Browsing by Author "Nacke, Lennart E."

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Born to Run, Programmed to Play: Mapping the Extended Reality Exergames Landscape
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2024-05-11) Karaosmanoglu, Sukran; Cmentowski, Sebastian; Nacke, Lennart E.; Steinicke, Frank
Many people struggle to exercise regularly, raising the risk of serious health-related issues. Extended reality (XR) exergames address these hurdles by combining physical exercises with enjoyable, immersive gameplay. While a growing body of research explores XR exergames, no previous review has structured this rapidly expanding research landscape. We conducted a scoping review of the current state of XR exergame research to (i) provide a structured overview, (ii) highlight trends, and (iii) uncover knowledge gaps. After identifying 1318 papers in human-computer interaction and medical databases, we ultimately included 186 papers in our analysis. We provide a quantitative and qualitative summary of XR exergame research, showing current trends and potential future considerations. Finally, we provide a taxonomy of XR exergames to help future design and methodological investigation and reporting.
Designing Biofeedback Board Games: The Impact of Heart Rate on Player Experience
(Association for Computing Machinery New York, NY, United States, 2025-04-25) Tu, Joseph; Kukshinov, Eugene; Mogavi, Reza Hadi; Wang, Derrick M.; Nacke, Lennart E.
Biofeedback provides a unique opportunity to intensify tabletop gameplay. It permits new play styles through digital integration while keeping the tactile appeal of physical components. However, integrating biofeedback systems, like heart rate (HR), into game design needs to be better understood in the literature and still needs to be explored in practice. To bridge this gap, we employed a Research through Design (RtD) approach. This included (1) gathering insights from enthusiast board game designers (n = 10), (2) conducting two participatory design workshops (n = 20), (3) prototyping game mechanics with experts (n = 5), and (4) developing the game prototype artifact One Pulse: Treasure Hunter’s. We identify practical design implementation for incorporating biofeedback, particularly related to heart rate, into tabletop games. Thus, we contribute to the field by presenting design trade-offs for incorporating HR into board games, offering valuable insights for HCI researchers and game designers.
Mitigating Privacy Harms from Deceptive Design in Virtual Reality
(University of Waterloo, 2025-03-15) Hadan, Hilda; Zhang-Kennedy, Leah; Nacke, Lennart E.
This report was prepared as a final project report in response to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada Contributions Program 2024-25. This research investigates deceptive design in Virtual Reality (VR) environments and its impact on user privacy. The research team at the University of Waterloo conducted an autoethnographic evaluation of 12 top-rated VR applications to analyze deceptive design patterns in their privacy communication and interaction mechanisms. The findings reveal 14 distinct deceptive design patterns and demonstrate how deceptive tactics in traditional web and mobile environments are being adapted to immersive environments. While many of these patterns still heavily rely on 2D interfaces elements, VR’s spatial, immersive, and multi-sensory features amplify their impact and increased the privacy risks for users. The VR applications’ convoluted privacy policies and consent mechanisms further hinder user comprehension on the data practices. Through the evaluation, the team also identified 7 exemplary privacy-enhancing design strategies, which can serve as a foundation for improved implementation of privacy mechanisms in VR environments. To assess user perceptions of these deceptive design patterns, the team surveyed 424 users of the selected VR applications. The findings indicate that while users felt the manipulative influences and expressed discomfort, they often resign themselves to accepting privacyinvasive options and viewing such design as “typical” or “inevitable” across both VR and nonVR platforms. Their repetitive exposure to such design in mobile and web environments fostered a false sense of normalcy, and eroded user resistance to manipulation. This research provides valuable insights for VR developers, designers, policymakers, and researchers on creating privacy-preserving VR experiences and developing clearer, more ethical privacy policies in this rapidly evolving field.
Never Skip Leg Day Again: Training the Lower Body with Vertical Jumps in a Virtual Reality Exergame
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2023-04-23) Cmentowski, Sebastian; Karaosmanoglu, Sukran; Nacke, Lennart E.; Steinicke, Frank; Krüger, Jens
Virtual Reality (VR) exergames can increase engagement in and motivation for physical activities. Most VR exergames focus on the upper body because many VR setups only track the users’ heads and hands. To become a serious alternative to existing exercise programs, VR exergames must provide a balanced workout and train the lower limbs, too. To address this issue, we built a VR exergame focused on vertical jump training to explore full-body exercise applications. To create a safe and effective training, nine domain experts participated in our prototype design. Our mixed-methods study confirms that the jump-centered exercises provided a worthy challenge and positive player experience, indicating long-term retention. Based on our findings, we present five design implications to guide future work: avoid an unintended forward drift, consider technical constraints, address safety concerns in full-body VR exergames, incorporate rhythmic elements with fluent movement patterns, adapt difficulty to players’ fitness progression status.
Support Autonomy: Exploring Player Perspectives on AI-Supported Onboarding in Video Games
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2025-04-25) Choong, Lydia; Cmentowski, Sebastian; Kukshinov, Eugene; Tu, Joseph; Nacke, Lennart E.
Video game onboarding faces the challenge of teaching game mechanics in a fun and engaging way. Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions have become a quick fix to help users understand technology. However, little is known about how AI supports player onboarding in video games. To address this knowledge gap, this research explores player perspectives on AI-supported onboarding. We conducted a qualitative user study (n = 20) to investigate player expectations, attitudes, and concerns about AI-supported learning experiences. Players learn primarily through the lived experience of a game and value personalized guidance during onboarding. Participants emphasized the importance of maintaining control over how AI is used during onboarding and the freedom to choose their support level. Our results suggest that players want future AI-supported onboarding systems to prioritize their agency, encourage active learning, and maintain transparency throughout the learning process. We contribute to game design research by proposing balanced, player-centric AI-supported onboarding experiences in video games.