Improving the performance of eSport players

Improving the performance of eSport players 

Client Brief

Multiple factors can influence the performance of eSport players. Among these, cognitive capacities are key, and yet they are not often the object of study. EGS gives us the opportunity to work with them on this subject, in the monitoring and training of their players.

Year

2020

Expertise
  • Insight
Disciplines
  • Human factors
  • Neuroergonomics
  • Research and Development
Tools
  • Expert workshop
  • Eye tracking
  • Interview guide
  • User interviews
  • User testing protocol

01

Immersion in the heart of eSport performance

Meeting eSport players to understand their needs.

Using dedicated observation grids and interview outlines, we immersed ourselves among a team of League of Legends European top 100 players for a week.

Interviews and interactions with the players
Interviews with the players helped us understand their needs
EGS esport arena
EGS players at work
Interviews with the players helped us understand their needs
EGS players at work

Interviews revealed debriefing optimization is a relevant way of improving performance in eSport. Thanks to players’ quick feedback on their game, they have been able to  individualize their training with a focus on situations that are sensitive for them.

02

An innovative approach at the service of players’ needs

Physiological measurements in addition to the traditional declarative approach.

Physiological signals such as electrodermal activity (skin perspiration), heart frequency, or pupillary dilation are known by scientific literature as means to identify various cognitive states in operational situations: much like one will sweat when scared, our body manifests in many ways what is happening inside our head.
An exploratory approach using measurements of such signals is implemented to go beyond the simple declarative approach, and detect the manifestation of low-key phases in the game.


38
players participated in the study

Focus on the eye tracker used by the players
The use of the eye-tracker enables us to gather data on the position of the player’s gaze, but also on his/her pupillary dilation
EDA measurement site
Measurements of the electrodermal activity (EDA) are made on the fingers of the non-dominant hand
The use of the eye-tracker enables us to gather data on the position of the player’s gaze, but also on his/her pupillary dilation
Measurements of the electrodermal activity (EDA) are made on the fingers of the non-dominant hand
03

An innovative data analysis

Make to best use of scientific progress on Machine Learning to go further.

Physiological measurements are analyzed after each game, to try and identify low-key phases.
One of the difficulties with physiological signals is that they can be influenced by a significant number of external factors: perspiration can be linked equally to fear or effort for instance. It is therefore necessary to collect signals from multiple sources, but also to analyze them together as a whole.


200 Go
of data collected

Putting in perspective an eSport player and physiological signals recorded during a game
Physiological signals are recorded during a game
Quality control of the recorded physiological signals
Quality control of the physiological signals enables us to check their conformity with international scientific recommendations
Physiological signals are recorded during a game
Quality control of the physiological signals enables us to check their conformity with international scientific recommendations

In collaboration with INRIA Bordeaux (POTIOC team), we are exploring a new specific approach to this issue: Machine Learning algorithms are developed to allow fusing together all the data collected by the different captors, to confront them to the players’ subjective feedbacks, and to organize the situations considered automatically.

Individual normalization data and cognitive test scores found in clinical literature are also used to refine the analysis.

04

Operational recommendations regarding training

Coaches and players are very excited about this approach!

The results led to a better understanding of the importance of cognitive capacities in eSport performance.
As such, training exercises and eSport tests approaches have been initiated.

A larger number of eSport players are now testing the debriefing optimization approach that has been developed.

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