User Experience in 3D Stereoscopic Games

New display technologies, such as 3D stereoscopic displays, provide opportunities to enhance the user experience (UX) in digital games. A widely-held belief is "the more stereo, the better experience." The purpose of this study is to examine this belief and evaluate the added value of 3D stereo to the UX in games. Stereo separation in a display was varied, and a multidimensional UX was measured using a psychological Presence-Involvement-Flow Framework ² (PIFF ²) in a between-subjects design. The PIFF ² findings were further supported by both qualitative and objective measures. Users' descriptions of the game were included as well as adverse symptoms, open-ended negative aspects of 3D stereo, basic eye physiology, objective performance metrics, and fundamental background variables. This hybrid qualitative-quantitative methodology shows that more stereo does not lead to better UX. It was shown that a moderate level of stereo separation affected the UX most by increasing the sense of presence among the users. These results deepen the previous findings in investigating the stereo effect in different media. The advantage of using multidimensional measures to evaluate UX, the added value of 3D stereo, and the practical implications of the results are further discussed.