An Exploration of In-Game Action Mappings with a Deformable Game Controller

An Exploration of In-Game Action Mappings with a Deformable Game Controller by Paden Shorey A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Applied Sciences in Human Computer Interaction Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2016, Paden Shorey Abstract Deformation input consists of methods of interaction that make use of material deformation in order to control on-screen variables. In this thesis, we explore controller input mappings for games using a deformable prototype that combines deformation gestures with standard button input. In experiment one, we tested discrete gestures using three games. We categorized the control schemes as binary (traditional), action, and navigation, the latter two named based on the game mechanics the gestures were mapped to. We found that the binary scheme performed the best, but gesture-based control schemes are stimulating and appealing. Results also suggest that the deformation gestures are best mapped to simple and natural tasks. In experiment two we tested continuous gestures in a 3D racing game using the same control scheme categorization. Results were mostly consistent with experiment one but showed an improvement in performance and preference for the action control scheme. ii Acknowledgments There are so many people I would like to acknowledge. First of all, my parents. Without their continual nagging I would have completely forgotten that I was in school writing a thesis. Their constant questions regarding my progress frustrated me just enough to actually convince me to get some work done. But seriously, thank you both Mom and Dad for being there always and listening to me vent about my consistently high stress levels, I could not have done this without your support. I would like to thank my girlfriend Christine for encouraging me through these past two years and for being someone to complain to about all my trials and tribulations. You really seem to understand my problems that can barely be considered problems in the first place. Thank you for not taking anyone’s side but mine when things seemed impossible and for giving me the breaks I needed on the weekends. You made this process a lot easier on me. I would like to thank my office partners, Eli, Nick, and Alex, for dealing with me over the past two years. Thank you for letting me share an office with you, bringing me to the gym to relieve some stress, and sharing stories completely unrelated to anything we’re supposed to be doing at school. I definitely could have had worse office mates. I would like to thank all my friends (you know who you are … but you’ll never read this) for caring about what I’m doing in school and for dealing with my daily complaints. I also want to thank them for all of their suggestions regarding my thesis even if I didn’t use any of them. Finally, I would like to thank my amazing supervisor, Dr. Audrey Girouard, for guiding me through this process and giving me this priceless opportunity. I definitely could not have done this without her … seriously. Her patience, understanding, and expertise made this process exponentially easier than it could have been. She’s the best thesis supervisor imaginable. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Contributions ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.3. Outline of Thesis ........................................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2. Related Work ........................................................................................................ 5 2.1. Deformation Interactions .......................................................................................................... 5 2.2. Deformation Interactions With Games ................................................................................... 8 2.3. Deformation Interactions With Other Input ........................................................................ 11 2.4. Novel and Natural Game Interaction .................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3. Prototype .............................................................................................................. 17 3.1. Interaction Language .............................................................................................................. 17 3.2. Hardware .................................................................................................................................. 19 3.3. Software .................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4. Experiment 1: Flexible Input Methods for Classic Video Games .................. 27 4.1. Overview ................................................................................................................................... 27 4.2. Games ....................................................................................................................................... 28 iv 4.3. Control Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 31 4.4. Methods .................................................................................................................................... 33 4.5. Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................ 35 4.6. Participants .............................................................................................................................. 36 4.7. Results & Analysis ................................................................................................................... 36 4.8. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 55 4.9. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 62 Chapter 5. Experiment 2: Continuous Flexible Input Methods in 3D Racing Games .... 64 5.1. Overview ................................................................................................................................... 64 5.2. Game ......................................................................................................................................... 65 5.3. Control Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 68 5.4. Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................ 70 5.5. Methods .................................................................................................................................... 71 5.6. Participants .............................................................................................................................. 72 5.7. Results & Analysis ................................................................................................................... 73 5.8. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 85 5.9. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 91 Chapter 6. General Discussion .............................................................................................. 93 6.1. Comparing the Results of our two Experiments ................................................................... 93 6.2. Limitations ............................................................................................................................... 96 Chapter 7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 99 7.1. Overview ................................................................................................................................... 99 7.2. Future Work .......................................................................................................................... 101 Chapter 8. Bibliography .....................................................................................................

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