Ergonomic evaluation of video game playing

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of display type, play-rest schedule and game type on visual fatigue, heart rate and mental workload for both genders during 1 h of Wii game playing. Twenty subjects participated in the experiment. Two display types (a 32-in CRT display and a 32-in plasma display), two different play-rest schedules (10 min play with 5 min rest, repeated four times; 20 min play with 10 min rest, repeated two times) and two Nintendo ''Wii Sports'' games (boxing and tennis) were used for evaluation. The study results showed that the display and game type had a significant effect on all the measurements. The use of a plasma display to play video games improved the critical flicker fusion (CFF) frequency threshold; however, it also caused a greater subjective eyefatigue rating, increased heart rate, as well as higher mental workload. Subjects with a 5-min break for every 10 min played had a lower subjective eye-fatigue rating, heart rate and mental workload than with a 10-min break for every 20 min played. The gender effect was not significant on any of the measurements. Implications of the results regarding video-game playing are discussed in terms of display and game type. Playing video games with frequent short breaks is suggested for reducing visual fatigue, especially for intensive video games.