The Effect of Bespoke Motion Controllers on Player Immersion

本研究的目的是了解一个定制的运动控制器和一个代表性的活动，它是打算在数字VR游戏之间的连接存在的体现互动。该项目的主要目标是了解如何使用定制的运动控制器来提高玩家的沉浸感并增强玩家的参与度。这项研究解决了IGGI的两个主要主题：具身交互（运动控制器、VR消费技术）和潜在的游戏化（用于训练的运动传感）。数字游戏中的具身交互已被证明会影响玩家的觉醒，并在玩家执行动作时产生神经生化变化。已经发现，在数字游戏中执行逼真的动作时，参与度和社交互动会增加。不同的研究表明，引入运动的互动性到研究的媒体改善了有针对性的结果。简而言之，在数字游戏中使用运动控制器有可能以多因素的方式影响玩家，但有必要进行研究，以澄清如何最好地实施该技术。拟议的研究博士将结合联合收割机定性和定量的方法来评估使用定制运动控制器的沉浸感和唤醒。由于我之前在定制消费者运动控制器方面的经验，甚至在学术会议上展示了PS Move艺术游戏，我将构建并实验测试原型VR游戏/控制器。在博士研究期间，我计划研究运动控制器的游戏感觉并确定可能的设计模式。由于道具被用来沉浸在虚构的世界中，机械和故事可能不协调，运动控制器和虚构的世界之间也可能存在不协调，我的意图是研究这可能如何影响玩家的参与，并将唤醒和沉浸作为途径。实验研究的结果使用真实的人类作为受试者，与我提议的主要和次要主管塞巴斯蒂安德丁博士和马可吉利斯博士合作进行，将对游戏设计师和游戏公司与运动控制器的工作产生影响，改进下一代运动控制虚拟环境。

The purpose of this study is to understand the embodied interaction existing in the connection between a bespoke motion controller and a represented activity that it is intended for in a digital VR game. The main goal of the project is to gain knowledge in how bespoke motion controllers can be used to improve player immersion and to enhance player engagement. This research tackles two of the main IGGI themes: embodied interaction (motion controllers, VR consumer technology) and potentially gamification (motion sensing for training).Embodied interaction in digital games has been shown to affect player arousal and produce neurobiochemical changes when the player is performing a movement. Engagement and social interactions have been found to increase when performing realistic movements in digital games. Different studies showed that the introduction of motion interactivity into the studied media improved targeted outcomes. In short, the use of motion controllers in digital games has the potential to affect the player in a multifactorial manner, however there is a necessity for research to clarify how the technology might be best implemented.The proposed research PhD will combine qualitative and quantitative methodologies to assess immersion and arousal in using bespoke movement controllers. Thanks to my previous experience with customized consumer motion controllers, having even exhibited a PS Move artistic game on an academic conference, I will build and experimentally test prototype VR games/controllers.During the PhD study I plan to investigate the game feel of motion controllers and identify possible design patterns. As props are used to immerse into the fictional world and mechanics and story might discord, there could also exist a dissonance between the motion controller and the fictional world, being my intention to study how that might affect player engagement having arousal and immersion as pathways.The outcomes of the experimental research using real humans as subjects, performed in collaboration with my proposed main and secondary supervisors Dr Sebastian Deterding and Dr Marco Gillies, will have an impact on game designers and game companies working with motion controllers, improving the next generation of motion controlled virtual environments.