Controller Required? - MIT Press Journals

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San Francisco, CA. Controller ... relates to the real-life activity the game simulates). The results ... real world, takes up the primary position in conscious- ness.
Daniel M. Shafer* Corey P. Carbonara Baylor University Department of Communication Waco, TX 76798 Lucy Popova University of California at San Francisco San Francisco, CA

Controller Required? The Impact of Natural Mapping on Interactivity, Realism, Presence, and Enjoyment in Motion-Based Video Games

Abstract In three experiments with U.S. undergraduates, effects of three levels of naturally mapped control interfaces were compared on a player’s sense of presence, interactivity, realism, and enjoyment in video games. The three levels of naturally mapped control interfaces were: kinesic natural mapping (using the player’s body as a game controller), incomplete tangible mapping (using a controller in a way similar to a real object), and realistic tangible mapping (using a controller or an object that directly relates to the real-life activity the game simulates). The results show that levels of interactivity, realism, spatial presence, and enjoyment were consistent across all conditions. However, when performing activities such as table tennis or lightsaber dueling with objects in-hand (incomplete tangible or realistic tangible conditions), perceived reality was a more important predictor of spatial presence. When performing the same activities with empty hands, interactivity emerged as the more important direct predictor of spatial presence. Control interface, therefore, matters greatly to the route by which cognitive processing of games takes place and how enjoyment is produced.

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Presence, Vol. 23, No. 3, Summer 2014, 267–286

Introduction

Over the past four to five years, academic study of controller naturalness and motion-based video games has become increasingly rich. Grounded in and expanding upon traditional entertainment theories, studies in this vein offer increasingly detailed explanations of the processes behind enjoyment of games played with the newest gaming technology. The present study seeks to add to the scholarly conversation on the impact of naturally mapped controllers on players’ perceptions of interactivity, reality, spatial presence, and, above all, enjoyment. This study grows from the psychological theory of play, which Vorderer (2001) first applied to the experience of entertaining media. It also builds upon previous empirical work that utilized early motion control devices (e.g., Wii) investigating the impact of natural controller mapping on perceived interactivity, perceived reality, spatial presence, and enjoyment in the context of the latest motion-based control systems, such

doi:10.1162/PRES_a_00193 ª 2014 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

*Correspondence to [email protected].

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as the Move for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and the Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360. 2

Theoretical Background and Literature Review

Playing video games has been shown to be an entertaining and enjoyable activity according to much academic research and documented success of the video game industry. Part of the success of video games as an entertainment medium can no doubt be attributed to the fact that they create alternate realities for their users to explore (Vorderer, 2001; Klimmt & Vorderer, 2003). Klimmt and Vorderer relate the outcomes experienced by users to the psychological theory of play, which explains many of the criteria needed for the production of enjoyment via video games. First, play is interactive; the player is in control and has power to influence the outcome of the game and the virtual environment (Grodal, 2000; Klimmt, Hartmann, & Frey, 2007). Furthermore, through action, the player is impacting an alternate reality. To the extent that the player feels effective in this activity (i.e., how interactive the game is perceived to be), the more realistic the alternate reality—or, in the present study’s case, the virtual world—will seem. In addition to the relationship between perceived interactivity and perceived reality, Vorderer’s application of the psychological theory of play points out another crucial relationship. The more interactive a player perceives the game, the more likely the player is to become deeply immersed in the game world because he or she wants the experience to continue (Klimmt & Vorderer, 2003). This process leads to a greater sense of presence. Presence, or more specifically spatial presence, is the sense of being located within a virtual world (Wirth et al., 2007). The player’s sense of self is enveloped by the game world such that it, not the real world, takes up the primary position in consciousness. This process results in the game world becoming what Wirth and colleagues call the Primary Egocentric Reference Frame (PERF; Wirth et al.). Video games, because of their interactive nature, are especially effective at creating or promoting a sense of spatial presence, despite the lack of full-body tactile feedback (as noted in

several studies, e.g., Klimmt & Vorderer; Steuer, 1992; Wirth et al.). By extending the arguments of Vorderer’s application of the psychological theory of play, it becomes clear that perceptions of realism (i.e., perceived reality) also impact players’ feelings of spatial presence. Busselle and Bilandzic (2008) explain the concepts of internal and external realism. Internal realism is the idea that the fictional world has a consistent narrative structure that is not in violation of its own laws. External realism simply means that the fictional world has a degree of similarity to and consistency with the real world; so that when obviously unrealistic elements are introduced, they can be accepted without dislodging the viewer from the experience. With enough internally and externally realistic elements, it is not necessary for the viewer (or, in the case of the present study, the player) to make active judgments about perceived reality (Busselle & Bilandzic). Therefore, if there are enough realistic elements in the game, and interaction on the part of players is believable and effective, players can become immersed more fully into the virtual world, fostering a sense of involvement (see McMahan, 2003). In addition to arguing that interactive media enhance spatial presence and perceptions of realism, Klimmt and Vorderer (2003) suggest that spatial presence impacts enjoyment of the mediated experience. The authors note that past theoretical work has argued, and empirical studies have demonstrated, that affective reactions such as delight, joy, and fascination are ‘‘closely connected to, or even identical with the experience of presence’’ (Klimmt & Vorderer, p. 356). Therefore, theory suggests spatial presence should positively impact enjoyment. All of the theoretical arguments offered here have been confirmed in several empirical studies (Klimmt et al., 2007; Shafer, Carbonara, & Popova, 2011; Skalski, Tamborini, Shelton, Buncher, & Lindmark, 2011; Wirth et al., 2007). Other theoretical perspectives that lend insight to the processes surrounding experiential reactions to video games are the mental models approach (Brewer, 1987) and the common coding framework (Chandrasekharan, Mazalek, Nitsche, Chen, & Ranjan, 2010).

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2.1 Mental Models and Common Coding The mental models approach provides insight as to how individuals process and interpret the information they receive from video games. Mental models or schemas are constructed cognitive representations of real or mediated people, objects, events, situations, and so on. When judging the reality of a media message or a video game, people compare the object or the experience to a preexisting mental model for the object or experience, that is, to their expectations of what this object or experience should be. The closer the match between the expectations (mental model) and the object or experience, the greater the perceived reality. Along similar lines, cognitive psychologists (Chandrasekharan, Mazalek, Nitsche, Chen, & Ranjan, 2010) have argued that common coding exists between an action and a cognitive representation of an action. The concept of common coding is linked to the ‘‘ideomotor principle’’ (James, 1890; Chandrasekharan et al.). The ideomotor principle is described by James (1890): ‘‘Every representation of a movement awakens in some degree the actual movement which is its object. . .’’ (p. 526). Essentially, what James is arguing is that watching or imagining a movement triggers the same responses in the brain as if the movement were actually being performed. The ideomotor principle serves as a model of cognition that explains how perception, execution, and imagination of movements are all interpreted by the brain in relatively the same way. Because of this, doing an activity, watching an activity, and imagining an activity share a common coding pattern in the brain. Simply imagining a movement implicitly activates a person’s motor functions, guiding how we perceive and imagine other movements—even those of an avatar in a video game. Therefore, the ideomotor principle can be explained by a common coding in the brain that connects a person’s movement, observation of movements as perceptual thoughts, and imagining movements themselves, as an implicit function of both motor and perceptual representations (Chandrasekharan et al., 2010). Upon observing an action, the human brain behaves as if the action were being replicated in the body, readying the actor

physiologically to perform the action. Essentially, the mind simulates the observed action. When this happens, overt execution is inhibited until the appropriate time for action is apparent (Chandrasekharan et al.). Central to the argument for common coding is the notion that people are considered to be action-based systems. Both sensory and cognitive systems occupy a common coding neural network. This network encodes both action and perception; either can automatically activate the other in an associative priming state where the activation of one element (e.g., observation) triggers the other two elements (e.g., imagination, action; Chandrasekharan et al., 2010). The synergy between elements is disrupted when one is observing a noncongruent action (Chandrasekharan et al.). In terms of video games, difficulty would arise when on-screen actions do not closely match the actions the player is expected to take (e.g., pressing a key on a keyboard to turn a steering wheel in a driving game). Therefore, motion-based control systems, or Natural User Interfaces (NUIs), as argued below, should offer greater synergy thanks to common coding than standard control systems. Furthermore, common coding arguments suggest that the more natural or representative of reality the NUI is, the more interactive and the more like reality participants should find it. McGloin, Farrar, and Krcmar (2011) argued that more interactive motion capturing controllers with NUIs allow the player to call upon the well-developed real-world schemas (or common codes). For many video games, such as sports or driving, players already have highly developed schemas and it is easier to interact with the virtual environment using existing real-world schemas. For example, in sports video games, by using NUIs, players can use the same physical movements they use in the real world. If the natural controllers allow for a closer match to these schemas, people will feel that this experience (playing a video game with a natural controller) is more real than playing a video game with a traditional button and joystick controller. Thus, more interactive NUIs result in higher perceived reality. The theoretical explanation of the link between interactivity and perceived reality based on mental models can also be applied to the link between interactivity and spa-

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Figure 1. Hypothesized model.

tial presence (see Skalski et al., 2011). Greater potential for interactivity, that is, fewer barriers between the player and the virtual world, leads to greater spatial presence. An object (controller) in the hands feels less natural and is harder to ignore than empty hands. However, this is not the case when mental models demand an object in the hands, such as when a person wields a sword or uses a paddle to strike a ball. In this case, a greater perception of nonmediation and perceived reality would be achieved with an object instead of empty hands. However, in comparison between empty hands or wand devices (NUIs) and button-and-joystick style controllers, more interactive natural-mapping controllers present fewer barriers to the feeling of being there than traditional controllers. The relationships described above are graphically presented in the hypothesized model (Figure 1) and supported by the empirical evidence described in the next section.

2.2 Recent Empirical Findings Within a burgeoning field of video game research, many factors have been named as determinants of video game enjoyment, such as competition (Vorderer, Hartmann, & Klimmt, 2003), effectance and control (Klimmt et al., 2007), transportation into the narrative world (Green, Brock, & Kaufman, 2004), and identification with the player character (Hefner, Klimmt, & Vorderer, 2007), among others. For all of these factors, interactivity is either a precursor or an integral part; for example, a player cannot compete or control the game without interactivity afforded by technology, and interactivity has been shown to be a strong predictor of transportation and identification, to the point where players’

identities merge with those of the characters. All this allows a researcher to argue that interactivity is an explaining factor in what makes video games entertaining. In the case of video games, interactivity affects players’ perceptions and resultant states (such as presence or transportation), which are inherently enjoyable for the player. Thus, players’ perceptions mediate the relationship between interactivity and enjoyment. As already hypothesized, differences should be evident between differently mapped controller types; however, player perception of interactivity is the measurable variable we wish to investigate. Many researchers place interactivity in relation to the users’ perspective (e.g., Heeter, 2000; Downes & McMillian, 2000; Vorderer, 2000; Chen & Raney, 2009). In that context, interactivity can impact a number of player perceptions. For example, almost all the user prerequisites for enjoyment listed in Vorderer, Klimmt, and Ritterfeld (2004)—suspension of disbelief, emotional connection with character, interaction with characters, and users’ sense of being there—can be affected by interactivity. However, most of these, as well as many of the determinants of entertainment listed above, can be described as part of one of the two concepts central to video game experience—presence and perceived reality. Presence has been defined as the perception of virtual objects and environments ‘‘as actual objects in either sensory or non-sensory ways’’ (Lee, 2004, p. 44). Presence is a multidimensional construct (Tamborini & Skalski, 2006), composed of dimensions of social presence, spatial presence, and self-presence. In our research, we focus on spatial presence, defined as the sense of being there, the sense of physical immersion in the virtual environment. Perceived reality (sometimes referred as ‘‘perceived realism’’) is the perception of the degree of correspondence between the media representation and the realworld content (Hall, 2003). Like presence, perceived reality is also a multidimensional construct, composed of dimensions of magic window, typicality, identity, utility, perceptual fidelity, and virtual experience (see Popova, 2010; Shafer et al., 2011). Magic window, as the belief in the literal reality of the media content, is a dimension

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peripheral to video game research because, presumably, most players have a firm belief that the game does not provide a ‘‘magic window’’ into a real world in the way news does, for example. The rest of the dimensions of perceived reality are highly relevant to video game experience. Typicality is the perceived match between gaming experience or specific content details and characters and players’ mental models for such experience or content. Identity is the feeling of closeness to the characters in the game. Utility refers to how applicable information and skills learned in a video game are to real life. Perceptual fidelity is sensory realism, that is, how real the visual, audio, and tactile stimuli feel. Finally, virtual experience is the perception of interaction and sense of control in the game world. Recent study findings demonstrate differential roles of various dimensions in video game research (Shafer et al.). 2.2.1 Interactivity and Perceived Reality. Experimental studies that compared various levels of interactivity in the form of different controllers using samples of casual players found a causal link between interactivity and perceived reality (McGloin et al., 2011; Shafer et al., 2011; Krcmar, Farrar, & McGloin, 2011; Jeong, Bohil, & Biocca, 2011). Other studies found that interactivity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and virtual reality systems was positively related to perceived reality (Laird & van Lent, 2001; Drettakis, Roussou, Reche, & Tsingos, 2007). Therefore, we expect that perceived interactivity should generally have a positive impact upon perceptions of realism (perceived reality). 2.2.2 Interactivity and Spatial Presence. Several studies have found that greater interactivity leads to greater spatial presence. McGloin and colleagues (2011) manipulated interactivity in the form of controller type much as the present study intends to do. They found that more naturally mapped controllers (i.e., those with more interactivity potential; see Vorderer, 2000) induced a greater sense of presence. Persky and Blaskovich (2008) demonstrated that playing on a more interactive system (an Immersive Virtual Environment Technology System, IVET) resulted in higher lev-

els of presence. Shafer and colleagues (2011) demonstrated a significant positive relationship between interactivity and spatial presence in two experimental studies. It is expected, then, that perceived interactivity should have a general positive impact on spatial presence. 2.2.3 Perceived Reality and Spatial Presence. In the model of narrative comprehension and engagement, Busselle and Bilandzic (2008) argue that high perceived reality enables viewers or players to ‘‘shift the center of their experience from the actual world into the fictional world’’ and experience the world of the game ‘‘from the inside’’ (p. 272). Thus, higher perceived reality of video games, defined as a close match between the game content and players’ expectations, leads to a greater sense of being there. Empirical evidence demonstrates the effects of various dimensions of perceived reality on spatial presence. The perceptual fidelity dimension (high-definition images and quality sound) has been shown to induce greater presence (Bracken & Skalski, 2009; Ivory & Kalyanaraman, 2007; Skalski & Whitbred, 2010; Jeong et al., 2011). Shafer et al. (2011) found that perceived reality was a strong predictor of spatial presence and the dimensions of utility, perceptual fidelity, and identity were the significant predictors of spatial presence. Given this evidence, it is likely that perceived reality will generally have a positive effect on spatial presence. 2.2.4 Spatial Presence and Enjoyment. One can argue that spatial presence, unlike perceived reality, which is not inherently pleasurable, is an essentially enjoyable state in and of itself (Green et al., 2004). Thriving movie, book, television, and video game industries—all of which provide customers an opportunity to escape to alternative worlds—are a testimony to that. Video game players routinely maximize presence by removing distracting obstacles in their environments and updating gaming hardware components (Nunez & Blake, 2006). Experimental studies have shown that male players report higher enjoyment when using software with spatial presence cues (Horvath & Lombard, 2010). McGloin and colleagues (2011) found that play-

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ers of tennis games who experienced higher levels of spatial presence also reported higher enjoyment. Shafer and colleagues (2011) found that spatial presence could explain nearly 50% of the variance in enjoyment both in a study that compared traditional controllers to more naturally mapped motion controllers, and in a second study that compared the three motion-based control systems (Wii, Move, and Kinect) to one another. It is expected, then, that spatial presence will significantly predict enjoyment in all studies, regardless of controller type.

2.3 Varying Effects of Naturally Mapped Control Interfaces Several studies have demonstrated a link between control or interface method (e.g., natural mapping) and enjoyment. A study using a Madden NFL game from 2007–2008 found that PlayStation 2 players reported more control and enjoyment than Wii players, despite predicting the opposite relationship (Limperos, Schmierbach, Kegerise, & Dardis, 2011). Part of the explanation for this unexpected finding was that the Wii was perhaps too new, and players were unaccustomed to the control scheme it offered; whereas the traditional PS2 controls, while not intuitively or naturally mapped, were more familiar to players and therefore more enjoyable. The approach scholars have taken since that study, however, has been to test more modern motion control devices that offer more points of interaction (i.e., Kinect) or more precise control (i.e., Move; Shafer et al., 2011); or to use stimulus material that more closely simulates an activity for which there is one definite activity that can be naturally mapped to a control device such as swinging a club or racket, or driving (McGloin et al., 2011; Shafer et al., 2011; Skalski et al., 2011). Skalski and colleagues demonstrated that controller naturalness does have positive impact on both spatial presence and enjoyment of the game. Shafer and colleagues (2011) reported similar findings. In two experiments they had college undergraduates play golf, driving, or fighting video games with traditional controllers (PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360), the Nintendo Wii, the PlayStation Move, or the Xbox 360

with Kinect. They found that higher technological interactivity (more points of interaction with the player) was related to greater perceived reality, spatial presence, and enjoyment of video games. Perceived reality predicted spatial presence, which, in turn, positively predicted video game enjoyment (Shafer et al.). In that study, the Kinect system induced higher spatial presence, perceived reality, and enjoyment than Wii or Move, indicating that the full body scanning technology and the absence of a controller was more immersive and fun for players, and, ostensibly, felt more natural. However, controller naturalness or perceived controller naturalness were not explicitly measured. There are, conceivably, some activities for which holding a controller or some other object while playing could be perceived as more natural than playing emptyhanded. For instance, in the sport of table tennis, reallife players hold paddles in their hands, and swing them at the ball. While playing both the Wii and Move versions of table tennis, players hold a controller. Holding the controller is reminiscent of holding the grip of a table tennis paddle. This notion is reinforced by the image of an avatar on screen holding a paddle, and responding as the player swings the controller. This form of mapping, when a player holds a controller and uses or moves it in a way that is similar to real life, is known as incomplete tangible mapping (Skalski et al., 2011). Systems such as the Wii and Sony’s Move employ this mapping approach. Systems like Kinect, however, employ what is known as kinesic natural mapping (Skalski et al.), using the player’s body as a controller, without holding anything. Skalski and colleagues posit that kinesic natural mapping is less natural than incomplete tangible mapping. Higher in the naturalness hierarchy is realistic tangible natural mapping, which incorporates a control device or object that directly relates to the real-life activity the game simulates. Examples would be using a steering wheel controller for a racing game, or using a gun-shaped controller for a shooter game. The present article, in three studies, will test the three levels of natural mapping in order to investigate possible differences between them on the experience-related variables of perceived interactivity, perceived reality, spatial

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presence, and enjoyment. Based on the evidence given so far, it is predicted that: H1: Each model will follow a predictable pattern of effects such that perceived interactivity will have a positive impact on both perceived reality and spatial presence; perceived reality will have a positive impact on spatial presence, and spatial presence will have a positive impact on enjoyment. These expected relationships are shown in the hypothesized model (see Figure 1). According to the natural mapping typology defined by Skalski and colleagues (2011), there should be significant differences in perception of the game between players who use various levels of natural mapping. For instance, the incomplete tangible mapping condition should be the least natural, and should therefore feel generally less interactive and perhaps less realistic. However, it can certainly be argued that for some games, holding an object such as a controller that resembles the object used in the real-life playing of that game may be more interactive and more realistic than playing with empty hands. Therefore, it is predicted that: H2: Players will generally judge the most natural form of playing a game highest according to whether the game is played with or without an object in real life. H2a: In study 1, which utilizes boxing games, players will judge the kinesic condition generally higher in interactivity, realism, presence, and enjoyment as opposed to the incomplete tangible condition. H2b: In study 2, which utilizes a lightsaber fighting simulation from Kinect Star Wars, players will judge the realistic tangible condition generally higher in interactivity, realism, presence, and enjoyment as opposed to the kinesic condition. H2c: In study 3, which utilizes table tennis games, players will judge the realistic tangible condition generally highest, the incomplete tangible condition in the midrange, and the kinesic condition least in interactivity, realism, spatial presence, and enjoyment. Also, in keeping with the notion that players will react differently based on the naturalness condition in which

they play, it is likely that there will be differences not only in the magnitude of the variables themselves, but also in the strength of the links between the variables. To explore that possibility, the following prediction is made: H3: There will be significant differences between models of kinesic, incomplete tangible, and realistic tangible mapping conditions in the relationships between perceived interactivity, perceived reality, spatial presence, and enjoyment.

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Study 1 Method 3.1 Participants

Data were collected from 46 student participants recruited from film, speech, and communication courses at a midsized research university in the southern-central United States. Students were offered extra credit for participation, along with other equally valuable extra credit activities. The average age in the sample was 21 years (SD ¼ 2.14 years). Women (n ¼ 25, 54%) slightly outnumbered men (n ¼ 21, 46%).

3.2 Stimulus Materials Two games were used as stimulus material. The games were matched as closely as possible on the key components that were salient to the present study. Players were randomly assigned to play either Fighters Uncaged for Kinect (kinesic condition, n ¼ 23), or The Fight: Lights Out for the Move (incomplete tangible condition, n ¼ 23). Fighters Uncaged is a third-person street-fighting game for Kinect that requires the use of punches, kicks, dodges, and blocks to defeat an opponent. Matches are single-player fights against a computer-controlled opponent that scale in difficulty. The Fight: Lights Out is a third-person street-fighting game for the Move system. Since movement is interpreted by tracking the two Move controllers, only punches and blocks are recognized, as opposed to kicks and dodging that can also be done with the Kinect.

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Matches are single player fights against computer-controlled opponents that scale in difficulty.

Table 1. Cronbach’s a Studies 1, 2, and 3

3.3 Experimental Procedure Players stood approximately 6 ft from the game/ computer station to play, and were seated at the computer station to complete the questionnaire administered online via surveymonkey.com. Players first answered the demographic portion of the questionnaire, then played the randomly assigned game for 15 min. Gameplay periods were timed by a research assistant who received 3 hr of training on the experimental procedure and details of the gameplay. Participants then completed the game experience portion of the questionnaire, which included questions of spatial presence, perceived interactivity, perceived reality, and enjoyment. Each session lasted a total of 30–40 min. 3.4 Measures Perceived interactivity was measured using an eight-item scale adapted from a measure used by Wu (2006, 2005) that was originally intended to measure perceived interactivity of websites (e.g., ‘‘I was in total control over the pace of my visit to this website’’). Because of the present study’s focus on video games, some modifications were necessary (e.g., ‘‘I was in total control over the pace of my experience with this game’’). The items were measured on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Perceived reality was measured using Popova’s (2010) perceived reality measure for video games. Six dimensions of perceived reality are measured with the 29-item scale: magic window (a ¼ .76), typicality (a ¼ .67), identity (a ¼ .76), utility (a ¼ .77), perceptual fidelity (a ¼ .74), and virtual experience (a ¼ .71). Due to the necessity to limit the number of parameters estimated in the path model, the subscales were combined to yield a single aggregate measure of perceived reality. The items were measured on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Spatial presence was measured using the spatial presence subscale of the ITC-Sense of Presence Inventory (ITC-SOPI: Lessiter, Freeman, Keogh, & Davidoff,

Scale

Study 1a

Study 2a

Study 3a

Perceived interactivity Perceived reality Spatial presence Enjoyment

.84 .87 .94 .95

.81 .87 .94 .91

.77 .88 .93 .91

2001). It was intended as a cross-media measure of spatial presence experiences. The subscale includes 19 items, such as ‘‘I felt I was visiting the places in the video game environment.’’ Each item was answered on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The scale has been shown to be reliable and valid (Lessiter et al., 2001; Shafer et al., 2011). Enjoyment was assessed using 12 items taken from previous studies (Raney & Bryant, 2002; Raney, 2002) and modified to apply to video game enjoyment as in past research (e.g., Shafer, 2012). Some sample items are: ‘‘The game made me feel good’’ and ‘‘I enjoyed the game.’’ Each item was rated on an 11-point scale, ranging from 0 (not at all) to 10 (extremely). Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for each scale in each study are shown in Table 1. 4

Study 1 Results 4.1 Analysis of Variance Between Conditions

The first set of analyses investigated possible differences in the variables of interest between the kinesic and incomplete tangible conditions. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, and the results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between conditions on any of the variables tested. Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics and the results of the ANOVA. These results indicate that more natural mapping (i.e., kinesic natural mapping) did not result in higher levels of perceived interactivity, perceived reality, spatial presence, or enjoyment for these boxing games, although the difference for enjoyment did approach significance. However, differences are still possible in the patterns of

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Table 2. Study 1 Descriptive Statistics and ANOVA Results Variable

Condition

M (SD)

d

F(1, 44)

p value

Perceived interactivity

Kinesic Incomplete tangible Kinesic Incomplete tangible Kinesic Incomplete tangible Kinesic Incomplete tangible

2.82 (0.77) 2.70 (0.69) 2.51 (0.46) 2.60 (0.53) 2.63 (0.74) 2.97 (0.87) 4.65 (2.34) 5.87 (2.34)

.16

0.31

.581

.18

0.44

.508

.42

2.05

.159

.52

3.09

.086

Perceived reality Spatial presence Enjoyment

Table 3. Fit Indices for Each Condition Model Study 1 Model

APC

pAPC

ARS

pARS

AVIF

Fit

Incomplete tangible Kinesic

0.616 0.579