Background. Although a growing market, most of the commercially available gamestoday that features eye tracking support is rendered in a 3D perspective. Games ren-dered in 2D have seen little support for eye trackers from developers. By comparing the differences in player performance and experience between an eye tracker and acomputer mouse when playing a classic 2D genre: space shooter, this thesis aim tomake an argument for the implementation of eye tracking in 2D video games. Objectives. Create a 2D space shooter video game where movement will be handledthrough a keyboard but the input method for aiming will alter between a computermouse and an eye tracker. Methods. Using a Tobii EyeX eye tracker, an experiment was conducted with fif-teen participants. To measure their performance, three variables was used: accuracy,completion time and collisions. The participants played two modes of a 2D spaceshooter video game in a controlled environment. Depending on which mode wasplayed, the input method for aiming was either an eye tracker or a computer mouse.The movement was handled using a keyboard for both modes. When the modes hadbeen completed, a questionnaire was presented where the participants would ratetheir experience playing the game with each input method. Results. The computer mouse had a better performance in two out of three per-formance variables. On average the computer mouse had a better accuracy andcompletion time but more collisions. However, the data gathered from the question-naire shows that the participants had on average a better experience when playingwith an eye tracker Conclusions. The results from the experiment shows a better performance for par-ticipants using the computer mouse, but participants felt more immersed with the eyetracker and giving it a better score on all experience categories. With these results,this study hope to encourage developers to implement eye tracking as an interactionmethod for 2D video games. However, future work is necessary to determine if theexperience and performance increase or decrease as the playtime gets longer.

Context. Gaze based interaction in video games is still a developing field, and is mostly used as an off-line evaluation tool or a replacement for traditional input methods. This thesis will look closer at the prospect of using eye tracking as an additional input to be used alongside the traditional methods of input to improve the immersion and performance of the player. Objectives. To implement a gaze based interaction method into arst person adventure in a way to improve player performance and immersion. Method. Using the Tobii REX eye tracker, 18 volunteers participated in an experiment. They played two versions of a game in an controlled environment. The versions had the same mechanics and game elements but only one of them had eye tracking implemented. After the experiment the participants answered nine questions about which prototype they preferred. Results. All participants' scores were in all cases but one, lower when using the eye tracking input method, compared to the traditional one.The time it took for the participants to complete the game was longer for everybody. 16 out of 18 players also felt more immersed in the game while using eye tracking compared to playing with the traditional input method. Conclusions. The results from the experiments provided evidence that the interaction method designed for this thesis did not improve player performance. The results also showed that the interaction method did improve immersion for most players.

This thesis studies a few established design principles which were implemented in a developed fast-action puzzle game prototype. The aim was to study how several design principles affected the performance of players. The prototype was described as a Time-Based Memory Mashup with six different ”presets” based on the established design principles in which small changes occur. All participants in the study played through all six presets. Gameplay data was gathered from the participating users and were automatically recorded into a database in order to determine which preset was the most successful. Participants also filled in a survey to answer questions regarding on how they would judge their own performance, engagement and enjoyment of each played preset. Collected gameplay data from the participants were compared and ranked to determine which presets and design principles were the most effective. Surveys, observations and interviews have been studied to see if it matched the statistical data. Participants had higher performances with a fixed or more forgiving timer, which participants preferred the most. Downgraded graphics and sound were enjoyed the least, however did not led to much worse performances. An increased difficulty had the most effect in lowering performances. Design principles such as Pacing, Difficulty, Feedback, Interface Design and Foreground had the most potential to lower performances among participants.

Context. Eye tracking technology has been applied to video games, mainly, as an offline analysis tool or as an input for game control. Nevertheless, eye tracking systems applied to video games is a topic considered to be on an infant state that requires further development. The following study explore a different approach in how eye tracking systems can be used for video game interaction. Objectives. By implementing a gaze based interaction technique, a gaze aware space shooting game will be developed in order to provide in-game assistance that could improve player's performance. Method. With the help of a Tobii REX eye traking system, a set of 26 volunteers played two video games in a controlled environment. Both of the games had the same mechanics and elements, but only one of them implemented the gaze based interaction technique. The player performance was calculated in terms of the time needed by the players to finish each of the games. A statistic significance analysis was done in order to determine if the testing data provided sufficient evidence to conclude a performance improvement. Results. The results showed a reduction on the time needed to finish the game on the gaze aware prototype, having an average time difference of 74.03 seconds and overcoming a confidence level of 99.9\% when submitting the testing data to a paired t-Test. Also, the majority of the players chose the gaze aware game as the most enjoyable, in terms of their personal preferences. Conclusions. The testing results provided sufficient evidence to conclude that the gaze aware game improved the performance of all of the selected participants. This study provides a starting point for further development of eye tracking systems as a task assisting method on video game interaction.

This thesis project focuses on the creation and usage of external light effects to accommodate the needs of competitive gamers. Prior to the creation of these light effects, the function of audio in films and games was analyzed by examining the works of Michel Chion, who is the leading scholar in studying audio-vision: the relationship between the screen and sound. Subsequently, the possible application of these theories onto the lighting domain was discussed, showing the similarities and usefulness of these two different modalities. The goal of the thesis project was to improve the gamers’ perceived and objective performance in first-person shooter games. A counterbalanced within-group study was conducted; each participant played the game Doom 3 for 25 minutes with and without light effects. Four functional and informative light effects were created to accommodate the in-game content in an attempt to improve their performance. The players were given identical instructions on how to play the game. Four Philips Hue Go lights were placed in a rectangular shape around the participant with the TV in front. An additional Philips Hue LED strip was placed behind the TV. After each session, a standardized Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) was used to collect data on the players’ perceived performance. In-game logs were collected to determine how the players fared in combat. A linear checkpoint system was created to judge how far the participants progressed. The GEQ data showed that the light effects improved the players perceived performance. However, the results from the in-game logs and player progression are inconclusive and not statistically significant. The identified potential reasons were the low sample size (n=14), too little practice time, potential differences in player skill and physical light positioning. / Detta examensarbete fokuserar på skapandet och användandet av externa ljuseffekter  för att ackommodera tävlingsinriktade gamers behov. Inför skapandet av dessa  ljuseffekter genomfördes en utforskning av ljudets funktion i film och spel genom att  analysera Michel Chions verk inom audio-vision (eng); det vill säga förhållandet mellan  bild och ljud. Fortsättningsvis diskuterades huruvida dessa teorier kunde appliceras på  domänen ljus, genom att visa på användbarheten samt de likheter som dessa två olika  modaliteter har.    Målet för examensarbetet var att förbättra gamers upplevda och objektiva prestation i  förstapersonsskjutare (eng: First Person Shooter / FPS). En motviktad användarstudie  (within-group) genomfördes. Fyra funktionella och informativa ljuseffekter skapades för  att ackommodera spelets innehåll i ett försök att förbättra spelarnas prestation. Varje  deltagare spelade FPS-spelet ​Doom 3​ i 25 minuter med och utan ljuseffekter. Spelarna fick  identiska instruktioner om spelets grunder. Fyra Philips Hue Go-lampor var utplacerade  rektangulärt runt spelaren med TVn längst fram i mitten. En ytterligare Philips Hue LED  strip var placerad bakom TVn.    Efter varje session användes ett standardiserat Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) för  att insamla data av spelarnas upplevda prestation. Data loggades även inifrån spelet för  att uppmäta hur spelarna presterade i strid. Ett linjärt kontrollstationssystem upprättades  för att avgöra hur långt in i spelet deltagarna nådde.    Datan från GEQ-enkäterna visade att ljuseffekterna förbättrade spelarnas upplevda  prestation. Datan från spelloggarna och kontrollstationssystemet gav ett ofullständigt  resultat och var statistiskt insignifikant. De identifierade potentiella anledningarna var det  låga antalet deltagare (n=14), för lite övningstid, skillnader i spelarfärdighet och fysisk  ljuspositionering.

Adaptiv musik gör det möjligt för spelutvecklare att implementera musik som reagerar på andra spel-parametrar. Därmed kan musiken följa spelets narrativ i realtid och på så vis bidra till en uppslukande upplevelse. I ett spel med adaptiv musik innehar spelaren agens och inverkan på musiken, samtidigt som musiken också innehar agens och inverkan på spelaren. Vi har i detta kandidatarbete undersökt hur den adaptiva musiken skulle kunna påverka spelarens prestationsförmåga genom att titta på element som kan ha inflytande i den här frågan, till exempel musikens funktioner och stress. Vi har bedrivit tester samt kombinerat kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder för att både kunna fördjupa oss i frågan och gå in på detaljerna, men samtidigt erhålla bredare och mer övergripande kunskap om den adaptiva musikens roll i spel. I texten skildrar vi det praktiska arbetet med alla dess tekniska ingredienser som vi utförde för att skapa och implementera adaptiv musik i spel. Vi erbjuder avslutningsvis även en redogörelse av den insamlade datan, en metodiskt utförd analys, samt en djupgående diskussion som reflekterar över arbetet och föreslår hur man skulle kunna fortsätta undersöka detta ämne. / Adaptive music allows game developers to implement music that responds to other game parameters. Thus, the music can follow the game's narrative in real time, thereby contributing to an immersive experience. In a game with adaptive music, the player has agency and influence on the music, while at the same time the music also has agency and influence on the player. In this bachelor thesis, we have investigated how adaptive music could affect player performance by looking at elements that may influence this issue, such as music features and stress. We have conducted tests as well as combined quantitative with qualitative methods which enabled us to dive deeper in this question and get into the details, while at the same time obtaining broader and more comprehensive knowledge about the role of adaptive music in games. In the text, we describe the practical work with all of  it’s technical ingredients that we performed to create and implement adaptive music in a game. Finally, we also provide an account of the collected data, a methodically conducted analysis, and an in-depth discussion that reflects on the work and suggests how to continue researching this subject.