Investigation on player and virtual environment interaction

Abstract

The paper introduces an investigation on player and virtual environment interaction. A computer game (spaceship navigation through randomly flying asteroids) with different levels of difficulty was created in order to elicit and test human emotions when playing. Emotional responses (excitement, frustration, and engagement/boredom) to the computer game were recorded using Emotiv Epoc device. Spaceship manoeuvring speed and acceleration were included in the investigation as well. Significant relationships between some of the personality traits, emotional reactions and manoeuvring characteristics were found. Emotional responses were significantly increasing when the density of asteroids was increasing. Excitement and frustration signals showed correlations when gaming. Significant increase in manoeuvring speed and acceleration were observed after spaceship and asteroid collision. Positive correlations were found between extraversion and excitement during experiment. The gaming experience and manoeuvring acceleration was strongly negatively related when the difficulty of the game was lower and strongly positively related when it was higher.