Ubiquitous Ambient Gaming - First evaluation of the game outside
From EQUIS Lab Wiki
May 31st, 2010
Contents |
Goal
The test was done to have a first feedback on the game played outside (is it a good game, is it feasible, do people have fun...). We also tested the audio localization using the GPS and compass.
The test was done with 2 subjects. The subjects were explained the rules of the game.
Parameters
General
- 4 cats, 4 dogs and 4 birds, 1 tiger
- 3 shelters (one of each type)
- Field : down Union, between University and Arch; 300m x 300m
- start with the cats, have to catch and bring to their shelter at least 2 of them to start hearing the dogs, then have to bring back at least 6 animals to add the birds
Sound
- each animal emits a distinct sound
- the shelters emit a bip sound
- when an animal is caught, a bip sound (different from the cages, more like a water drop) is heard and the animal stops emitting any sound
- when an animal is left at a shelter, the same drop sound is heard
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Results
Summary
Game
- Both players had fun,
- they were able to catch animals and bring them to their shelters, using both the sound and the map.
- Only one player was hunted by the tiger, but he managed to keep it away by walking at a sustained pace.
- The game seems a little bit long (more than 1/2h), they would have preferred a 1/2h game, or a game this length but with somebody else to play with.
- NB : At first, both players tended to follow the path on the real map, without crossing on the grass, but they lost this habit after a few minutes.
Sounds
- A sound far away or very close is hard to localize, and the player tends to use the map to help:
- far away, the sound is too fade to tell exactly which direction;
- too close, the player can't distinguish loud and louder (it would be interesting to add information to the sound when the animal is close, like footsteps).
- The sound of the animals and of the tiger were good and recognizable.
- The sound of the shelters was harder to localize.
- The sounds of an animal being caught or an animal being dropped at a shelter were frequently missed, giving some confusion to the player, for example :
- the player catches a dog without noticing it and hears another dog not very far, so he mistakes the other dog with the one he just caught;
- the player goes over a cage several times, thinking he didn’t drop the animal, when he already did (he has to check on the screen to confirm the drop).
User 1
General
- He played for 55 minutes.
- caught 3 cats, 3 dogs and 1 bird
- was followed by the tiger 3 times but always made it at a sustained pace (but not running)
- timing : 20 min (2 cats and a dog), 25 min (another dog), 35 min (another dog), 45 min (another cat), 55 min (a bird)
- the cat shelter was on the other side of the field and the first cat he caught was not around him at first.
Sound
- didn’t always heard when he dropped an animal at a cage, or when he caught one
- had to check on the screen when he dropped an animal (didn’t hear a distinct sound)
- caught a dog, but thought he didn’t because another dog was barking not very far => he confounded the 2 dogs
- caught a cat without noticing it
- liked the tiger, immediately spotted when the tiger was after him
- the cages where hard to localize
Positioning
- he had difficulties to localize the animals when they were far away or very close :
- when far away : it was hard to tell which direction to take since he could hear in both ears almost all the time
- when very close : can’t tell the difference between close and very close (the volume variation can’t be heard once it’s high)
- He used the screen a lot to check if his positioning was good.
- At first, he would stay on the normal path, and he won't go straight to the sounds, but he lost this habit after a while.
Screen
- he had difficulties to see it with the sun
- sometimes he confounded the animals related to the progress bar with real animals to catch
Remarks
- He liked the game.
- He would have preferred the game to last 1/2h or less, OR to play with somebody else
- he wasn’t bothered by the fact that we were talking to him, he could still play (the sound being ambient, it allowed him to discuss with us while knowing what to do)
- he would have liked to have something to fight the tiger back
- for the screen, he thought it would be nice to have the general direction of the animals he can’t see nor hear displayed at the edges of the map
User 2
General
- He played for 25 min.
- He caught 3 cats, 1 dog.
- He was never followed by the tiger.
- timing : 5 min (1 cat dropped), 10 min (1 cat caught, look for another one), 15 min (another cat), bring them to the shelter, 25 min (1 dog)
- started with a cat and the shelter near him
Sound
- He heard a sound when he caught an animal, but didn’t hear it when he dropped the animal to the shelter.
- He mentioned the shelters' sounds, but he thought the bips were ok since he could not find a better sound to represent them.
Positioning
- use the screen to orientate himself when he was close to an animal or a shelter, because could not localize precisely with the sound
- generally, he would go on a direction following a sound, and when he was not sure, he used the map to check
- He needed the map to tell how close he was from an animal : could not decipher loud from louder.
- => He said it would be easier if the sound changed when he got closer to an animal, like add footsteps when he is close to one.
Screen
- when he looked at the screen and saw an animal following him, he tried to catch it, not noticing that he had already caught the animal
- he used the map whn he was close from an animal, to see how close he was
Remarks
- Very quickly, the player didn't seem to notice the regular path and started crossing the grass, jumping up small walls.
- He would have liked to be able to get power-ups, like being able to catch the animals from further for a while, or the tiger can't get to him for 1 minute.
- He would like to make this game a multi-player game.
- He would play more than 1 hour with friends, but only 1/2h alone.
