Games Could Soon Be Reading Your Emotions
- Thread starter Scott Bullock
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New Scientist covered this last week, I think. Haven't gotten around to reading the article just yet.
Me likes, very good idea, though it of course has a number of challenges ahead of it.
My main concern is, when did games ever sell well when they needed excessive peripherals? And this sounds like no joke too, heart rate monitor, brain wave reading headset (any safety issue with using EEGs excessively or with/near other equipment of some sort btw?), I mean this is pretty much selling a lie detector to anyone who wants to play the game. I don't see it too affordable and the gamers being willing to be arsed with it, not yet anyway.
My main concern is, when did games ever sell well when they needed excessive peripherals? And this sounds like no joke too, heart rate monitor, brain wave reading headset (any safety issue with using EEGs excessively or with/near other equipment of some sort btw?), I mean this is pretty much selling a lie detector to anyone who wants to play the game. I don't see it too affordable and the gamers being willing to be arsed with it, not yet anyway.
Something something vitality sensor something something proves nintendo partnership with valve for N6 something something now that valve are on board people suddenly love the idea mumble grumble
This development bothers me - I still recall playing "Bard's Tale III" and alternately swearing vociferously and cooing lovingly to my Commodore 128's floppy drive as it chugged along trying to read one of the several 5.25" disks. The thought that the thing at the receiving end of my tirades and/or borderline pornographic whisperings could interpret my feelings and judge me is unsettlingly.
Although I've mostly grown out of those habits. Mostly.
Although I've mostly grown out of those habits. Mostly.
Okay...... hmm.
Safety: Do you tell the computer you have heart problems so it doesn't keep upping the stakes until your heart cries uncle?
Physical Variation: I assume it'd get baselines somehow, to account for the different heart rate bell curves for athletes vs. couch potatoes and such.
Personal Variation: This one's the big one for me. To whit:
I enjoy stressful games, such as Left 4 Dead 2, in limited amounts. And I don't push myself into intense stress all that often. Now, I like the rush, so I do want to go "out of my comfort zone" a bit, but I have to wonder at what point I'd be wanting relief while it's still pushing to make me even more stressed.
To compare: I don't like "Cringe Comedy," and when I see segments in shows I otherwise like, I often pause repeatedly, go off and do something else for a bit, just to avoid having that much "cringe" all in one sitting.
Anyway, horror, thriller, and gore are a tiny niche in my viewing/playing experience. And when I choose to view/play them, then yes, I prefer them to be dramatic, but at manageable levels.
In fact, I'm currently "playing" through horror/thriller games via Let's Plays by Helloween4545, whose soothing British accent, calming tone and off-the-wall looney reactions tone the horror/stress down to where I can enjoy it. I can't be too stressed out when he throws witty insults at the baddies, goes dancing with corpses, and responds to scary situations with bizarre non-sequiturs ("Ooh! Are those boots? Nah, not my size").
So... yeah.
Safety: Do you tell the computer you have heart problems so it doesn't keep upping the stakes until your heart cries uncle?
Physical Variation: I assume it'd get baselines somehow, to account for the different heart rate bell curves for athletes vs. couch potatoes and such.
Personal Variation: This one's the big one for me. To whit:
I enjoy stressful games, such as Left 4 Dead 2, in limited amounts. And I don't push myself into intense stress all that often. Now, I like the rush, so I do want to go "out of my comfort zone" a bit, but I have to wonder at what point I'd be wanting relief while it's still pushing to make me even more stressed.
To compare: I don't like "Cringe Comedy," and when I see segments in shows I otherwise like, I often pause repeatedly, go off and do something else for a bit, just to avoid having that much "cringe" all in one sitting.
Anyway, horror, thriller, and gore are a tiny niche in my viewing/playing experience. And when I choose to view/play them, then yes, I prefer them to be dramatic, but at manageable levels.
In fact, I'm currently "playing" through horror/thriller games via Let's Plays by Helloween4545, whose soothing British accent, calming tone and off-the-wall looney reactions tone the horror/stress down to where I can enjoy it. I can't be too stressed out when he throws witty insults at the baddies, goes dancing with corpses, and responds to scary situations with bizarre non-sequiturs ("Ooh! Are those boots? Nah, not my size").
So... yeah.
I don't see how multiplayer shooters can use this, well this can bring single player's out of the gutter depends on how it is implemented.
uh...this is kinda backwards; games are supposed to make you feel, not read whatever your current feelings are and adjust themselves accordingly. you dont expect a movie or song to change its tone according to your mood; games are supposed to do this shit on their own, make you feel what the game deems appropriate for the situation, not the other way around. there is just nothing a narrative can gain from this tech, and nothing even gameplay can gain; your supposed to be making consistent experiences with their own mood Valve, all this would do is make the game feel inconsistent and frankly remove all motivation for the player to give a rat's ass if the game will just change the difficulty or what not on their whim. the AI director is nice, but dont start getting carried away.
This is kind of cool, except you know, if the playtesters emotional states differ from mine. Which is very possible. I don't understand how employing that method would make sense for people playing at home without EKG's hooked up to them. I'm also not sure a game miraculously getting easier when I am freaking out would be the best thing ever (although it might help out with rage quits). I feel like it could be pretty easily exploited too.
I thought this was going to be about some new technology utilizing a Kinect-like interface to read your facial expressions and stuff. Which I was thinking about because they mentioned it as an idea on a podcast I listen to (epicbattleaxe) as the reverse of what is happening in LA Noire as possibility for future games.
I thought this was going to be about some new technology utilizing a Kinect-like interface to read your facial expressions and stuff. Which I was thinking about because they mentioned it as an idea on a podcast I listen to (epicbattleaxe) as the reverse of what is happening in LA Noire as possibility for future games.
I for one would love a working and affordable EEG if that was possible. I'd probably download an app to see my brainwaves and stare at it for hours.starwarsgeek said:
Well EEGs can monitor stress already. I could probably myself write a program to take output from a device, apply an algorithm to turn your stress into a scale of 1-10, and then create a difficulty curve that gets you up to say 8, and then cuts off, and I can't do much more in programming than - if (stress=4) then cout "hello world". They aren't claiming to know your innermost secrets and internal monologue, that's not possible. More just trying to create the most exciting environments. Players are all different, and have different breaking points.FalloutJack said:
