FUGA – FUN OF GAMING
MEASURING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF MEDIA
ENJOYMENT
Project funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme: New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST)Contract: FP6-NEST-28765Duration: May 1, 2006 - April 30, 2009
OBJECTIVE
Digital (e.g., computer and console) gaming is the fastest-growing form
of entertainment media1, and enormous resources are invested in the
creation of new digital games. In addition to entertainment, digital
games are more and more used for therapeutic, educational, and work-
related purposes. However, established methods to measure gaming
experience with high temporal resolution are lacking,.
The main objective of the FUGA project is to create novel methods and
improve existing measures in order to examine how the different
aspects of gaming experience (e.g., different emotions and cognitions)
can be assessed comprehensively and with high temporal resolution.
The operational goals of FUGA include the establishment of the
construct validity, reliability, and predictive validity of the Game
Experience measures that are based on the different measurement
techniques (e.g., psychophysiological recordings, brain imaging). A
further goal is to develop a prototype of an emotionally adaptive game.
FUGA is an interdisciplinary research project that builds bridges across
neurosciences, psychology, physiology, communication research,
computer science, and vision research. FUGA uses several methods,
including fMRI, laboratory and mobile recordings of other
psychophysiological signals, eye-tracking, IAT, and tracking of
behavioral responses, to examine how Game Experience can be
measured. These methods are new in the context of games and their
usage requires new ways to extract relevant parameters from the data.
Digital games attract hundreds of millions of players on a regular basis, have created revenues that built a
substantial new branch of the ICT industries, and impose new research challenges to many scientific disciplines.
Surprisingly enough, although the players certainly know that gaming can be a lot of fun, game developers and
scientists are lacking established methods to measure the “fun of gaming”, or Game Experience. The FUGA
research project, unifying six top-class European partners, is devoted to test and establish a set of scientific
Game Experience measures.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion © Bethesda Softworks; Half life 2: Lost Coast © Valve Corporation
IMPACT
The construct validation of the Game Experience measures will
significantly advance the foundation of the methodology of game
research. The innovative measurement approach provided by FUGA
can be applied when designing new digital games for different
purposes (e.g., entertainment, education, therapy). Superior tools to
measure game products' entertainment value will support European
game companies to design games that suit customer requirements
most precisely, which will be a unique advantage in the extremely
competitive digital game markets of the world. Thus, aside of the
scientific impact of cutting-edge methodological research, FUGA is
expected to contribute to the rise of the European game industry.
PARTNERS
Chaired by Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research, Helsinki
School of Economics (FIN), six top-class European research partners,
including Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (FIN), Gotland
University (SWE), Hannover University of Music and Drama (GER),
University of Aachen (GER), and Eindhoven University of Technology
(NL), cooperate to achieve the objective of FUGA in its three-year
duration.
1 PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2006-2010 report
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=9793
For further information please visit our project website:
www.hse.fi/fugaOr contact the Coordinator Niklas Ravaja (CKIR): [email protected]
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