Giovanni Ribeiro
Master's Student, Games User Research
Giovanni is a Master’s student pursuing a M.A.Sc in Systems Design Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke at the University of Waterloo. He is the first Waterloo student to be enrolled in the Saskatchewan-Waterloo Games User Research (SWaGUR) program. With a background in Psychology (B.A.) he is interested in how games make us feel different emotions. His research uses biological signal detection techniques such as skin response, facial electromyography, and heart rate to explore player reactions to game content.
Projects
Publications
Year 2019
Gustavo F. Tondello,
Karina Arrambide,
Giovanni Ribeiro,
Andrew Cen, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2019. “I don't fit into a single type”: A Trait Model and Scale of Game Playing Preferences. In
Proceedings of INTERACT 2019. Springer.
@inproceedings{Tondello2019b,
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Arrambide, Karina and Ribeiro, Giovanni and Cen, Andrew and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of INTERACT 20192},
publisher = {Springer},
title = {{“I don't fit into a single type”: A Trait Model and Scale of Game Playing Preferences}},
year = {2019}
}Player typology models classify different player motivations and behaviours. These models are necessary to design personalized games or to target specific audiences. However, many models lack validation and standard measurement instruments. Additionally, they rely on type theories, which split players into separate categories. Yet, personality research has lately favoured trait theories, which recognize that people's preferences are composed of a sum of different characteristics. Given these shortcomings of existing models, we developed a player traits model built on a detailed review and synthesis of the extant literature, which introduces five player traits: aesthetic orientation, narrative orientation, goal orientation, social orientation, and challenge orientation. Furthermore, we created and validated a 25-item measurement scale for the five player traits. This scale outputs a player profile, which describes participants' preferences for different game elements and game playing styles. Finally, we demonstrate that this is the first validated player preferences model and how it serves as an actionable tool for personalized game design.
Year 2018
Katja Rogers,
Giovanni Ribeiro,
Rina R. Wehbe, Michael Weber, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2018. Vanishing Importance: Studying Immersive Effects of Game Audio Perception on Player Experiences in Virtual Reality. In
Proceeding of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI 2018. Montreal, QC, Canada. ACM, 328.
doi:10.1145/3173574.3173902 @inproceedings{Rogers2018a,
author = {Rogers, Katja and Ribeiro, Giovanni and Wehbe, Rina and Weber, Michael and Nacke, Lennart E},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '18},
doi = {10.1145/3173574.3173902},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{Vanishing Importance : Studying Immersive Effects of Game Audio Perception on Player Experiences in Virtual Reality}},
year = {2018}
}Sound and virtual reality (VR) are two important output modalities for creating an immersive player experience (PX). While prior research suggests that sounds might contribute to a more immersive experience in games played on screens and mobile displays, there is not yet evidence of these effects of sound on PX in VR. To address this, we conducted a within-subjects experiment using a commercial horror-adventure game to study the effects of a VR and monitor-display version of the same game on PX. Subsequently, we explored, in a between-subjects study, the effects of audio dimensionality on PX in VR. Results indicate that audio has a more implicit influence on PX in VR because of the impact of the overall sensory experience and that audio dimensionality in VR may not be a significant factor contributing to PX. Based on our findings and observations, we provide five design guidelines for VR games.
Year 2017
Gustavo F. Tondello,
Rina R. Wehbe,
Rita Orji,
Giovanni Ribeiro, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2017. A Framework and Taxonomy of Videogame Playing Preferences. In
Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '17. Amsterdam, Netherlands. ACM, 329-340 .
doi:10.1145/3116595.3116629 @inproceedings{Tondello2017d,
abstract = {Player preferences for different gaming styles or game elements has been a topic of interest in human-computer interaction for over a decade. However, current models suggested by the extant literature are generally based on classifying abstract gaming motivations or player archetypes. These concepts do not directly map onto the building blocks of games, taking away from the utility of the findings. To address this issue, we propose a conceptual framework of player preferences based on two dimensions: game elements and game playing styles. To investigate these two concepts, we conducted an exploratory empirical investigation of player preferences, which allowed us to create a taxonomy of nine groups of game elements and five groups of game playing styles. These two concepts are foundational to games, which means that our model can be used by designers to create games that are tailored to their target audience. In addition, we demonstrate that there are significant effects of gender and age on participants' preferences and discuss the implications of these findings.},
address = {Amsterdam, Netherlands},
author = {Tondello, Gustavo F. and Wehbe, Rina R. and Orji, Rita and Ribeiro, Giovanni and Nacke, Lennart E.},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '17},
doi = {10.1145/3116595.3116629},
isbn = {9781450348980},
keywords = {Game Elements,Games User Research,Player Types},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{A Framework and Taxonomy of Videogame Playing Preferences}},
year = {2017}
}Player preferences for different gaming styles or game elements has been a topic of interest in human-computer interaction for over a decade. However, current models suggested by the extant literature are generally based on classifying abstract gaming motivations or player archetypes. These concepts do not directly map onto the building blocks of games, taking away from the utility of the findings. To address this issue, we propose a conceptual framework of player preferences based on two dimensions: game elements and game playing styles. To investigate these two concepts, we conducted an exploratory empirical investigation of player preferences, which allowed us to create a taxonomy of nine groups of game elements and five groups of game playing styles. These two concepts are foundational to games, which means that our model can be used by designers to create games that are tailored to their target audience. In addition, we demonstrate that there are significant effects of gender and age on participants’ preferences and discuss the implications of these findings.
Mike Schäkermann,
Giovanni Ribeiro, Guenter Wallner, Simone Kriglstein, Daniel Johnson, Anders Drachen, Rafet Sifa, and
Lennart E. Nacke. 2017. Curiously Motivated: Profiling Curiosity with Self-Reports and Behaviour Metrics in the Game “Destiny”. In
Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY '17. Amsterdam, Netherlands. ACM, 143-156 .
doi:10.1145/3116595.3116603 @inproceedings{Schaekermann2017,
abstract = {Identifying player motivations such as curiosity could help game designers analyze player profiles and substantially improve game design. However, research on player profiling focuses on generalized personality traits, not specific aspects of motivation. This study examines how player behaviour indicates constructs of curiosity-related motivation. It contributes a more discriminating operationalization of game-related curiosity. We derive a curiosity measure from established self-report survey methodologies relating to social capital, behavioural activation, obsessive/harmonious passion, and BrainHex player types. We present the results of a cross-sectional study with data from 1,745 players of Destiny—a popular shared-world first-person shooter (FPS) game. Behaviour metrics were paired with four curiosity factors: ‘social' curiosity, ‘sensory/cognitive' curiosity, ‘novelty-seeking' curiosity, and ‘explorative' curiosity. Our findings provide key insights into the relationships between players curiosity and their in-game behaviour. We infer curiosity-related motivational profiles from behaviour metrics, and discuss how this may impact game design and player-computer interaction.},
author = {Schaekermann, Mike and Ribeiro, Giovanni and Wallner, Guenter and Kriglstein, Simone and Johnson, Daniel and Drachen, Anders and Sifa, Rafet and Nacke, Lennart E},
booktitle = {The ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY 2017)},
doi = {10.1145/3116595.3116603},
isbn = {9781450348980},
mendeley-groups = {HCI Games Group Publications},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {{Curiously Motivated: Profiling Curiosity with Self-Reports and Behaviour Metrics in the Game "Destiny"}},
year = {2017}
}Identifying player motivations such as curiosity could help game designers analyze player profiles and substantially improve game design. However, research on player profiling focuses on generalized personality traits, not specific aspects of motivation. This study examines how player behaviour indicates constructs of curiosity-related motivation. It contributes a more discriminating operationalization of game-related curiosity. We derive a curiosity measure from established self-report survey methodologies relating to social capital, behavioural activation, obsessive/harmonious passion, and BrainHex player types. We present the results of a cross-sectional study with data from 1,745 players of Destiny—a popular shared-world first-person shooter (FPS) game. Behaviour metrics were paired with four curiosity factors: ‘social’ curiosity, ‘sensory/cognitive’ curiosity, ‘novelty-seeking’ curiosity, and ‘explorative’ curiosity. Our findings provide key insights into the relationships between players curiosity and their in-game behaviour. We infer curiosity-related motivational profiles from behaviour metrics, and discuss how this may impact game design and player-computer interaction.
