Influence of head-up displays’ characteristics on user experience in video games

Abstract

Head-up displays (HUD) are important parts of visual interfaces of virtual environments such as video games. However, few studies have investigated their role in player-video game interactions. Two experiments were designed to investigate the influence of HUDs on player experience according to player expertise and game genre. Experiment 1 used eye-tracking and interviews to understand how and to what extent players use and experience HUDs in two types of commercial games: first-person shooter and real-time strategy games. Results showed that displaying a permanent HUD within the visual interface may improve the understanding of this environment by players. They also revealed that two HUD characteristics, namely composition and spatial organization, have particular influence on player experience. These critical characteristics were manipulated in experiment 2 to study more precisely the influence of HUD design choices on player experience. Results showed that manipulation of design of these HUD characteristics influences player experience in different ways according to player expertise and game genre. For games with HUDs that are perceived as very useful, the higher player expertise is, the more player experience is influenced. Recommendations for video game design based on these results are proposed.

Impact of the Arrangement of Game Information on Recall Performance of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Players

“…Similar findings have also been observed in head-up displays (HUDs) in video games. Specifically, experienced gamers are more efficient when using information displayed in HUDs and perceive the spatial layout as more organized compared with novices (Caroux & Isbister, 2016). This provides further evidence that experienced MOBA players are likely to be sensitive to the consistency of the spatial placement of game information.…”

“…Games within this genre are generally highly complicated compared with the genres which have typically been studied when examining the impact of gaming expertise on cognitive skills, specifically first-person shooters. For example, the HUDs of first-person shooters are typically more minimalist than other genres, such as real-time strategy, in that it contains fewer elements of dynamic game information (Caroux & Isbister, 2016). In addition to multiple user interface features, MOBAs typically have more complex gameplay.…”

Engagement and Competence in VR and non-VR Environments

“…Currently, expertise in video games has been based upon participant's amount of hours played per week over the past six months, typically within that genre (Caroux & Ibister, 2016). However, this method only provides a binary novice or expert selection criteria, as well as disregards that expertise is based on practice associated with getting better at that task.…”

Low-level visual features of video game interfaces and player expertise

“…Certaines études se sont intéressées à des critères globaux de l'interface comme le point de vue affiché à l'écran (vue en 1 ère personne ou en 3 e personne) [2], les qualités graphiques du jeu [11], ou encore l'affichage en 3D stéréoscopique [16]. D'autres se sont intéressées à des critères plus locaux concernant la nature ou l'organisation des éléments des affichages tête-haute [7].…”