Gaze-based Interaction in Games

Embodied Interaction

Eye contact and gaze are important non-verbal cues in human communication, building the foundation for social interaction and information flow. To explore the potential of gaze-based input for game interaction, we utilized gaze as non-verbal behavioral and communicational resource for gameplay purposes in both, co-located and remote settings. Our main design strategy was to create different embodied representations of human gaze towards being a shared resource and mediating artifact fostering social couplings between players. In this regard, we explore gaze as a social quality in different settings as a means for collaboration (e.g., integrating an onlooker) and in general towards fostering social presence in collaborative gameplay.

Research Activities

LaserViz augments gaze in the physical world by means of an eye-tracking enabled wearable device that visualizes the gaze position on real world objects. Based on an initial prototype, we explored the effects of shared gaze through a collaborative, as well as a competitive, scenario in a co-located setting.

The EyeCo project investigated the effects of a shared gaze visualization on social presence in an online cooperative game. We explored how the shared gaze visualization changes how players work together and form collaborative strategies based on different combinations of gaze interaction and verbal communication. Our approach aims at fostering social couplings in remote collaborative gaming and investigates their potential to increase the connectedness between players.

Gaze-based Onlooker Integration: Within this project we explored an interaction concept that uses the gaze of an observing person during a co-located gaming situation as an input modality to assist the player. We investigated the effects of different embodied forms of gaze-based onlooker integration and their influence on the player’s and the onlooker’s experience. Our research goal was to address the “in-between” design space of being an active player or a passive spectator.

Contact: Bernhard Maurer

Related Publications

V. van Rheden, B. Maurer, D. Smit, M. Murer, and M. Tscheligi, "LaserViz: Shared Gaze in the Co-Located Physical World," in Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, 2017, pp. 191-196.
[Bibtex]

@InProceedings{vanRheden_etal2017,
author="van Rheden, Vincent
and Maurer, Bernhard
and Smit, Doroth{\'e}
and Murer, Martin
and Tscheligi, Manfred",
title="LaserViz: Shared Gaze in the Co-Located Physical World",
booktitle="Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction",
year="2017",
pages="191--196",
doi="10.1145/3024969.3025010",
opturl="http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/3024969.3025010"
}

B. Maurer, M. Lankes, B. Stiglbauer, and M. Tscheligi, "EyeCo: Effects of Shared Gaze on Social Presence in an Online Cooperative Game," in Entertainment Computing -- ICEC 2016: 15th IFIP TC 14 International Conference, Vienna, Austria, September 28-30, 2016, Proceedings, 2016, pp. 102-114.
[Bibtex]

@InProceedings{Maurer_etal2016,
author="Maurer, Bernhard
and Lankes, Michael
and Stiglbauer, Barbara
and Tscheligi, Manfred",
title="EyeCo: Effects of Shared Gaze on Social Presence in an Online Cooperative Game",
booktitle="Entertainment Computing -- ICEC 2016: 15th IFIP TC 14 International Conference, Vienna, Austria, September 28-30, 2016, Proceedings",
year="2016",
pages="102--114",
isbn="978-3-319-46100-7",
doi="10.1007/978-3-319-46100-7_9",
opturl="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46100-7_9"
}

M. Lankes, B. Maurer, and B. Stiglbauer, "An Eye for an Eye: Gaze Input in Competitive Online Games and Its Effects on Social Presence," in Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, 2016, p. 17:1--17:9.
[Bibtex]

@InProceedings{Lankes_etal2016,
author="Lankes, Michael
and Maurer, Bernhard
and Stiglbauer, Barbara",
title="An Eye for an Eye: Gaze Input in Competitive Online Games and Its Effects on Social Presence",
booktitle="Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology",
year="2016",
pages="17:1--17:9",
doi="10.1145/3001773.3001774",
opturl="http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/3001773.3001774"
}

B. Maurer, I. Aslan, M. Wuchse, K. Neureiter, and M. Tscheligi, "Gaze-Based Onlooker Integration: Exploring the In-Between of Active Player and Passive Spectator in Co-Located Gaming," in Proceedings of the 2nd SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, 2015.
[Bibtex]

@InProceedings{Maurer_etal2015,
author="Maurer, Bernhard
and Aslan, Ilhan
and Wuchse, Martin
and Neureiter, Katja
and Tscheligi, Manfred",
title="Gaze-Based Onlooker Integration: Exploring the In-Between of Active Player and Passive Spectator in Co-Located Gaming",
booktitle="Proceedings of the 2nd SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play",
year="2015",
isbn="978-1-4503-3466-2",
doi="10.1145/2793107.2793126"
}

Gaze-based Interaction in Games

Embodied Interaction

Research by

Bernhard Maurer

Research Lead

Martin Murer

Research

Dorothé Smit

Research

Related Publications