Game Changers: Designing and Measuring Dynamic Feedback To Help Users Self-Regulate in a VR Pointing Game

The way games dynamically convey information through feedback is critical to players’ ability to perform, learn, and improve. However, it is poorly understood how performance metrics impact player performance and perception in core game tasks like pointing or steering. With a virtual reality pointing task we systematically explored how three performance metrics driving the feedback affected players when rewarding short completion times, straight movements, or high peak speed. across different points in time - continuously, at end-of-action, or at end-of-task. On average the dynamic feedback helped people point more straight and faster, while for others it had small or opposite effect. The study quantitatively compared dynamic feedback across three forms with the metrics driving the form as the intended locus of quantitative comparison. Our work improves game designers basis for crafting dynamic feedback by helping them know when to employ feedback schemes that align with desirable game performance objectives.