The Impact of Health-Related User Interface Sounds on Player Experience. (June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Robb, James; Garner, Tom; Collins, Karen; Nacke, Lennart E.
• Is Part Of: Simulation & gaming. Volume 48:Number 3(2017:Jun.)
• Page Start: 402
• Page End: 427
• Publication Date: 2017-06
• Subjects: game sound -- games user research -- multimodality -- physiological evaluation -- player experience -- user interface sounds; Social sciences -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Simulation methods -- Periodicals; Game theory -- Periodicals; Sciences sociales -- Étude et enseignement -- Périodiques; Simulation, Méthodes de -- Périodiques; Jeu de rôle -- Périodiques; Éducation; Jeu d'entreprise; Jeu de simulation; Méthode de simulation; Sciences sociales; Théorie des jeux; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 003.3
• DOI: 10.1177/1046878116688236
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1046-8781

Abstract

Background . Understanding howsound functions on informational and emotional levels withinvideo games is critical to understandingplayer experience of games.User interface sounds, such asplayer-character health, are a pivotal component of gameplay across many video game genres, yet have not been studied in detail. Method . To address this research gap in user interface sounds, we present two studies: The first study examines the impact of the presence or absence ofplayer-health sounds on player experience. The second study explores the impact of thetypes of sound used to indicate player health. We use mixed methods withqualitative andphysiological measures . Results . Our results reveal that despite the presence of visual cues, sound is still important togame design for conveying health-related information and that the type of sound affects player experience.