A Social and Emotional Approach to Games and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Katherine Isbister Associate Professor, Digital Media and CSE

Who I am Ph.D. from Stanford in Communication (social science) with HCI focus. A practicing HCI designer for many years (clients have included BMW, EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and others). Teach computer game development and HCI/user experience courses. Research focus on designing and evaluating stronger and richer social and emotional experiences with technology.

Why Social and Emotional? Aren’t computers just machines, mostly for work? Why would I get my feelings involved? Isn’t it silly to apply social rules or settings to computers? What do computers have to do with being social?

Why Social and Emotional?

Social and Emotional = The Future We now use computers for play and for being social with each other, and this is the biggest area of growth. Computers can increasingly sense our social and emotional states and signals (facial expressions, tone of voice, body language) and react to these. Engineers ignore this at their peril(!)

Research approach Combine HCI and social science theories, research, and practices. Analyze what’s most effective in supporting and enhancing social and emotional engagement, toward improved design and innovation. Innovate methods and tools where necessary.

Example: Emotion and Motion Movement affects emotional state and can produce stronger social connections. How does/should this affect movement-based interaction?

Example: Emotion and Motion Research approach combines: Observation and analysis Isolation and manipulation Design iteration and articulation

Observation and analysis ‘Waggling the form baton’ Examining gestures and body movement in Wii games. Linking the movements with emotional states and cues.

Observation and analysis Used Laban Movement Analysis effort dimensions to better understand what makes certain movements ‘feel’ certain ways.

Observation and analysis Conclusion: ‘happy’ games use light and sustained movements. More directed, sudden movements up the ‘competitive’ feel.

Isolation and manipulation Examined 3 levels and styles of movement and how they link to player fun and frustration levels.

Isolation and manipulation Created an instrumented game to confirm physical feedback loop effect for games.

Design iteration and articulation Extending work to emotional contagion and social connection: which movement mechanics and cooperative play strategies build connections.

Design iteration and articulation Presented research direction and preliminary recommendations at the 2010 Game Developers Conference

Conclusions Social and emotional factors are of increasing importance in human computer interaction. Core innovations and commercialization of technologies such as sensors, cameras, and multi-touch displays means this trend will continue. Designing these interfaces successfully requires a multi-method approach.

Thanks!