Browsing by Author "Williams, Benjamin"

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    Adi's Maze and the Research Arcade: A Long-term Study on the Impact of Gendered Representation on Player Preferences
    (The Eurographics Association, 2021) Headleand, Christopher J.; Davies, Bethany; Williams, Benjamin; Xu, Kai and Turner, Martin
    Gender representation in games is a much discussed topic in the field of games design. A number of papers have explored the issues around sexist, and sexualised representation, and there even evidence that the assumed gender of a character has an impact on player behaviour. We introduce Adi's maze, a simple arcade game with 4 selectable characters, with male, female, and ambiguous gendered representation. In the game, the player has to collect coins in a maze while avoiding enemy NPCs in a similar format to the popular 1980's game Pac-Man. Regardless of the selected character, the player has the same objective to complete. We installed this game on two publicly accessible arcade machines (the Research Arcade) and left them in situ for 18 months. We collected all data regarding the character selection and player behaviour and we report the results from this study. Furthermore, we report insights from the development of the research arcade, and comment on it's effectiveness as a research tool.
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    A Gesture Recognition Model for Virtual Reality Motion Controllers
    (The Eurographics Association, 2020) Headleand, Chris; Williams, Benjamin; Holopainen, Jussi; Gilliam, Marlon; Ritsos, Panagiotis D. and Xu, Kai
    In this paper we discuss gesture recognition in the domain of Virtual Reality (VR) video games. We begin by presenting a detailed review of the literature. Furthermore, we discuss some of the specific opportunities and challenges that are specific to the VR domain. Most commercial VR devices come with tracked motion controllers as a default interface which facilitates the possibility of gesture control. However, video games specifically require a high degree of accuracy to prevent non-gesture actions being evaluated. To tackle this challenge we present a novel modification to the Hidden Markov Model gesture recognition approach. We expand on previous work with gestures in with the implementation of an adaptive database system allowing users to quickly engage with an application without significant training. Our results on a benchmark problem shows that the approach can produce impressive accuracy rates. The results from our benchmarking shows promise for the usability of gesture based interaction systems for VR devices in the future. Our system achieves high levels of recognition accuracy competitive with the best performing existing system whilst requiring minimal user independent training.
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    Recreational Motion Simulation: A New Frontier for Virtual Worlds Research
    (The Eurographics Association, 2021) Williams, Benjamin; Headleand, Christopher J.; Xu, Kai and Turner, Martin
    Motion simulation is a developing field which continues to grow with the recent incline in commercial virtual reality. Whilst the majority of motion simulation research focuses on flight simulation and training, its utility in recreational settings is often overlooked. Despite this lack of research, the use of motion simulators for recreational purposes spans decades, and is still today one of the most popular applications of motion simulator devices. Furthermore, with the recent development of low-cost motion simulation platforms, consumers have begun to use these devices in the home. Research regarding motion simulation and its effects in recreational experiences is needed now more than ever, and in this position paper we outline several reasons for its importance.
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    The University on Lincoln Island: Reimagining a University Campus as a Role-Playing Video Game
    (The Eurographics Association, 2021) Headleand, Christopher J.; Davies, Bethany; Threlfall, Danielle; Williams, Benjamin; Xu, Kai and Turner, Martin
    This paper presents the University of Lincoln Island (TULI), a work-in-progress project where the University of Lincoln campus has been recreated digitally and re-imagined as a fantasy role-playing computer game. Universities have had to respond to a number of key challenges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving teaching and research online has been facilitated by a number of mature software platforms and tool-sets and the institutional expertise to wield them. However, there are fewer core activities that have digital provisions, thereby requiring a more creative approach. One of these areas is campus familiarisation, traditionally managed through timetabled events such as guided tours and scavenger hunts. However, these activities will be untenable until social distancing measures are lifted, forcing us to consider alternatives. This paper presents gamified virtual environments as a digital solution to support students in this area. We identify a number of key challenges and opportunities in the hopes that it will provide insight for future work in this domain.