Real-Time Biometric Measurements in Games and the Impact it has on the Player Experience

This reseach got published in Gaming, Simulation and Innovations: Challenges and Opportunities. I wrote a short paper for ISAGA 2021 which got published in the summer of 2022.

I worked on a master thesis related to the player experience, where I tried to discover if the player experience could be enhanced by using real-time biometric measurements to adapt the mood of a virtual reality game environment. This innovative technique could offer a unique gameplay experience while improving the player experience. The implementation of biometric measurements could introduce the gaming industry to personalization, and it could improve the accessibility in games.

For this master thesis, a VR corn maze game was created. It had two different versions, one where the mood and weather of the game were manipulated based on the real-time biometric data of the participant. The other version was a set experience without mood changes. In the first version, the mood and weather got worse based on the arousal level of the participant; this happened when the arousal level was above a set threshold. The biometric measurements were done with the Empatica E4 wristband; the arousal was measured through skin conductance from the participant’s hand.

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