Presentation about the work I did with Jorge ALVES LINO on the observation of video gamers using the NOLDUS observer system.

1. © 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

2. Observing Game Play
Dr Benjamin SALEM
Assistant Professor
Department of Industrial Design

3. Content
1. Background facts
2. Playing Games
3. Research Objectives
• Affects and Effects of Playing Games
4. Using Observer
• First session
• Later sessions
5. Conclusion
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

4. Background Facts
• Develop experience with the Observer
• Real experimental setting
• Observe and measure gamer’s behaviour
• Live observations
• Use XBox platform
• Start with a FPS-Game: Halo 3
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

5. Playing Games
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

6. Reality Check
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

7. The Game
US$300M in 1st Week
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

8. Research Objectives
• What effect does playing games have?
• Positive relaxing effect
• Negative stressful effect
• What affect does playing games have?
• Habituation to certain emotional states
• Higher/lower trigger of emotional response
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

9. GameLAB
• Design and develop:
• Games Genres
• Game Mechanics
• Game Play
• Game Controllers
• Benchmarking
• Game Consoles/Controllers
• Top Games
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

10. GameLAB Environment
• State of the art facility
• full HD 43” TV,
• 5.1 sound system,
• XBox 360, PS3, Wii
• Latest Games
• Halo 3....
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

11. GameLAB
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

12. Practical Research Objectives
• Will using observer give us a competitive edge
on understanding gameplay?
• More detailed observation
• Multi-modal inputs
• What in-depth knowledge do we need to
acquire?
• Physiological phenomenon
• correlation between game events and player responses
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

13. Using Observer
• Specific configuration
• Video observation
• Hear beats measurement
• Galvanic skin conduction
• A catalyst for creativity
• A Pro-active environment
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

14. Observer XT
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

15. Biopac Extension
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

16. General Settings
1. Game set for ready
2. Subject is required to sit down and don all sensors
3. Subject asked to take controller in hands
4. Instructions to operate the game are given in a sheet of paper,
alongside explanations about the observations
5. Subject asked to run a 2 min. trial to get familiar with setting
6. Subject asked to play through a game stage.
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

17. Behaviours, Types and Modifiers
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

18. Conclusion
• So far 6 subjects
• Some differences between males & females
• Males : shoot around until they understand
• Females: Hide, aim and shoot until they understand
• Obvious physiological changes during the game
• We aim for 8 males and 8 females subjects
• Conference publication
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

19. Observations Team
Jorge LINO Ben SALEM
Interactive Media Environments PhD candidate GameLAB & Smart Environments
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

20. Acknowledgments
• Pictures from Jorge & Internet
Thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to
present our experience with Observer!
© 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS

21. © 2008 By Benjamin SALEM
℗ April 2008 By Ben Salem for NOLDUS