Psychology

Gaming, HCI, Psychology, Serious Games, Simulations, Usability

Crossing the UI Rift with Oculus


1 Comment

Virtual reality opens the doors to a new era for user interface design. Oculus VR speaks to Develop about its opportunities Virtual reality doesn’t present user interface design with its first opportunity for transformation. The dawn of 3D long ago afforded games makers the prospect of moving beyond flat heads-up-displays and conventional menus. And when

Read More

Gaming, HCI, Usability

Kinect Gestural UI: First Impressions


1 Comment

Read the manual before using the interface. (Kinect Adventures) (Yes, it’s a *cute* manual, but these are still instructions to memorize.) Summary: Inconsistent gestures, invisible commands, overlooked warnings, awkward dialog confirmations. But fun to play. Kinect is a new video game system that is fully controlled by bodily movements. It’s vaguely similar to the Wii,

Read More

Gaming, HCI, Psychology, Simulations, Usability

Simplification: A Review of Civilization V


The latest release in the Civilization series has many improvements, from beautiful new graphics to redesigned gameplay. Many features in Civilization IV have been streamlined or eliminated, in favor of a simplified playing experience that will attract new players to the game. Having studied Civilization IV extensively (most of our publications are based upon research

Read More