TRANSDISCIPLINARY INQUIRY RESEARCH

REPORT
Name: James Hurlock(Me), Harriet Johnson, Oliver Nugent.
Student ID No. 1323976
Bachelor of Creative Technologies
Date: 06/08/2015
____________________________________________________________________________

Abstract:
This research is to look at possible ways Images and and Physical input, relating
to our the proof-of-concept project we are making for Studio, can affect a user's
emotions. This research will be a crucial part of our studio project and help us to
make it more effective in improving and influencing the users emotions. The
user inputs their mood and watches as it drastically or subtly affects the
environment. We will complete this study by conducting our own research
through the use of a survey on Images and the emotions they invoke. We will
also be using previous studies and research data to reach an conclusion on how
physical input could affect the user in our proof-of-concept. Most of the research
required for our project has already been done. such as how music can influence
your mood or how players emotionally and mentally engage in single player
games. in this report we will briefly cover those studies.

One thing that must be kept in consideration throughout this research is that
Emotions and Emotional Values are different for everyone. So what could be
extremely effective at making someone Sad or Happy could have a much
reduced effect one someone else. This becomes especially true between
societies and different socio demographics. For instance an image of snow could
invoke completely different emotions in people from different climates; i.e
someone from a snowy climate would probably be nonplussed while someone
from the Sahara would probably look and it with wonder and curiosity. Basically
its impossible to completely accurately predict someones response to any
image, action or event however it is possible to predict a generalized response to
some things which is what we aim to do in this paper. For example in our survey
we see the descriptive words we expected to see attached to certain images but
the words/emotion some people used completely surprised us. However there is
a trend in the language used and most have used words with similar
connotations.

Game Research:
For our research games we only looked into single player games and how players
emotionally and mentally engaged with them. We have not gone into the social
and emotional minefield that is multiplayer gameplay. Our research has been
time restricted and as stated in the intro to the research paper we are not
psychologists and the area of emotions and games is huge and extremely varied

with many people basing their PHDs off of it. Therefore all theories and
conclusions are based off the sources referenced in this paper and logic. So for
the aforementioned reasons we kept our research focused on the areas most
relevant to our studio project: Modern Video Games where the player moves
through a Three Dimensional space to achieve their goals (Preferably ones
without heavy violence though that is currently the markets most popular area)
with special interest in RTS & God- Games (where the player acts as a god
over a virtual space).
Developers in general want to make video games that make their players feel
emotions to help engage them and draw them into the game, either to make the
game more enjoyable or to encourage and help students in learning. The
problem is the extreme range of games makes it difficult to look at the wide
range of emotions videogames can generate. In general the roles we take in a
digital game are a key factor in influencing the emotions we feel during. As said
by Jonathon Frome1 there are two roles in video games; the observerparticipant1 and the actor-participant. An Observer-participant 1 role is more
often found in puzzle, social and movie games such as Ori and the forest
which invokes emotion in the player through its beautiful art and amazing
storyline though the gameplay is relatively simple and no matter what the player
does their surroundings and the story remains, for the most part, unaffected. The
second possible role is an actor-participant. The actor-participant does change
the game, they heavily interact with their surroundings and the artwork in the
game and can change it as well as the story. An example of this is in the hugely
popular Halo series where you can change and damage your surroundings as
well as other players. In the newer games you can also change the whole story of
the game depending on your actions and how well you do them. 1

1 Eight Ways Videogames Generate Emotion: 831-835, Jonathan Frome, University of

Georgia, 2007 Authors & Digital Games Research Association.

Image Survey:
Participants:
Number of people that completed the study: 20
The survey was posted up on social media (facebook and twitter) and remained
online over the time period of 3 days.
Two questions were asked per image given. The first was compulsory to answer
but the second wasn't since it was not expected for them to have a response.
The question was merely to encourage them to think of deeper meanings that it
could be associated with that image.

survey links:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DY8BYDK
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DY87J2W

Survey results:

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that

comes to mind when you see

Excitement(3), joy(2), calm, explosion, anger(3),

this image?

powerful, fear, death, surprise, wonder,

What other emotions would

you associate with this
image?

scared, stunned, passion, sad, happy, anger, joy,

raw power, irritation, excitement, an unknowing,
fear for loved ones,

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that

comes to mind when you see this
image?

Danger, Warning, Fear(2), Deadly, calming,

sadness, nuclear, mellow, darkness, despair,
frustration,

What other emotions would you

associate with this image?

Beauty, acceptance, hopeless, none, calm,

hurt, remorse, made me feel small

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that comes

to mind when you see this image?

cold, wet, ennui, lost, nervous, calm,

mysterious, sad, hidden, anxiety, alone,

What other emotions would you

associate with this image?

Dazzlement, sadness, none, sad, hidden,

worry, anxiety, disorientation,

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that

comes to mind when you see this

cold, wet, cozy, rest, sleepy, content, anger,

depression, loneliness, happy, sadness, calm,

image?

lonely

What other emotions would you

associate with this image?

tired, hope, peace, comfortable, fear, nice,

disappointment, sad

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that comes to

mind when you see this image?

thankful, agitated, joy, light, hope,

peaceful(2), contemplative,

What other emotions would you associate

with this image?

open, annoying, calm, none,

serenity(2)

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that comes to

mind when you see this image?

cold, calm(2), clouded, tension,

angry(2)

What other emotions would you

associate with this image?

hopeless, peaceful, content, anger,

uneasiness, despair, loneliness

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that comes to mind

when you see this image?

happy, nervous, calm(3), cold,

happy

What other emotions would you associate with

this image?

peace, none, sharp,

contentment, happyness

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that comes to mind

when you see this image?

confusing, none, sad, hazy, doubt,

sad, mixed emotions

What other emotions would you associate

with this image?

none, anxiety, lost

Question

Results

What is the first emotion that comes to

mind when you see this image?

shock, excitement, awe, connected,

frustration, angry(2), primal, cold

What other emotions would you

associate with this image?

Impressive, none, anger, sadness

Results:
The results were very surprising. The initial emotion that was listed was
expected. Being the first emotion that would come to mind it was usually the
most basic. ie rain: sadness. Whereas for the second question where we asked
them to look deeper. The words used surprised us because it went off on a
completely different tangent to the ones that were listed before even though it
was the same image. i.e comfortable.

In our proposal we identified the problem of how to label each mood. If we were
to, it would be with the basics. (happy, sad, etc) thus restricting the person's use
of words to describe how they feel. How we think about things tends to affect
what we call them, and what we call them tends to affect how we think of them
its actually impossible to choose a word or phrase that everyone who has
experienced it can fully relate to. This survey proves that by removing labels
and allowing them to set the weather settings as they see fit that is to their own
interpretation. It gives them the ability to show the complexity of their emotions.
By combining different weather patterns there is an infinite number of
interpretations. Rather than being limited to just the basic key words. (happy,
sad, angry, calm) these results support the concept of leaving the installation
labelless and open to the users to play with and think in their own time to what it
could all mean. Before they start to narrow it down to how they are feeling. This
survey has given us the knowledge that will be used towards developing what
kind of images and weather patterns that can be used to evoke different motions
from the user, in conjunction with sound and physical input.