A Study on the Use of Eye Tracking to Adapt Gameplay and Procedural Content Generation in First-Person Shooter Games

TL;DR

This study explores using eye tracking in FPS games to adapt gameplay and procedural content, enhancing immersion and challenge, while highlighting calibration issues affecting user experience.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to integrate eye tracking for dynamic game adaptation and content generation in FPS games, demonstrating its potential benefits.

Findings

Eye tracking enhances game immersion and challenge

Calibration issues impact player experience

Potential for improved gameplay with technological advancements

Abstract

This paper studies the use of eye tracking in a First-Person Shooter (FPS) game as a~mechanism to: (1) control the attention of the player's avatar according to the attention deployed by the player, and (2) guide the gameplay and game's procedural content generation, accordingly. This results in a more natural use of eye tracking in comparison to a use in which the eye tracker directly substitutes control input devices, such as gamepads. The study was conducted on a custom endless runner FPS, Zombie Runner, using an affordable eye tracker. Evaluation sessions showed that the proposed use of eye tracking provides a more challenging and immersive experience to the player, when compared to its absence. However, a strong correlation between eye tracker calibration problems and player's overall experience was found. This means that eye tracking technology still needs to evolve but also means that once technology gets mature enough players are expected to benefit greatly from the inclusion of eye tracking in their gaming experience.