Evaluating Motion: Spatial User Beahaviour in Virtuel Environments

Anders Drachen, Alessandro Canossa

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    User-behaviour analysis has only recently been adapted to the context of the virtual world domain and remains limited in its application. Behaviour analysis is based on instrumentation data, automated, detailed, quantitative information about user behaviour within the virtual environment (VE) of digital games. A key advantage of the method in comparison with existing user-research methods, such as usability- and playability-testing is that it permits very large sample sizes. Furthermore, games are in the vast majority of cases based on spatial, VEs within which the players operate and through which they experience the games. Therefore, spatial behaviour analyses are useful to game research and design. In this paper, spatial analysis methods are introduced and arguments posed for their use in user-behaviour analysis. Case studies involving data from thousands of players are used to exemplify the application of instrumentation data to the analysis of spatial patterns of user behaviour.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalInternational Journal of Arts and Technology
    Volume4
    Issue number3
    Pages (from-to)294-314
    ISSN1754-8853
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Keywords

    • Game Design
    • Motion Evaluation
    • Spatial Analysis
    • Digital Games
    • Virtual Environments
    • Spatial User Behaviour
    • Player Experience
    • User Experience
    • Geographic Information Systems
    • GIS
    • Gameplay Metrics
    • Game Development
    • Instrumentation

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