Interlopers 3D: experiences designing a stereoscopic game

Weaver, J; Holliman, NS

doi:10.1117/12.2041675

Interlopers 3D: experiences designing a stereoscopic game

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Nick Holliman ORCiD

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This is the authors' accepted manuscript of a conference proceedings (inc. abstract) that has been published in its final definitive form by SPIE, 2014.

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Abstract

Background In recent years 3D-enabled televisions, VR headsets and computer displays have become more readily available in the home. This presents an opportunity for game designers to explore new stereoscopic game mechanics and techniques that have previously been unavailable in monocular gaming.Aims To investigate the visual cues that are present in binocular and monocular vision, identifying which are relevant when gaming using a stereoscopic display. To implement a game whose mechanics are so reliant on binocular cues that the game becomes impossible or at least very difficult to play in non-stereoscopic mode.Method A stereoscopic 3D game was developed whose objective was to shoot down advancing enemies (the Interlopers) before they reached their destination. Scoring highly required players to make accurate depth judgements and target the closest enemies first. A group of twenty participants played both a basic and advanced version of the game in both monoscopic 2D and stereoscopic 3D.Results The results show that in both the basic and advanced game participants achieved higher scores when playing in stereoscopic 3D. The advanced game showed that by disrupting the depth from motion cue the game became more difficult in monoscopic 2D. Results also show a certain amount of learning taking place over the course of the experiment, meaning that players were able to score higher and finish the game faster over the course of the experiment.Conclusions Although the game was not impossible to play in monoscopic 2D, participants’ results show that it put them at a significant disadvantage when compared to playing in stereoscopic 3D.