Biometric Analysis of Games

From an interesting interview with Player Research – I met Graham at a Wellcome/Develop session last year and was impressed by what they do!  Worth a read…

How does biometric analysis work?

So, one of the methods we use is biometrics, or psychophysiology. This means we attach small sensors to the player which allow us to measure when they are aroused during gameplay.

This arousal can be positive – such as excitement – or negative – such as frustration – and we find out which by interviewing the player immediately after the playtest session.

Why biometrics is useful is that players are typically quite bad at remembering how they feel at any particular moment, so being able to determine that they felt something at a particular point in the game is a useful indicator for further analysis.

Biometrics has helped us to better understand how players feels about different weapons in games, attack strategies of enemies, perceived threat of an enemy, reaction to art style or change of environment, and many other areas of gameplay.

We often combine biometrics with eye tracking and other forms of analysis for an even deeper understanding.