Inducing Flow In Board Games Through Augmented Audio

Abstract

Games provide high levels of enjoyment and fun through closed systems with concrete objectives. These characteristics enhance a state of concentration known as flow. Many modern board games provide good gaming experiences. However, it is possible to use various resources to further enhance the experience. This study proposes that augmented audio technology can be used to induce flow during a board game playthrough. For this purpose, a prototype was developed to be tested with the board game Rising Sun. The main concept behind this approach was to deliver to the players real time sonic feedback through an augmented sound environment mapped to in game actions, by triggering spatialized contextual sound events related to the user’s in-game actions and game phases. A study was conducted using the aforementioned prototype to validate the proposal, and the results have shown that augmented audio may induce the state of flow.