Serious Games
Brain Activity and Behavior of Serious Games
The MOST-EEG brain activity analysis methodology is suitable be used to design a class of video games known as ‘serious games’. Serious games are those that are not designed strictly for entertainment uses but have been optimized for learning, training, or rehabilitation purposes. The algorithms and methodology can be used to better understand the video game experience by showing how aspects of the video game interact with the human brain. Information acquired in this way can help designers make better video games and understand how people solve a variety of challenging problems.
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What we can measure:
- The brain areas that are active during game events -The strength of interaction of these brain areas -The time duration these brain areas are active and interactive -The visual information to which the eyes move -The time duration the eyes point to specific information |
What we can infer:
-Which brain systems were purposefully employed by the user -Which brain systems were elicited by the game stimuli and task -The game-playing strategy being employed |
What we identify:
-A set of strategies that can be used to solve the game (the ways to use our brain/eyes to achieve a goal) -The most effective strategy to achieve the goal -The most common strategy to achieve the goal -A set of individual differences, or subsets of strategies used by the population |
For the game developer, this translates into:
- a market advantage over competitors (games proven to interact with specific parts of the brain and this evidence can be used to market the game and accredit the game with public agencies)
- technological advantage over competitors (developer is provided with a better understanding of how to develop new serious games)
Gameplay
Our role in the development of serious games is to work with the game developer to determine which areas (or systems) of the brain are being used by persons to play the game. Once data are obtained and analyzed, we can infer what cognitive processes the video game elicits or requires for people to successfully play the game.
Our most recent experience examining brain activities associated with a video game environment was with the Spatial Navigation Laboratory at the University of Victoria. Some results obtained during this investigation are illustrated on the website http://www.spatialbrain.com (new window) .
Our methodology for providing the client with information about the relationship between their video game and brain activity is similar as how we work with clients investigating drug effects on brain function.
To ensure the developer receives the maximum available information about how characteristics of the game impact brain activity, we provide two levels of analysis. Our Stage I analysis utilizes our existing and proven algorithms to provide the developer with results objectively determined without visual inspection or modifications to our data analysis algorithms. This analysis can be provided soon after the data collection is complete. In contrast, our Stage II analysis utilizes our current ‘beta’ algorithms designed after inspecting our client’s data. This provides us an opportunity to improve our existing algorithms and provide the client with more information about brain function and the characteristics of the video game under investigation.
The Steps In Our Partnership and Consulting Process
The general process that we follow has 6 main steps.
The first 2 steps involve:
(1) working with the developer to design the EEG data collection paradigm, and
(2) providing guidance in the data collection process to ensure the best possible brain results.
Once data have been collected, our team:
(3) analyzes the acquired EEG data using our existing algorithms to construct a data-driven model (a set of 3D brain maps) of the brain activity that occurred during data collection (Stage I analysis),
(4) present Stage I analysis results to the developer in terms of each video game condition separately, and as a difference between video game conditions,
(5) analyze the acquired EEG data again, improving our algorithms to reveal additional information about brain activity and video game interaction,
(6) present Stage II analysis results to the developer.
Including ABV Sciences in your drug or serious game development program
To discuss working together in an investigation of brain function and behavior you may contact us by telephone or by email and we can set-up an informational discussion to address your questions. In this discussion, we can present more detailed information about the services we provide and the capabilities of our analysis technology. We can also discuss our prior work in more detail and show you how we have helped our clients.
