Affective Computing for Game User Research

Abstract

This study examines the spatial and emotional experience facilitated by immersive gaming environments and detected by wearable technologies. We designed, implemented, and tested a serious board game involving simulating the urban networks of the trade routes of the past. We recorded the traces of the players’ collective movements using a ceiling-mounted video camera to record the positions of the markers, and a video camera facing the players to record the players’ behaviors. Wearable devices enabled the recording of players’ emotions during their decision-making process. We captured their emotions with three tools: a GSR to capture participants’ emotional state and arousal level, an EEG to record the changes in their brain activity; and a think-aloud protocol to understand their conscious decisions. Finally, we analyzed the gamers’ measured "feelings" and compared these with the expressed feelings. The longer-term goal is to explore architectural design with special attention to feelings experienced within it by means of affective computing methods such as wearable technologies and biosensors, as well as gamification. © 2023, Education and research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. All rights reserved.