Subjective measurement and instrumental estimation of mobile online gaming quality based on perceptual dimensions

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Möller
• Subject Area: Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing ; Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 279244726

This research project aims at the identification, subjective measurement and instrumental prediction of quality dimensions associated with mobile online gaming. The idea is to describe the quality of a streamed mobile game, with its audible and visual output being transmitted over an IP-based channel in real time, as a perceptual event in a multidimensional space, and to define a valid and reliable quality prediction model on this basis. Such a model estimates not only overall quality, but also diagnoses causes and related perceptual effects of quality degradations. Following prior work on perceptual dimensions of the quality of an interaction with a game in a stationary setting, the first step is to identify perceptual quality dimensions associated with mobile gaming (i.e. the interaction with a game on a handheld device with limited computational resources and constrained network connectivity). This is achieved via multidimensional psychometric analyses using an adapted open-source cloud gaming test bed, which allows typical quality degradations of sending compressed audio- and video data over a lossy transmission channel to be experienced by human test participants. In order to quantify the identified dimensions, a new subjective test method will be established which consists of a structured interaction test and efficiently measures all dimensions as well as the overall quality. This test method is used to collect databases of test bed parameters and corresponding subjective ratings. The databases form the basis for deriving quality estimations of individual perceptual dimensions and - in a second step - of overall gaming quality. The derived model is finally validated using data gathered in a further study.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Taiwan
• Cooperation Partner: Kuan-Ta Chen, Ph.D.