactions when designing for interactive TV in motorsport arises. What this thesis aims to contribute towards is the field of interaction design when designing interfaces and interactions for interactive TV using VR as a medium. 1.1 Purpose This thesis explores interactive television within the world of motorsports, and how virtual reality can be used as a medium to serve the content. It uses F1 as a testing ground as it has a history