Gameplay Issues in the Design of 3D Gestures for Video Games

Summary

The authors sought to identify points to be considered in the design of 3D gestures in space as a means of interacting with video games. They tested on 4 game scenarios

• tilt: They used the game Neverball, where the goal is to send the ball to the exit by tilting a wireless controller.
• Alarm: using data from the accelerometer, the alarm demonstrator will emit a loud ringing sound should an acceleration threshold be exceeded.
• Heli: In a 2D helicopter game, the user must move the helicopter up and down to avoid boulders by shaking the controller.
• Battle of the Wizards: The user uses the wireless controller to gesture runes in the air for offensive and defensive spells.

The test involved 2 people: 1 male with lots of gaming experience and one female with limited experience. The results showed that users like games with simple gestures so they can play immediately instead of learning the gestures.

Discussion

I think this is a decent look into some user interaction issues. I would have preferred a much more in depth user study. But I agree that simple gestures is much better overall for games in the marketplace, because not everyone will be willing to learn complex gestures, and by including only those gestures, a large segment of the market would be alienated.

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John Payne, et all. Gameplay Issues in the Design of 3D Gestures for Video Games. CHI 2006.