Abstract
We report on a player evaluation of a pilot system for dynamic video game soundtrack generation. The system being evaluated generates music using an AI-based algorithmic composition technique to create score in real-time, in response to a continuously varying emotional trajectory dictated by gameplay cues.
After a section of gameplay, players rated the system on a Likert scale according to emotional congruence with the narrative, and also according to their perceived immersion with the gameplay. The generated system showed a statistically meaningful and consistent improvement in ratings for emotional congruence, yet with a decrease in perceived immersion, which might be attributed to the marked difference in instrumentation between the generated music, voiced by a solo piano timbre, and the original, fully orchestrated soundtrack. Finally, players rated selected stimuli from the generated soundtrack dataset on a two-dimensional model reflecting perceived valence and arousal. These ratings were compared to the intended emotional descriptor in the meta-data accompanying specific gameplay events. Participant responses suggested strong agreement with the affective correlates, but also a significant amount of interparticipant variability. Individual calibration of the musical feature set, or further adjustment of the musical feature set are therefore suggested as useful avenues for further work.
After a section of gameplay, players rated the system on a Likert scale according to emotional congruence with the narrative, and also according to their perceived immersion with the gameplay. The generated system showed a statistically meaningful and consistent improvement in ratings for emotional congruence, yet with a decrease in perceived immersion, which might be attributed to the marked difference in instrumentation between the generated music, voiced by a solo piano timbre, and the original, fully orchestrated soundtrack. Finally, players rated selected stimuli from the generated soundtrack dataset on a two-dimensional model reflecting perceived valence and arousal. These ratings were compared to the intended emotional descriptor in the meta-data accompanying specific gameplay events. Participant responses suggested strong agreement with the affective correlates, but also a significant amount of interparticipant variability. Individual calibration of the musical feature set, or further adjustment of the musical feature set are therefore suggested as useful avenues for further work.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 17:1-17:13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | ACM Transactions on Applied Perception |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2017 |
Keywords
- Algorithmic composition, emotional congruence, music perception