Assessing Visual Attention Methods in Video Games : A Comparative Study of Effectiveness and Colorblind Accessibility

Abstract: Background. Visual attention in video games is a relatively underdeveloped field, especially so when it comes to colorblind accessibility. According to recent research, there is an increased social demand for options to alleviate problems colorblind individuals experience in video games. Finding simple and effective ways to achieve visual attention, which work well for both colorblind individuals and non-colorblind individuals simultaneously, would therefore be beneficial to the video game industry. Objectives. The objectives of this thesis were to analyze the effectiveness of three already utilized methods for achieving visual attention in video games and how their effectiveness differs when seen from a trichromatic or dichromatic perspective. The selected methods are animation, color, and outline. These are commonly used in video games, not only for the sake of attention but also for design in general. By testing each method individually and combined with color it is possible to analyze their effectiveness and how it differs when seen from different color perspectives. Methods. In order to gather the data required, an eye-tracking experiment with a sample size of 20 participants was conducted. The experiment showed scenes consisting of either a control background or game-inspired background. The scenes contained two objects which had color, animation, outline, animation combined with color, or outline combined with color applied to them. This experiment was performed on campus, so the primary group tested were students. The eye-tracker analyzed the participant's eye movements and together with areas of interest, it provided two different metrics: time to first fixation and total fixation duration. Results. The results of the experiment show that animation was the best-performing method for achieving visual attention in a video game regardless of which colorblind perspective it was seen from, both in terms of time to first fixation and total fixation duration. Out of red, green, blue, and yellow which were the colors tested, yellow was the best-performing color in terms of average time to first fixations and total fixation duration across all colorblind perspectives. However, green was the most consistent color from all perspectives. Conclusions. The eye-tracking method used for gathering the data provided good results. Out of animation, color, and outline, animation was substantially better at achieving visual attention compared to the other two methods. A noticeable difference in attention can also be found depending on what chromatic perspective the scenes were viewed from. This thesis serves as a way to raise awareness about visual attention in video games, and examples of how the results can be utilized are provided. The experiment could be used as inspiration for future work within the field, where a larger sample size and more methods for achieving visual attention could be tested.