UI – HCI

Example of a good UI in a game would be Final Fantasy XV. This games UI does everything it should in a simplistic way for the player to understand. The information is presented and then removed when its not needed so that it doesn’t hinder the players experience and break immersion.

In a game such as FFXV colour is used to help the player keep track of their health. For example, the player will notice that when they are on low health their screen will go red alerting them that they need to heal. This is a subtle warning using colour to indicate the players health. Colour is also used another way in combat. It serves as a guide to which form of attacks the player should use on an enemy.
This is shown where when the player attacks an enemy, it shows a damage number in one of three colours (yellow, white, purple). White damage indicates to the player they are dealing moderate damage to their foe. Yellow damage shows that they are using a weapon that is effective against the enemy resulting in a higher damage number. Purple damage indicates that the form of attack they are using is not very effective as the enemy has a resistance to something you’re using.

Health – In FFXV, The bottom right of the screen displays each character in the parties health and the playable characters MP. As each character in the game is important, displaying every party members health is a crucial aspect in a battle. This feature allows the players to see which member of their team needs help and how much damage the enemies can do. When the player is attacked their health bar goes down and the number next to it (which represents their health) drops.
It also shows the players MP bar to let them know how much Magic they have left to use. This is crucial information for the game to help the player understand the game and strategize their gameplay. The health bar is easy to understand for anyone who’s playing the game as it has a very simple format which is similar to many past games and is also easy to understand even if you’ve never played a game before.

HCI – Human Augmentation.
As technology evolves over time, so does HCI. Virtual Reality (or VR) is one of the many ways that HCI is evolving. Virtual reality has been around for a very long time but recently huge strides have been made in helping to successfully enhance the experience. Just recently it was released to the public for use in games. VR has the ability to trick the mind into believing its somewhere else and change our perceptions. Its ability to do this means that people can experience things that they may never have the chance to. Below is a good article on how it is changing our world around us and some of the people responsible for this change.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36279855

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *