Gameplay issues in the design of spatial 3D gestures for video games

We describe preliminary tests that form the first phase of research into issues involved with the design of spatial 3D gestures for video games. Early research on 3D gesture and spatial interaction was largely the domain of Virtual Reality (VR). More recent work looks at 3D gestures for mobile devices and pervasive computing. We are investigating issues affecting usability and fun in the context of 3D gestures and spatial movement in video games where emotion, immediacy and immersion are more important than breadth of functionality and user task efficiency. These tests use our 3motion™ system, a wireless inertial motion tracking device and gesture SDK. This enables a range of gesture types from tight, precise movements to whole arm gestures, and from direct mapping of movement to recognition of 3D symbolic gestures. Four game scenarios using different spatial gesture characteristics were used to identify gameplay issues that have an impact on the design of 3D interaction.