Balance ninja: towards the design of digital vertigo games via galvanic vestibular stimulation

Byrne, Richard; Marshall, Joe; Mueller, Florian �Floyd�

Abstract

Vertigo – the momentary disruption of the stability of perception – is an intriguing game element that underlies many unique play experiences, such as spinning in circles as children to rock climbing as adults, yet vertigo is relatively unexplored when it comes to digital play. In this paper we explore the potential of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) as a game design tool for digital vertigo games. We detail the design and evaluation of a novel two player GVS game, Balance Ninja. From study observations and analysis of Balance Ninja (N=20), we present three design themes and six design strategies that can be used to aid game designers of future digital vertigo games. With this work we aim to highlight that vertigo can be a valuable digital game element that helps to expand the range of games we play.

Citation

Byrne, R., Marshall, J., & Mueller, F. ‘. (2016). Balance ninja: towards the design of digital vertigo games via galvanic vestibular stimulation.

• Conference Name: CHI Play 2016: 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
• End Date: Oct 19, 2016
• Acceptance Date: Jul 5, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 16, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 19, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 19, 2017
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Vertigo, Play, Ilinx, Movement-based games, Exertion games, Vestibular stimulation
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/823258
• Publisher URL: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=2967934.2968080
• Additional Information: Published in CHI Play 2016: proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. New York : ACM, 2016. 9781450344562