The Influence of Naturally Mapped Control Interfaces for Video Games on the Player Experience and Intuitive Interaction
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THE INFLUENCE OF NATURALLY MAPPED CONTROL INTERFACES FOR VIDEO GAMES ON THE PLAYER EXPERIENCE AND INTUITIVE INTERACTION Mitchell McEwan B.F.A. & M.I.T. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Science and Engineering Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2017 Keywords Computer Games, Control Interfaces, Embodied Interfaces, Familiarity, Games User Research, Human‒Computer Interaction, Intuitive Interaction, Intuitive Use, Motion Controls, Natural Mapping, Natural User Interfaces, Player Characteristics, Player Experience, Tangible User Interfaces, Video Games The Influence of Naturally Mapped Control Interfaces for Video Games on the Player Experience and Intuitive Interaction i Abstract Video games have become pervasive throughout contemporary culture, offering enjoyable, unique and transformative experiences predicated on the level of interactivity that they provide players. The control interface thus plays an important role in the medium’s accessibility and experience by facilitating the connection between the player and the game. Control interfaces have evolved over time as new technologies emerged that support new ways to play. Some of these control interfaces use natural mapping, or a stronger correspondence between the player’s physical control actions and the virtual response provided by the game. This design strategy supposedly improves accessibility and the player’s connection with the game; however, understanding of the true intuitive potential of natural controls or their power over the experience of play for different player populations is limited. This thesis builds on existing research across multiple fields to explain the influence of different types of naturally mapped control interfaces (NMCIs) for video games on the player experience and intuitive interaction. Player characteristics were also considered in order to determine their influence over these types of responses. Two controlled repeated-measures experiments were conducted for this research programme, each using a unique game and three NMCI types as stimulus materials. An existing typology of NMCIs was used to classify the six control interfaces, covering all four of the identified NMCI types. The first study tested a traditional control interface and two different types of steering wheel controllers in a racing video game. The second study tested three different types of motion-control interfaces in a tennis video game. A range of player characteristics were also measured to determine how these factors can influence the way different NMCIs inform the player experience and intuitive interaction. These included new measures of familiarity, adapted from previous intuitive interaction research, to precisely capture previous experience relevant to the control interfaces and simulated activities of each game. Empirical measurement of intuitive use with each control interface was also captured, while a range of subjective self-response measures were sampled following play to gain a broad view of the player experience impacts and cross- reference perceived intuitive use. The Influence of Naturally Mapped Control Interfaces for Video Games on the Player Experience and Intuitive Interaction ii Analysis of the results revealed that the more naturally mapped control interfaces were more preferred and largely showed a positive influence on the player experience and intuitive interaction measures. Increased natural mapping in the control interface was shown to offer some compensatory effects for reduced levels of previous gaming experience, especially in the first study, where familiarity was lower with these interfaces and mixed intuitive use results were revealed. Interestingly, in the second study, more naturally mapped controls consistently revealed positive patterns, even though the only difference between the two most naturally mapped control interfaces was related to form and aesthetics. Player characteristics also further explicated the influence of NMCIs, reinforcing and challenging various assumptions related to perceptions of motion controls in the broader gaming population. The significant contributions of this research include a richer understanding of the impact of NMCIs on the player experience of video games. This project also represents important initial empirical work that shows how NMCIs can affect intuitive interaction with video games. Both of these contributions are furthered by insight into how the player’s different characteristics, including their relevant familiarity levels and demographic attributes, influenced these responses to reveal distinct findings. Additional contributions include broader and deeper understanding of the NMCI types themselves, including a new NMCI Dimensions Framework that can be used to assess the dimensional attributes of natural mapping in the control interface. These contributions are relevant to academia and industry alike, detailing how the level of natural mapping in the control interface can strongly influence the accessibility and experience of digital entertainment. The Influence of Naturally Mapped Control Interfaces for Video Games on the Player Experience and Intuitive Interaction iii List of Publications The following publications are based on key results from this programme of research: Blackler, A., Desai, S., McEwan, M., Diefenbach, S., & Popovic, V. (in press). Chapter 2: Perspectives on the nature of intuitive interaction. In A. Blackler (Ed.), Intuitive Interaction: Research and Application. Boca Raton, FL: CRC-Press. McEwan, M., Blackler, A., Johnson, D., & Wyeth, P. (2014). Natural mapping and intuitive interaction in videogames. In Proceedings of the First ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer‒Human Interaction in Play (pp. 191–200). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ACM. doi:10.1145/2658537.2658541 McEwan, M., Johnson, D., Wyeth, P., & Blackler, A. (2012). Videogame control device impact on the play experience. In Proceedings of the 8th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment: Playing the System (p. 3). Auckland, New Zealand: ACM. doi:10.1145/2336727.2336745 Other works published during this programme of research include the following: Klarkowski, M., Johnson, D., Wyeth, P., McEwan, M., Phillips, C., & Smith, S. (2016). Operationalising and evaluating sub-optimal and optimal play experiences through challenge-skill manipulation. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 5583–5594). Santa Clara, California, USA: ACM. doi:10.1145/2858036.2858563 Hamilton, J., Fox, M., & McEwan, M. (2013). Sessional academic success: A distributed framework for academic support and development. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 10(3), 18. Retrieved from http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol10/iss3/9/ Wyeth, P., McEwan, M., Roe, P., & MacColl, I. (2011). Expressive interactions: Tablet usability for young mobile learners. In Proceedings of the 23rd Australian Computer‒Human Interaction Conference (pp. 311–314). Canberra, Australia: ACM. doi:10.1145/2071536.2071585 The Influence of Naturally Mapped Control Interfaces for Video Games on the Player Experience and Intuitive Interaction iv Table of Contents Keywords ...................................................................................................................i Abstract ....................................................................................................................ii List of Publications .................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................... v List of Figures ........................................................................................................viii List of Tables ........................................................................................................... ix List of Abbreviations and Key Terms ...................................................................... x Statement of Original Authorship ......................................................................... xii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................xiii Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Problem ...................................................................................... 4 1.3 Research Aims and Significance ............................................................... 4 1.4 Research Programme Contributions ........................................................ 6 1.5 Thesis Outline ............................................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................ 9 2.1 The Player Experience............................................................................. 10 2.1.1 Player Characteristics ............................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Models and Frameworks ......................................................................... 12 2.1.3 Enjoyment and Engagement ................................................................... 16 2.1.4 Flow.........................................................................................................