Effect of camera and object motion on visual load in 3D games

Abstract

3D video games are a popular form of entertainment that features elaborate visual compositions and settings. Occasionally, players are thrown into situations with a high amount of visual complexity, which may cause players, especially novice players, to misinterpret important game goals or mechanics, which may, in turn, lead to a diminished experience. Previous research investigated visual design, but only in terms of brightness and color contrast, no research investigated attributes of motion, their complexity in regards to visual design, and their effect on the game experience. Informed by cinema and visual perception domains, we embark on a study of 4 motion attributes: flicker, shape, speed, and repetition, and investigate their design within 6 games. We rate these games based on their complexity. We use video coding with a kappa reliability measure to identify these attributes. We then investigate the relationship between the use of these motion attributes and the rated complexity of the visual scene. We present this analysis as a contribution, and design lessons extrapolated based on the analysis. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.