Information Systems - Theses
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ItemAudience experience in domestic videogaming( 2014)Videogames are frequently played socially, but not all participants actively play. Audience members observe gameplay, often participating and experiencing the game indirectly. While the existence of non-playing audience members has been previously acknowledged, there have been few attempts to understand what activities audience members engage in while watching videogames, or how their experience is affected by different aspects of the game and social situation. This thesis presents the first substantial body of empirical work on audience behaviour and experience in social videogaming sessions. Existing work was reviewed in a number of areas of literp.ature including the sociality of gameplay, the increasing role of physicality and physical actions in gameplay, and the role of audiences in HCI. Three studies were then conducted based on the research question: How do the sociality and physicality of videogaming sessions influence audience experience? An initial exploratory observational study (N = 6 families) examined the types of activities that audiences engage in while watching highly physical videogames in their homes. This study indicated that audience members can adopt a variety of ephemeral roles that provide them with opportunities to interact with one another, the players, and the game technology. Additionally, participants reported that the physicality of the gameplay heavily influenced their experience. The second study, a naturalistic experimental study (N = 134) consisted of a mixed-model analysis of the factors of game physicality and turn anticipation. Study 2 found that anticipation of a turn affects experience of both audience and player, and similarly found that highly physical games result in more positive audience experiences, although the relationship between physicality and experience is not straightforward. A third study, also an experiment (N = 24), examined the influence of game physicality and visual attention on audience experience within a mediated setting, and a cross-study comparison identified that there appears to be a strong interplay between social context and the experience of physicality. Overall, this thesis contributes an understanding of how sociality, physicality, and the interplay between the two can influence audience behaviour and experience. These findings can be used to inform the design of novel game and interactive experiences that incorporate physicality, turn anticipation, and opportunities for different types of participation in order to influence and enhance audience experience.
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ItemDesigning sports: exertion games( 2010)Exertion games are computer games that require intense physical effort from its users. Unlike traditional computer games, exertion games offer physical health benefits in addition to the social benefits derived from networked games. This thesis contributes an understanding of exertion games from an interaction design perspective to support researchers analysing and designers creating more engaging exertion games. Playing with other participants can increase engagement and hence facilitate the associated benefits. Computer technology can support such social play by expanding the range of possible participants through networking advances. However, there is a lack of understanding how technological design can facilitate the relationship between exertion and social play, especially in mediated environments. In response, this thesis establishes an understanding of how mediating technology can support social exertion play, in particular when players are in geographically distant locations. This understanding is forged through the design of three “sports over a distance” games. The experience of engaging with them was studied qualitatively to gain a rich understanding of how design facilitates social play in exertion games. The three games “Jogging over a Distance”, “Table Tennis for Three”, and “Remote Impact - Shadowboxing over a Distance” allow investigating different perspectives of mediated exertion play, since they represent three categories of richness on a social play continuum across both the virtual and the physical world. Studies of the experience of engaging with the three games resulted in an exertion framework that consists of six conceptual themes framed by four perspectives on the body and three on games. A fourth study demonstrated that the understanding derived from the investigation of the use and design of the games can support designers and researchers with the analysis of existing games and aid the creative process of designing new exertion games. This thesis provides the first understanding of how technology design facilitates social play in exertion games. In doing so, it expands our knowledge of how to design for the active body, broadening the view of the role of the body when interacting with computers. Offering an increased understanding of exertion games enables game designers to create more engaging games, hence providing players more reasons to exert their bodies, supporting them in profiting from the many benefits of exertion.