Select one game of your interest and explain why does it have a good/bad game UI
A game I play very regularly is Hearthstone, a digital card game published by Blizzard. The UI in this game is some of the best I have ever seen; it is fluid and satisfying, and makes interactions in the game feel like a joy. The entire UI is based around a box you play inside, with wooden panelling and layers that make up the buttons; the reason for this was to ensure players would not find the UI distracting or immersion breaking. The game is set up so everything you need to see is always in view, with everything positioned right where it should be; your cards and hero power are always right in front of you, with other things like card history and your deck positioned to the side as not to interrupt the flow of the game.
Senior UI designer Derek Sakamoto explained at GDC 2015 how “the game is UI”, stating how it is not a game with a huge amount of action or monsters running around, so it would make sense to invest heavily into the UI design. He also mentions that many game designers fail to see the importance of UI, and don’t give it enough thought when designing a game. He points out when making a game, these designers create their mechanics and just “slap” a UI onto it. By having dedicated UI designers, they have managed to make their game so much more accessible and fun to play.
Discuss how technology augments human abilities. Reflect upon the implications of the future of HCI.
Augmented humanity has become more and more prevalent over time, with new technology being developed every year. We are more connected with our cars, TVs and phones because of technology such as speech recognition, touch screens, heartbeat sensors and so on. This comes with an increasing reliance on technology, as there are increasingly more tasks that our devices can accomplish for us. For example, Google Glass allows you to take a photo by winking, and mobile phones can now be unlocked in multiple ways, through a fingerprint scanner or through face recognition.
As for the future, this trend suggests that technological interfaces will become more natural and instinctive, increasing the connection to be stronger and more emotional between human and computer. The future of augmented humanity certainly seems to show promise for video games, with VR giving the potential for increased immersion, especially with the addition of equipment that can simulate your arm and leg movements in game. Also with VR comes a an improvement for health, for example autism therapy; rather than looking at toys on a table, kids can see virtual environments that can be tailored to their specific needs through sensory complexity. It has been reported that so far VR has had a calming effect on children with autism. This means that therapy could be delivered at home through VR headsets, rather than having to take trips to the doctors.
https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Design_and_development_of_Hearthstone
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1022036/Hearthstone-How-to-Create-an
Nagubandi, A. (2016). The age of augmented humanity. Retrieved from The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-age-of-augmented-humanity/article14010133.ece
Park, M. (2017). 3 practical ways that VR is improving health care. Retrieved from Venturebeat: https://venturebeat.com/2017/12/04/3-practical-ways-that-vr-is-improving-healthcare/
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