Direct Manipulation

Direct manipulation “describes interactive systems where the user physically interacts with their operating system” (Golbeck, 2002). Direct manipulation deals with continuous object representation, actions and feedback such as rapid, reversible and incremental and actions based on real-world interactions. A person wants to have a positive experience with the system and once the person understands it they want to show it off to novices and teach them about it. 

Direct Manipulation seen in Minority Report

If we look at the history of direct manipulation we can see that word processors were at the beginning. They were command line-based, a person would have to teach people how to start a document and use it. Commands such as how to open a document and close a document were things you would have to teach a person. Even today a person needs to put markup commands to explain how to use these types of programs, such as HTML 5. Now word processors are display-based. 

A WYSIWYG word processor is what you see is what you get type of word processor. “A WYSIWYG application is one that enables you to see on the display screen exactly what will appear when the document is printed. This differs, for example, from word processors that are incapable of displaying different fonts and graphics on the display screen even though the formatting codes have been inserted into the file” (Webopedia, 2013). The advances of WYSIWYG word processors are displaying a full page of text, show cursor action, control cursor motion through physically obvious and intuitively natural means, use of labeled icons for actions (to help users find things quicker), display of the results of an action immediately, provide rapid respond then display and offer easily reversible actions. These advances allow users to use word processors much easier and the learning curve is shorter because of them. Images that users recognize are used so that they do not need to recall things from their memory, they can use recognition so that it is easier and faster to use the processor.

Figure 2 - Direct Manipulation Comic Strip

Spatial data-managements systems allows for a better model of reality. Successful systems are dependent on choosing appropriate icons (use icons that players are familiar with, don’t use a red cross for the damage icon – use it for health because everyone already connects red crosses with health), graphical representations (don’t use a chest as a death item, use it to represent treasure) and natural and comprehensible data layouts (make everything on the screen make sense). 

There are three principles of direct manipulation. 

1.       Continuous representations of the objects and actions of interest with meaningful visual metaphors

2.       Physical actions or presses of labeled buttons, instead of complex syntax

3.       Rapid, incremental, reversible actions whose effects on the objects of interest are visible immediately

There are problems with direction manipulation. Spatial or visual representations can be too spread out (a user cannot focus on everything because they are all over the screen), high-level flowcharts and database-schema can become confusing (too much detailed information is present and can make the user become disarrayed), design may force valuable information off the screen, users must learn the graphical representations, visual representation may be misleading and typing commands with the keyboard may be faster. 

Direct manipulation is also evident in video games. When a person is ready to play a game he/she must pick up a controller and learn how to use the interface in a short period of time. “With only a small amount of training, users pick up controllers with buttons and knobs that generally map very well to the way the character is moving in physical space” (Golbeck, 2002). Video game systems such as Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox use direct manipulation. The field of action that is evident in games are captivating and visual; this allows the player to understand the distance around them in the gaming environment and compels them to learn how to interact with the system. The commands that players use are physical actions whose results are immediately shown on the screen. Most games continuously display a score showing how the user is doing in the game. It forces the player to understand how to do better in the game, if your score is low you need to learn the controls better and if your score is high you understand the system and your performance is good. Spore is a good example because it shows everything on the screen. There is enough space to understand everything, players need to adapt quickly to the changing environment and the updates are displayed for the user to understand the game. Users can also create their creature with a click of a button, players can stretch and form their creature into whatever they desire by dragging their mouse and move it using physical actions. The menu systems are also very easy to use and a player can learn it very effectively and efficiently. 

Figure 3 - Spore Creature Creation

 

Questions to Consider

When the new generation of gaming consoles come out how will it affect direct manipulation?

If I was to design a completed game using only augmented reality would a player learn how to use it faster than if it was a regular game on the PlayStation 3 using a basic controller?

If there were visual representation in a game that were misleading would players stop playing the game or would they take the extra time to learn these representations. And if they do learn them how will it affect their recognition memory? (will it replace or take over the images they use to associate them with?)

References

Golbeck, Jennifer . " Direct Manipulation." Department of Computer Science. N.p., 26 Oct. 2002. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/fall2002/cmsc838s/tichi/dirman.html>.

"What is WYSIWYG? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer Dictionary." Webopedia: Online Computer Dictionary for Computer and Internet Terms and Definitions. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/WYSIWYG.html>. 

Images

Figure 1 - http://www.blastam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/minority-report.jpg

Figure 2 - http://blog.lib.umn.edu/torre107/si/pics/superficialintelligence12.jpg

Figure 3 -  http://gamingprecision.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/spore-creature-creator.jpg

Game User Research Presentation

Last week I had the privilege of listening to Daniel Natapov, the User Research PM from Ubisoft Toronto. Mr. Natapov specifically deals with how players relate to the game and different evaluations of game user research. He discussed different types of methods he uses in his daily work environment, his previous work experience, what types of user research methods he uses and which ones he never dealt with. He also discussed problems that occur during the research stage, what game he is currently working on, some facts that people do not expect in his line of work and tips for going into the working environment. Overall, he was very helpful guest speaker and I learned a lot from his words.

There are eight game user research methods that a person can look at when trying to determine how game players interact with the game. Behavioural observation allows a person to watch somebody play the game while you take notes; it determines what happened but not how or why. When conducting a behavioural observation a person must design a scenario to be play tested, write a script for the user researcher, think about what behaviours to expect, test the script in pilot run-through, define the target demographic, run the play testing session, end the session and finally schedule breaks so that the test subjects do not become tired or become fatigued. Think-aloud protocol is when players describe their actions as they play, the observer does not prompt or correct them while they play the game. Whatever the player says is recorded and then replayed at a later time to be analyzed. Interviews are usually structured and they validate the playtest goals, usually the game tester will play the game and the interviewer would ask questions that revolve around what they need to determine. Heuristic evaluation is using a game user research expert to play a game and evaluate it. This allows for an expert critique and it is similar to a game review. Focus groups are groups of players that are gathered into a large group and they discuss their opinions, beliefs and attitudes amongst themselves with a moderator to instigate discussion. This is an easy and fast way to receive feedback. Questionnaires are a set amount of questions the player must answer either before and/or after they have played the game. It determines the average of the entire group; however, it is less personal and can lead to misleading statistics. Gameplay metrics uses data about the behaviour of players in game environments. It takes game data such as player movement, firing weapons and interface interaction and determines whether or not a player is comfortable with their in game surroundings. 

Figure 1 - Focus Group being conducted

 

Daniel Natapov has used many of these research methods however he finds that focus groups are a good method because it is an inexpensive and fast way to collect data. Daniel depicted that when creating a focus group area it must be very open so that when the game testers arrive they do not feel uncomfortable. Also the moderator must be very relaxed and tell them not to be agitated, the moderator must make them feel like it is a safe place where they can share their opinions without feeling embarrassed. He also had some experience with think-aloud protocol, he stated that it is useful when a player is playing a game without distraction; it allows them to feel more intertwined with the game environment. Something I found really interesting was that he never really looked at heuristics while evaluating his games; he said that because there are no standard heuristics a person could say it is not reputable and thus, not worth analyzing. 

Figure 2 - Splinter Cell Blacklist

Daniel Natapov has been recently been working on Splinter Cell Blacklist. He could not speak too much about it but he said that he has done much research on the game attributes such as in game bugs and colour schemes in the game. One thing that really stood out was that art and other assets are constantly changing during focus group research, it’s not always the actual code errors. I always thought that when game testers were playing the game their only focal point was bugs in the game not how aesthetically pleasing it looked. 

Figure 3 - First Impressions Matter

Some interesting facts that he discussed during his presentation was that some problems that occur during the research time is unrelated to the people that are playing the game. One major factor was that the game was unable to run due to programming issues, this meant that he could not even run the game for people to discuss it. He also stated that game user research analysts have to be able to identify information quickly and process it into workable data. You must be able to interoperate what the focus group says and use it to benefit the game. Mr. Natapov worked for Microsoft before coming to Ubisoft and one thing he found very different is that working at Microsoft meant having a larger group of people to analyze things together. At Ubisoft it is a smaller group so there are less people to critique the data. In larger groups there are more experts, this allows more ideas to be formulated and it creates less of a bias opinion. 

Tips to Consider

Before leaving Daniel Natapov gave some tips for transitioning from school to the working world. He said to always wear a suit to your interview because first impressions do count and you must have very good social skills. During the interview or while talking to a game developer outside of work, you must always be seen as a sociable person that can get the job done.

Questions to Consider?

A question I would like to ask Daniel is how he became a GUR expert? And was it something he wanted to do right from the start?

What GUR method is best when looking at a fighter game versus a JRPG, what makes them different?

How could I make my focus group moderators less bias, could I use heuristics as a base to create some type of standard?

References

Figure 1 - http://newyorknatives.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/focus-group-on-students-mobility221.jpg

Figure 2 - http://media-a.shopto.net/ShopToMedia/images/screenshots/XB2TO42/A.jpg

Figure 3 - http://educationismylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Good_first_impression-412x360.jpg

Design Briefs - Themes and Novel HCI Technology

Introduction

In game design there are many themes a game designer could look at in order to create a game. Focusing on one theme allows a designer to create a game with a specific purpose, a game that allows a player to feel a specific emotion. Change, glance and time are three precise themes can be developed in games. A developer could use a novel technology to attract gamers to play a game in a fun and innovative way. There are specific novel human computer interaction technologies that could be used in gaming such as Emotiv EPOC, Neurosky Headset, Kinect for Windows, Leap Motion and AR Toolkit. By combining a novel HCI technology and a specific theme a game developer can create a video game that allows a player to focus on a specification by interacting in an innovative way.

Themes

Change

Change as a theme is defined by making a person change their behaviour. Changing a person’s behaviour is very hard; one must try to slowly adapt a person’s mind so that they break their habit or routine. A game designer would have to use a technology to change their behaviour to meet their goals, a game example would be that players have always used a controller to control movements of a character, if a player used their mind to control their movement this would change their habit and break their routine. If the player found this method of control joyful they would continue to use it and create a new habit.

Figure 1- Player controlling character with her mind

Glance

Glance as a theme allows a player to quickly look over a large set of information and determine what information is necessary to achieve his/her goal. If a player could use a technology to help decrease the overload of information on a screen it would benefit the player greatly. An in game example of this is creating an AR toolkit so that when a player looks over a game environment the important information on the screen will become three dimensional and look like it is coming out of the screen. This technology allows players to quickly glance at a detailed game environment and analyze everything on the screen quickly. 

Figure 2 - AR used to determine targets at a quick glance

 

Time

Time as a theme is defined as change. A clock, game time and in game season changes are representations of change over time. These things can have a physiological effect on a player. An in game example would be if a player could control time with their mind using an Emotiv EPOC so that they could speed up time so they could control climate change and aging enemies. This could be an attack to kill opponents and it is a new representation of time.

“While time is not something that can be directly seen, smelled, tasted, touched or heard, it is something that as the psychologist Fraisse (1984) has noted, we perceive through changes in the world and the duration between changes” (Mitchell, 2007). If we wanted to create a new representation of time we would need to look at representations that already exist. In a game user interface time is usually represented as a horizontal line with an object travelling from point A to point B. “Representations of time in computer interface designs must reflect people's conceptions of time and represent the kinds of time that people require when using a computer.” (Mitchell, 2007). An idea that might convey time or change in a game using a technology could be to use a Neurosky Headset and let a frequency travel through a player’s ear to indicate time is running low or a change in the gaming world is about to occur.

Example of representation of time – Mortal Kombat Deception https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpJNECtjpuo

Novel HCI Technologies

Some novel HCI Technologies are the Emotiv Epoc, Neurosky Headset, Kinect for Windows, Leap Motion and AR Toolkits. Emotiv Epoc is a headset device that senses brainwaves and translates it into a computer. It can be used to allow players to control parts of a game using brain waves. Neurosky Headsets allows a person to hear frequencies. Kinect is a program that recognizes body gestures and interoperates it so that it can be used as meaningful data. Leap motion is similar to the Kinect; it deals with precise finger-based motion. AR Toolkits are camera-based and it creates an augmented reality. It can make things appear in a player’s environment.

Figure 3 - Neurosky Headset being used for an unconventional gaming controller

Figure 4 - Emotive Epoc

Using these types of novel technologies can produce new ways for gamers to play games in an interesting way. If we can create alternative methods to typical controllers it could open up diverse ways for players to play games and it could also create a new target audience for gaming systems.  

Questions to Consider

How could we implement these novel HCI technologies into new generation consoles?

Would these novel technologies attract a new customer base? If so, how would it affect the present target market?

Could these HCI technologies deal with haptic senses such as the nociceptors and target a wide enough market to do well (in terms of profit) in the gaming industry?

References

Mitchell, Marilyn . "Representations of time in computer inferface design." Humanities & Social Sciences papers. N.p., 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. <epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=hss_pubs>.

Figure 1 - http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl0/2/22911/08_2008/emotive.preview.jpg

Figure 2 - http://beefjack.com/files/2011/01/ar-games-2.jpg

Figure 3 - http://www.geekalerts.com/u/NeuroSky-Mindwave-Mobile-EEG-headset.jpg
Figure 4 - http://www.emotiv.com/upload/iblock/38a/header_set.gif