The more immersive video games are, the greater their bond with gamers. Of course, this also has to do with the emotions that arise when playing. A startup from France now wants to measure this and thus help players and developers.
Video games are supposed to be entertaining. If a player fails too often in a tricky area or loses in online multiplayer conflicts, this can also trigger frustration and stress. The French company OVOMIND has therefore developed a bracelet that is intended to measure emotions. It could help private individuals to control mood swings while gaming and developers to balance video games.
Measuring emotions is not quite correctly formulated with the bracelet, but rather interpreting emotions. Pulse, body temperature and microperspirations are intended to provide information about the emotional state of the wearer of the black smart band.
The OVOMIND heatmap of emotions.
(Photo: OVOMIND)
During the presentation at Gamescom, the test subject (in this case the author of this text) is confronted with the horror game “Dead Shadows”, co-developed by OVOMIND. You have to search for a missing friend in a photorealistic old factory building in the first person perspective before you notice that the mannequins left behind there develop a life of their own and begin to haunt the player.
Terror lurks around every corner. Visual and auditory jump scares that are often used in the horror genre, i.e. suddenly appearing figures or sounds, make the pulse beat faster and provide a short rush of adrenaline that triggers micro-perspirations. The app documents in real time which emotional state is currently dominant and ultimately locates this on a heat map. The developers can assign very specific situations in the game to an emotion.
Dynamic storytelling
In the case of the horror video game, the cell phone display predominantly shows “alarmed”. But joy, anger and frustration could also be located in this way. An artificial intelligence then connects certain game sequences with the heat map. Developers can see how narrative and audiovisual elements affect players and can adjust them during development if necessary. A dynamic storytelling would be created, which was influenced by the emotions of the players.
The bracelet should also have a use for private individuals. It could act like anger management and sound the alarm when frustration and dissatisfaction with a game becomes too great. The smart band including the app and “Dead Shadows” should cost around 100 euros. That would actually be an affordable price. Next year, OVOMIND wants to bring its product onto the market – and provide even more immersive gaming experiences.
