Jump and shoot!: prioritizing primary and alternative body gestures for intense gameplay

Abstract

Motion gestures enable natural and intuitive input in video games. However, game gestures designed by developers may not always be the optimal gestures for players. A key challenge in designing appropriate game gestures lies in the interaction-intensive nature of video games, i.e., several actions/commands may need to be executed concurrently using different body parts. This study analyzes user preferences in game gestures, with the aim of accommodating high interactivity during gameplay. Two user-elicitation studies were conducted: first, to determine user preferences, participants were asked to define gestures for common game actions/commands; second, to develop effective combined-gestures, participants were asked to define possible game gestures using each body part (one and two hands, one and two legs, head, eyes, and torso). Our study presents a set of suitable and alternative body parts for common game actions/commands. We also present some simultaneously applied game gestures that assist interaction in highly interactive game situations (e.g., selecting a weapon with the feet while shooting with the hand). Interesting design implications are further discussed, e.g., transferability between hand and leg gestures.