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Fighting Gamer Rage With an Arduino Based Biometrics Headset

Posted by Soulskill on from the video-games-are-serious-business dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Gamer rage is a common phenomenon among people who play online, a product of the intense frustration created by stressful in-game situations and an inability to cope. It can have significant impact on the gamer's ability to play well, and to get along with others. To combat this rage and train gamers to deal with the stress, visual designer Samuel Matson of Seattle has created the Immersion project, integrating a pulse sensor tied to a Tiny Arduino with Bluetooth into a headset to monitor the gamer's heart rate. The heart rate data is sent in real time to the gaming PC, where it is displayed in the game. Matson even created a simple FPS using the Unity game engine that varies the AI and gaming difficulty based on the user's heart rate. Using this system, the gamer is able to train themselves to recognize the stress and learn to control it, in order to make them a much more agreeable and competitive player."

29 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Why you play? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If I lose this game what do I lose in life? Nothing. If I win this game what do I win in life? Nothing. Smile when you win, laugh when you lose. It's a game, for entertainment purposes only.

    1. Re:Why you play? by infolation · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then how do you explain multiplayer tetris-rage?

      That's not 'entertainment purposes only'. Those little blocks are life or death.

    2. Re:Why you play? by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      It has nothing to do with the game. Dealing with people is the stressful part, take them out of the equation and it's either a game I enjoy or a game I don't. I've never met an MP experience I liked except when it's couch coop.

    3. Re:Why you play? by citizenr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Try EVE Online, when you lose in game you lose months of grind or thousands of dollars. Every important battle induces physiological fight or flight reaction.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    4. Re:Why you play? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If I lose this game what do I lose in life? Nothing. If I win this game what do I win in life? Nothing. Smile when you win, laugh when you lose. It's a game, for entertainment purposes only.

      Skateboarding used to be just for fun too. Then Tony Hawk showed up.

      He's now worth $120 million, and represents just one of dozens of professional skateboarders who are millionaires.

      A lot of things used to be done just for fun, until greed came along.

    5. Re:Why you play? by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I doubt you'd play at all with so little emotional investment.

    6. Re:Why you play? by Lamps · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A person's response to the gaming experience is not determined on a rational basis.

      If a game is stimulating enough, a person will experience physiological responses that some describe as reactions to stressors - this includes a central and peripheral nervous response mediated by catecholamines (dopamine, adrenaline/norepinephrine, noradrenaline/norepinephrine) (sympathetic nervous system-adrenal-medullary arousal), and possibly pituitary-adrenal-cortical arousal, which results in a release of ACTH, and thus, cortisol. Such responses may be associated with a number of physiological effects, and influence the body's use of energy. Maladaptive psychological states, such as that of increased hostility, are sometimes associated with these changes. Here is an article which offers a pretty good introduction on the topic.

      If you're prone to maladaptive responses to stressful situations, to some extent, this can be mitigated by training (hence, the biofeedback article). However, I'd be willing to guess that a lot of hardcore gamers (not all) who suffer the most severe stress effects may notice some hitches with the idea of trying to manage their stress response while gaming. Some will not be able to mitigate their stress response to a meaningful extent. Some will be able to mitigate their stress response, but it will hit eventually as they keep gaming (possibly manifesting itself pretty quickly and powerfully). Some will find that mitigating their stress response compromises or interferes with their gaming experience or their level of play, and will drop the idea altogether. Still, it's a worthwhile effort, because it has the potential to help some people.

    7. Re:Why you play? by war4peace · · Score: 1

      If I lose this game what do I lose in life? Time.

      FTFY.

      Sometimes you also lose money.
      Anyway, the issue at hand here is a wee bit more complex than just "it's a game". You get mad because your mouse is shit, or Windows updates decides to bug you about a restart when that boss you've been grinding on for half an hour is at 5% HP, or internet connection goes poof, or game crashes. In MMOs, you rage at horrible RNG or evidence of class imbalance, or in some cases it's simply lack of fairness from game mechanics.

      It's not really about losing a game; it's about losing a game due to specific causes and/or for the umpteenth time. The frustration level builds up, and most times the root cause is the game itself: the way it's designed or coded.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    8. Re:Why you play? by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Some people are more retarded than others. would you please be their leader?

      If you work on a novel which fails, you wasted time. If it's successful, you gain money and fame.
      The loss currency must be the same as win currency in your tiny head alone.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    9. Re:Why you play? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      I ragequit Eve after losing two tier 3 battleships to being ganked. They cost about $15 each, roughly what a single Plex (1-month subscription) sold for on the auction house.

      I'M FUCKING DONE, DONE DO YOU HEAR? FUKUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

      Where's that anti-rage headset? It should be named anti-gamer-and-posting-rage headset.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    10. Re:Why you play? by citizenr · · Score: 1

      I ragequit Eve after losing two tier 3 battleships to being ganked. They cost about $15 each

      Thats like dropping out of elementary school because a big mean bully too your lunch money :)

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    11. Re:Why you play? by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Exactly, at 50+ I still play FPS, I wouldn't do it if it didn't occasionally get my heart pumping. Most people who lose the plot are "kids" (people under 25).

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  2. Gamer rage? by Jmc23 · · Score: 2

    Rage is side-effect of having no control of your emotions. Perhaps this would be more useful outside of gaming? I'm not to afraid of some 97 pound weakling stuck in their parent's basement thousands of miles away who can barely lift their controller. Little more concerned about the 300lb redneck stuck in traffic with his truck pushing my bumper.

    --
    Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
    1. Re:Gamer rage? by pooh666 · · Score: 1

      These were my exact thoughts also. I love games, but it scares the hell out of me that people seem to be loosing more and more of a connection with real life... And to make something like this a prioraty? How about just banning the fuckers for good and moving on to something that is big and metal(at least some these days) and can kill people for real.

    2. Re:Gamer rage? by hercludes · · Score: 1

      I'm was about to start raging right there.

      That's good to know that you am was about to.

  3. maybe they should visit the real world by lophophore · · Score: 1

    Maybe these poor souls should step away from the game for a while and enjoy interacting with living people.

    --
    there are 3 kinds of people:
    * those who can count
    * those who can't
    1. Re:maybe they should visit the real world by Ardyvee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You'd be surprised how many have "gamer rage" in sports. It isn't just for video games. It is simply them not managing their emotions (or deciding to let them run free).

      --
      I don't care if I'm wrong. I only care about everyone obtaining something from the discussion.
    2. Re:maybe they should visit the real world by reikae · · Score: 1

      Exactly, why rage in a game when you could instead go out to a bar and start an actual fight, with real damage to living people.

  4. Now let other players see it by bbartlog · · Score: 2

    That would really add to the game! Especially for griefers ... 'whoah did you see that, his pulse hit 140 just before he ragequit! Psych! Now let's find someone else to spawn camp...' In all seriousness I think you could have an elevated pulse, blood pressure or whatever and still be enjoying the game. Trying to maintain perfect calm sort of defeats the purpose.

  5. Just what those in gamer rage need... by Nova+Express · · Score: 2

    ...another small electronic device to hurl across the room and smash into little bits!

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

  6. Re:how about for road rage by mhajicek · · Score: 1

    Making a stressful merge even more difficult and dangerous.

  7. Control it by stop playing by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    Using this system, the gamer is able to train themselves to recognize the stress and learn to control it, in order to make them a much more agreeable and competitive player.

    If it gets to the point where you need to build a device to tell you when you're getting gamerage - and if the primary reason for wanting to control your gamerage is because you want to stop it making you suck at the game - you should probably try just gaming less.

    I used to get gamerage from Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, the only FPS I ever really got into. If it started angrying me up, I just turned it off for the day.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Control it by stop playing by Renozuken · · Score: 1

      Yeah but they're also learning to control their anger, which is the more important part here.

  8. Re:Generally speaking by PPH · · Score: 1

    But if they must be told, better that the message come from a cheap single board computer than another person.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  9. Deal with stress? by PPH · · Score: 1

    Go outside. Get some exercise.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  10. Raging is mostly in multiplayer by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

    I've never raged playing a single player game. On the other hand raging in multiplayer FPS is very common.

    My worst raging experience was in a multiplayer air combat game called Air Warrior. My joystick was mounted on the desk with screws initially, but I I ripped it out in a fit of rage when I kept getting shot down by laggy headon noobs. Next I epoxied the joystick onto the desk, but that too got ripped out while raging.

    Finally I drilled holes in the desk and mounted the joystick using steel wire threaded through the holes and looped around the base of the joystick. This turned out to be the most rage-resistant setup, since ripping out the joystick didn't break any hard parts.

  11. GRRRR! by KingTank · · Score: 1

    GRRRR! It's not caused by my inability to cope! It's caused by my laggy connection, n00b! GRRR!

  12. Lag makes me ragequit by Snotnose · · Score: 1

    MW3 is a joke on a PS3, I'm typically 150-250ms behind the action. Oddly enough, I just put the disc in today for the first time in months. 3 games. 3 different cheaters with a mod that makes them invisible. Methinks it will be several more months before I try the game, IW doesn't seem to care.

  13. Re:Nice Try... by lxs · · Score: 1

    There is no real difference except for a difference of interpretation. Rage is excitement.