Study of a Biofeedback-Based Gaming Environment

This study was conducted in the Engrammatron laboratory in the Faculty of Education at SFU. This laboratory was established by Dr. Stephen Campbell and supports his work in the emerging field of neuroeducation.

Principal Investigator: Dr. David Kaufman

What's Proposed

Our study investigated biofeedback in a gaming environment incorporating the acquisition and analysis of physiological data sets in tandem with other behavioural and self-report data sets. Preliminary results presented here provide some groundwork toward subsequent study in this area, as more comprehensive and detailed treatments will require further research.

The main contribution and focus of this project concerned our experiences in applying methods not typically available to educational researchers. Our results are promising, though they cannot be taken to be definitive. Further developments and applications of these methods will lead to more detailed investigations as to what people may learn or gain from biofeedback in gaming environments, along with interdependencies of biofeedback and gaming pertaining to affect, motivation, behaviour and cognition, and perhaps especially, to learning anxiety.

Where to Learn More

  • Du, X., Campbell, S. R., & Kaufman, D. (2010). A study of biofeedback in a gaming environment. In Kaufman, D., & SauvĂ©, L. (Eds.), Educational gameplay and simulation environments: Case studies and lessons learned (pp. 326-344). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Watch the videos Nintendogs and Brainwave Journey.