A while ago I brought up the Wii U's potential to increase immersion by pulling the gameplay outside the game, synchronizing it with the real-world actions that players perform. While this may be premature given that the Wii U isn't even out yet, I just read an interesting study and I thought it might be nice to have a discussion on whether and how Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) can take immersion to the extreme.
Historically, to interact with a game, players have to convey their intentions through the real world via some form of controller interface. Motion controls have shortened the distance between intentions and in-game actions by eliminating or minimizing the controller, allowing the physical action resulting from these intentions to directly control in-game action. The next step, then, is to intercept these intentions directly from the brain, completely bypassing the real world.
The study cited another study which identified five aspects of immersion: cognitive involvement, real world dissociation, emotional involvement, challenge, and control. The study that I read found that all of these except challenge were significantly higher with a BCI selection method than with a non-BCI selection method. It also recorded more positive emotions.
BCI has a long way to go, and even the simple task of making selections isn't 100% accurate, but do think it's the future of gaming? What do you think of games that can read your thoughts and translate them directly into in-game actions?
The study noted a few things that may have affected the results, one of which was that BCI is a novel interface so participants may have been more patient with it and more interested. So they raised a few questions for further study: "Is the BCI selection method still significantly more immersive and affective [emotion-evoking] when participants are used to it? Another question is whether the indulgence towards the BCI selection method is permanent or only temporary."
I think that depending on the game some BCI mixed with motion or sometimes more classical controls would produce an ideal spread of inputs that would maximize productivity and feel natural and immersive. The game used in the study involved controlling three characters with a mouse to indicate where they should move, and BCI indicating which of the three should move there. Maybe in a 3D (or 2D) world, movement could be controlled by BCI while other actions use motion and/or button controls.
Historically, to interact with a game, players have to convey their intentions through the real world via some form of controller interface. Motion controls have shortened the distance between intentions and in-game actions by eliminating or minimizing the controller, allowing the physical action resulting from these intentions to directly control in-game action. The next step, then, is to intercept these intentions directly from the brain, completely bypassing the real world.
The study cited another study which identified five aspects of immersion: cognitive involvement, real world dissociation, emotional involvement, challenge, and control. The study that I read found that all of these except challenge were significantly higher with a BCI selection method than with a non-BCI selection method. It also recorded more positive emotions.
BCI has a long way to go, and even the simple task of making selections isn't 100% accurate, but do think it's the future of gaming? What do you think of games that can read your thoughts and translate them directly into in-game actions?
The study noted a few things that may have affected the results, one of which was that BCI is a novel interface so participants may have been more patient with it and more interested. So they raised a few questions for further study: "Is the BCI selection method still significantly more immersive and affective [emotion-evoking] when participants are used to it? Another question is whether the indulgence towards the BCI selection method is permanent or only temporary."
I think that depending on the game some BCI mixed with motion or sometimes more classical controls would produce an ideal spread of inputs that would maximize productivity and feel natural and immersive. The game used in the study involved controlling three characters with a mouse to indicate where they should move, and BCI indicating which of the three should move there. Maybe in a 3D (or 2D) world, movement could be controlled by BCI while other actions use motion and/or button controls.