Research Proposal

Research Proposal

Can game audio be specifically designed and implemented for the purpose of leading the player into an immersive experience?

Abstract

This research proposal sets out a framework with clear objectives in which to investigate the impact audio has on the immersive nature of computer games, whilst also determining whether its effectiveness can be pre-designed and measured. Current definitions of the term ‘immersion’ will be discussed in detail through an analysis of literature and research carried out by practitioners in the field of game study. This overview will bring into focus the aural aspect of immersion and the research which is directed at this specific side of game design.

The proposal will set out a working plan of action to utilise current research on the subject of game immersion for a practical application which demonstrates how audio can be designed and implemented to enhance the immersive nature of games. This will be proposed as the implementation and design of audio assets for a short ‘First Person Shooter’ style gaming level where two versions of the level (one enhanced for immersion) will be tested and contrasted. Testing methods will be discussed based on recent studies carried out whilst suggestions put forth to tailor these methods to the project requirements. The proposal will also detail a timeline in which all aspects of project deliverables are mapped out over the remainder of the honours year. Finally a summary of the projects expected outcomes of the will provided.

Introduction

Can game audio be specifically designed and implemented for the purpose of leading the player into an immersive experience?

The term immersion or immersive is often used by gamers when describing games but what exactly does it mean to be immersed in a game and what defines an immersive experience? This project proposes to investigate the term immersion and define its meaning within the context of playing video games. With a clearer view on the process of becoming immersed in computer games, the project will focus in on the aural element of immersion. From here the relationship will be highlighted between immersion and game audio design whilst demonstrating its importance to the overall experience.

The project aims to clearly identify the bond between audio and immersion in games and will include research and critical analysis of current theories and studies on the subject. The research and investigation output will be utilised to create a 'First Person Shooter' gaming level which will be focused on using audio as an interactive design element to produce an immersive experience. This level will then be tested a variety of ways to firstly try and quantify the impact audio has on the immersive experience. Secondly the results should shed some light on whether audio can indeed be designed and implemented with immersion as a goal.

Main Objectives:

 Research – defining game immersion, case studies, similar projects
 Audio Asset Production – planning, recording, editing, testing
 Game Level Build – Skills based research, level editing, audio implementation, testing
 Project Evaluation/Testing - establish testing methods, source test group, carry out tests, reflect upon results

Literature Review

With the projects’ objective specifically aimed at creating an immersive experience the initial goal was to identify what exactly the term immersion means within the context of games and secondly, what is the importance, and role of audio within this context?
Janet Murray describes immersion as;

“Immersion is a metaphorical term derived from the physical experience of being submerged in water. We seek the same feeling from a psychologically immersive experience that we do from a plunge in the ocean or swimming pool: the sensation of being surrounded by a completely other reality, as different as water is from air, that takes over all of our attention, our whole perceptual apparatus” (Murray, 1997, p. 98)

Dovey and Kennedy describe immersion in a similar fashion by adding that it is “the experience of losing a sense of embodiment in the present whilst connecting on a meditated environment” (Dovey & Kennedy, 2006, p. 146). It is worth noting that immersion can also be related to other forms of entertainment such as books, or film but the difference here is that these are static or linear as opposed to interactive experiences. Brown & Cairns (2004) highlight that the term immersion or immersive is used frequently to describe games throughout the gaming community but add that the term is also used without a coherent explanation (Brown & Cairns. 2004, p.1). Other terms have also been used to describe the immersive state such as ‘Incorporation’ (Calleja, 2007) and ‘Presence’ (McMahan, 2003). Jennett et al (2008) also mention ‘Presence’ as well as other concepts such as ‘Flow’ and ‘Cognitive absorption’. However they argue that “immersion is clearly distinct from these established concepts and a better understanding of immersion would be crucial in understanding the relationship between people and videogames” (Jennett et al, 2008, p. 642).

A closer look at the theories behind game immersion provide a more unique analysis, whilst narrowing down the broad range of terms and descriptions that have been presented thus far. Laurie Taylor (2002) expands the definition in a gaming context by splitting it into two separate stages of engagement “diegetic immersion, where the player is immersed in the act of playing the video game, and as intra-diegetic or situated immersion, where the player is immersed in playing the game and in the experience of the game space as a spatial and narrated space” (Taylor. L. 2002, p. 12). The idea of different stages of engagement is shared by Brown & Cairns (2004). Their study tries to define immersion within the context of games using a ‘grounded theory’ approach (a method of qualitative research developed by Strauss & Corbin (1998)) by analysing interviews with seven gamers about their experiences when playing games. Much like Taylor (2002) their results define immersion as a process of stages of engagement with the game which “moves along the path of time and is controlled by barriers” (Brown & Cairns. 2004, p. 2), only here three stages are suggested.
The three stages of immersion described by Brown & Cairns are ‘Engagement’, ‘Engrossment’ and ‘Total Immersion’ with the latter being described as ‘Presence’. The barriers describe gateways to each of the stages and by opening these the player can move forward through these stages of immersion. For example the first stage is ‘Engagement’, this is where the player must first engage with the game, so a potential barrier might be that the player does not like the genre or style of the game, thus creating a barrier for further immersion to take place (Brown & Cairns. 2004, p.2). As stated by Brown & Cairns “To lower the barriers to enter this level, the gamer needs to invest time, effort, and attention” (2004, p. 2). They also describe three elements of player attention which are linked to the immersion process: visual, auditory and mental. They go on to suggest that the more of these attention aspects are pulling on the players’ senses the greater involved with the
game the player will become. “If gamers need to attend to sound, as well as sight more effort is needed to be placed into the game. The more attention and effort invested, the more immersed a gamer can feel.” (Brown & Cairns. 2004, p. 3).

Ermi and Mäyrä (2005) also pick up on the concept of stages of immersion with the development of the SCI-model which links aspects of game design to immersion and highlights their influence on the process. This model identifies three aspects of game design which have been drawn from an analysis of interviews with gamers regarding their playing experiences, it is then concluded how much these aspects impact the immersive quality of games. The design aspects are labelled ‘audio-visual quality & style’, ‘level of challenge’ and ‘imaginary world and fantasy’ which are linked to the core values of the SCI-model; Sensory immersion, Challenge based immersion and Imaginative immersion respectively (Ermi and Mäyrä 2005, pp. 7-9). The results from Ermi and Mäyrä (2005) as well as Brown & Cairns (2004) both acknowledge that audio play a role in the immersion processes they describe but neither study examines the audio factor in great detail.

Collins (2008) picks up on the theory of Ermi and Mäyrä (2005) with a more direct stance on game audio by suggesting that ‘imaginary world and fantasy’ element of the SCI-model “is strongly enhanced by audio” (Collins 2008, p.134). Collins also talks about the link between immersion and audio in more general terms by adding “The illusion of being immersed in a three-dimensional atmosphere is greatly enhanced by the audio” (Collins 2008, p. 132)

Huiberts (2010) makes a more explicit connection between immersion and audio in a thesis which examines the relationship from a conceptual design standing. The IZEA model (Huiberts. S 2010, pp. 20-35) is proposed as a framework to analyse the functioning of game audio during gameplay, which is then used to illustrate audio in relation to the immersion process. Huiberts uses the IZEA model in conjunction with existing theories on game immersion such as those from Ermi and Mäyrä (2005) and Brown & Cairns (2004) to highlight the role of audio (from a design perspective) in the process of player immersion. Huiberts study, which was largely based around an analysis of user surveys (Creative Heroes 2007) concludes “Audio is capable of enhancing the three dimensions of immersion by enhancing the sensory connection, the feeling of flow and the feeling of empathy of the player” (Huiberts. S 2010, p. 101).

Huiberts (2010) sets out a unique framework relating to the immersive properties of game audio which also encapsulates the ideas and theories of past research on game immersion. However there is no practical application of this demonstrated as part of the research carried out by Huiberts. This honours project proposes to act as a working demonstration of how audio can be implemented into a video game with the purpose of creating an immersive experience. The research alongside the practical application and results of this honours project will serve as a valuable base upon which to expand current knowledge and understanding regarding the design and implementation of sound for immersion.

Project Methodology

The IZEA model proposed by Huiberts (2010) will be utilised to help conceptualise the game audio design for the project. Further analysis of the IZEA model will be carried out to establish the connections Huiberts (2010) makes with the stages of immersion described by Ermi and Mäyrä (2005) and Brown & Cairns (2004). This section of research will justify the reasoning for specific design aspects of the test level.

It is the intention to try and design the test level with audio as the main focus rather than designing audio to fit the visual style. However this will be limited as the project will be working with existing visual assets which are not intended to be altered significantly. Gaining the skills and knowledge to build a visually convincing gaming environment from the ground up is beyond the scope and time constraints of this project. However design elements involving the way the test level functions from an interactive point of view will be a focus point. This will enable the audio to function more decisively as an immersive component of gameplay.

Two versions of the level will be created for an A/B comparison. One will contain an audio orientated design with a clear focus on the player having to listen in order to complete the level. The other will include the same sounds but they will not be used in the same interactive manner, instead the audio implementation and mixing style will be simplified and the player will be provided visual cues to complete the level.

A quantitative method will be used to collect data regarding the test level by the way of a user survey. This will be based on previous work carried out by Jennett et al (2008, pp. 658-650) who developed a survey (constructed on a Likert scale) to measure the level of immersion felt by each of their test subjects. The questions may be developed further to gain a better insight into the role audio is playing in the process. Further research into the theory behind these questions will also be carried out to gain a better understanding as to their meaning and purpose. As well as the survey a short interview should take place with participants with more direct questions relating to the audio side of the experience to provide some qualitative data for analysis.

A case study will also be carried out on games which have been reviewed as having an immersive audio experience. This may guide some of the sound design choices made for this project whilst highlighting if there is a specific genre or style of audio design that is more immersive than others.

Schedule

FOUND HERE

Expected Outcomes

The expectation is that the test results will show that audio offers a significant opportunity to enhance player immersion in games. The project should also demonstrate that game audio can be designed with immersion in mind whilst highlighting its potential to evoke emotional responses from the player.
The hope is that this project will set a foundation on which further research can be carried out into the area of video game immersion and specifically how the practical application of audio can greatly enhance the experience.

References

Brown, E. and Cairns, P. (2004). A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion. Extended Abstracts of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors and Computing Systems, Vienna April 24-29 2004. New York: ACM. pp. 1297-1300. [online]. Available from: http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcairns/papers/Immersion.pdf [Accessed 1st November 2014]

Calleja, G. (2007). Revising Immersion: A Conceptual Model for the Analysis of Digital Game Involvement. Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA). Situated Play, Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference. [online]. Available from: http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/07312.10496.pdf [Accessed 7th November 2014]

Collins, K. (2008). Game Sound An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dovey, J. And Kennedy, H.W. (2006). Game Cultures: Computer games as new Media. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Ermi, L. and Mäyrä, F. (2005) Fundamantal Components of the Gameplay Experience: Analysing Immersion [online]. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views ‐ Worlds in Play. Available from: http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/06276.41516.pdf [Accessed October 26 2014]

Huiberts, S. 2010. Captivating Sound, The Role of Audio for Immersion in Computer Games. [online]. Available from: http://download.captivatingsound.com/Sander_Huiberts_CaptivatingSound.pdf [Accessed 20 October 2014].

Jennett et al. (2008). Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games. Int. J. Human-Computer Studies. 66(May): pp. 641-661.

McMahan, A. (2003). The Video Game Theory Reader. Chapter 3 - Immersion, Engagement, and Presence. New York: Toylor & Francis Books, Inc.

Murray, J. (1997). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1998. Basics of Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Sage Publications, Inc. [online]. Available from: http://stiba-malang.ac.id/uploadbank/pustaka/RM/BASIC%20OF%20QUALITATIVE%20RESEARCH.pdf [Accessed 1st November 2014]

Taylor, L. 2002. Video Games: Perspective, Point-of-View, and Immersion. [online]. Available from: http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE1000166/taylor_l.pdf [Accessed 25 October 2014]