The Research Challenge

The gaming industry needs to understand what goes on in people's heads while they play console and online games. Its research challenge is similar to other entertainment industries like TV and film. It needs to measure how people respond to immersive experiences, but with one additional element - games are interactive, not passive.

A successful interactive game must play out with the right pace and appropriately engaging plot. It cannot be too difficult to master at first, so gamers don't give up, but it cannot be so easy that gamers find it unchallenging. It needs to build momentum and anticipation of reward. These are mental states - engagement, challenge, boredom, reward anticipation - and they are extremely difficult to measure using verbal self-reports, acquired either during or after a gaming session.

Another challenge for the gaming industry is validation of its within-game advertising model. More and more games "rent out" advertising space inside their story lines, and advertisers want to know if their ads are being noticed and producing any effect on gamers' product preferences and buying decisions.

Why Neuroscience Matters

Attention, emotion, and memory are the building block of an immersive gaming experience. Only neurometric measures can track these states directly on a moment-to-moment basis, so the overall gaming experience can be calibrated and improved during the development process.

With regard to advertising, neurometrics are the best way to provide meaningful performance measures to advertisers.

How Lucid Can Help ...