Posts Tagged video games

ONR Research Quantifying Video Game Playing and Visual Attention

Posted by jasonwong in attention, perception on January 27th, 2010

“We have discovered that video game players perform 10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal people that are non-game players,” said Ray Perez, a program officer at the ONR’s warfighter performance department…”

(Researchers Examine Video Gaming’s Benefits from the American Forces Press Service)

Ever since Green & Bavlier’s (2003) paper in Nature, cognitive scientists have known that playing video games increases one’s performance in basic visual attention tasks. This result has been replicated, extended and restricted (only first-person shooter games lead to this effect and not games like Tetris), and it is good to see these results being applied. Many university laboratories have been working on applications, but now with funding from the Office of Naval Research, actual data has been collected with a focus on practical applications. Many times in my own presentations, I say that the new generation of sailors and soldiers are better because of their video game experience, and now I have practical data I can use as evidence. I look forward to seeing new research in this field and hopefully conducting some of my own.

A note: Ray Perez is essentially a funding officer – he has a PhD and understands the research, but he mostly controls the purse strings and gives money out to universities, industry, and government research labs (such as the one I work for) to do the work. It is disappointing that the article describing this research seems to attribute all the work to Dr. Perez, which is incorrect. He certainly made the research possible with ideas and (most importantly) money, but another organization carried out the work and should be credited in the article.

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Neuroscientists (and friends of mine) make Engadget

Posted by jasonwong in neuroscience, training on January 21st, 2010

Taken fully from Engadget:

Study shows that better gamers have bigger brains, are better learners

While we can’t say for sure that videogames, as your grandmother insists, do indeed rot your brain, thanks to research conducted at a variety of Universities around the States we know that better gamers tend to have more gray matter than others — at least in certain areas. Kirk Erickson, Ann Graybiel, Arthur Kramer, and Walter Boot worked together to form a study in which 39 participants’ brains were scanned before those subjects were asked to play a game called Space Fortress (which looks a little like an Atari-era Geometry Wars). Players with larger nucleus accumbens did better learning the game early on, while those with larger caudate nucleus and putamen did better at playing with distractions. There was no sign that playing games actually increased the size of those areas of the brains, meaning some people are just born with a Power Glove on — and that it’s only a matter of time before MRIs replace aptitude tests.

Congrats to Kirk, Ann, Art, and Wally! You’ve hit the big time. :)

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Fallout 3 In-Game Device Design

Posted by jasonwong in bad design on November 12th, 2008

Fallout 3 is a video game on the PC, XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 that depicts a post-apocolyptic world; specifically, in this game, Washington, DC. The level of detail is stunning (especially the Metro stations), and much about the game is revealed in the art book.

One element I found particularly amusing was the design of the PIP-Boy 3000, an arm-mounted computing device. This is mounted on the left arm, meaning the device is used with the right hand. If you note where the buttons are on the drawings, though, right hand usage would obscure the screen! Whoops.

At least the game designers acknowledge it’s not the most ergonomic design (see the very bottom of the text). Nothing important, just amusing.

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Comparing Game Systems: Wireless Controllers

Posted by jasonwong in data visualization on September 6th, 2008

Wireless controllers are the best thing to happen to video game consoles since the invention of the Compact Disc (sorry, SNES). No more tripping over wires or having wires that are just too short for you to sit on the couch. Now, you just have to pair the controller with the console, and you’re set.

This process has slight variations across consoles, but one feature I found interesting was how the different wireless controllers indicated which Player they were. Back in the days of wired controllers, if a controller was plugged into Port 1, that controller would be Player 1. Today, it’s assigned based on the order each controller is turned on. The interesting differences between video game consoles (Wii, XBox 360, and the PlayStation 3) come in how the controller displays this information.

On the Wii controller, it’s shocking simple. There are four lights, arranged left to right. The light that is on indicates what Player number you are, and the leftmost light is Player 1.

On the XBox 360 controller, it’s not quite as easy. There are still four lights, but they’re arranged in a circle. Upper left indicates Player 1, and the order goes clockwise around the circle. Still intuitive, but not as immediately so as with the Wii.

The one neat feature is that this mapping is shown on the console itself, so anyone just looking at the console knows how many controllers are connected. This is not so on the Wii or the PlayStation 3.

Finally, the PlayStation 3. At first glance, you don’t see anything.

Then you tilt it up, and you see, similar to the Wii, a row of 4 lights.

Except that, from this angle, Player 1 is the rightmost light and Player 4 is the leftmost. This arrangement only makes sense when you’re looking at the controller from a different perspective.

And who in the world looks at their controller from this angle? Not cool, Sony.

Winner? WII! With the XBox 360 close behind.

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XBox 360: New and less-cluttered Dashboard

Posted by jasonwong in clutter, data visualization, user testing on July 15th, 2008

Only two weeks ago, I posted about an excellent analysis of the XBox 360 Dashboard and a potential redesign. It would have been a great new interface. Microsoft, however, had other ideas.

Yesterday at the E3 conference, Microsoft released details of their Dashboard update this Fall. Frankly, it looks far more modern and far less cluttered. The “blades” have been replaced with a Zune-like menu that should be easier to understand. From a human factors perspective, the biggest feature is: less clutter! The interface is much cleaner with an emphasis on the important UI elements.

A big deal was made on making it easier to find downloadable content. I haven’t seen any screen shots showing an improved search feature, but anything would be better than the current system. Hopefully there will be screenshots to come!

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