Comparison of EEG biofeedback and visual search strategies during e-sports play according to skill level

Abstract

About 83% of the perceptual information humans receive from the outside world comes through the visual domain, making the tracking of visual information important for the superior performance of e-sports players. In addition, it is known that e-sports players’ emotional state during performance affects their results. However, few studies have examined visual search strategies and electroencephalogram (EEG) findings of e-sports players while engaged in e-sports. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of visual search activity and EEG feedback during first person shooter (FPS) game play, in which the tracking of visual information is important, and to examine the characteristics of different gaming skill levels. Four skilled and five semi-skilled e-sports participants (mean age ± 19.11, SD = 0.99) participated in this study. Gazepoint GP3 (Canada) was used to measure eye movements, and the Sports KANSEI (Littlesoftware Inc., Japan) was used to analyse the emotional state of the participants by using EEG data. The results showed that the skilled e-sports players checked the camera significantly more frequently than the semi-skilled participants. The results of the area of interest (AOI) analysis showed that skilled e-sports players glanced at the friendly team information displayed at the top of the game screen more often than semi-skilled players. Furthermore, it was found that skilled e-sports players had significantly higher average EEG relaxation values during gameplay than semi-skilled players. Thus, the visual search strategy and emotional state while playing e-sports differed according to gaming skill level.