Game Over: death representations in virtual reality environments

• Vinícius Ferreira Galvão UFMT
• Rayane Vitorassi Toledo UFMT
• Danilo Barros dos Santos UFMT
• Cristiano Maciel UFMT
• Eunice Pereira dos Santos Nunes UFMT

Abstract

Death is a topic not often focused in game environments, and players frequently experience it through their own virtual eyes, even though its consequences can be nullified in most cases. Still, the impacts of this event affect players long after a game session. Players and game developers have also made posthumous homages within the technical limitations of games as a way to deal with the pain and loss caused by death in the real world. As virtual game environments (VGE) become a stage for human interaction beyond entertainment, it is necessary to understand how users perceive the event of death in them, how it affects them, and how virtual reality (VR) can augment this experience. This work used an online questionnaire to collect game users' demographic data, their opinions about death in VGEs, and offered audiovisual material depicting death in games so they could express their beliefs about them. The research findings concluded that: VR can enhance users' emotional experience; the way death is depicted in a game compels users to either move on from it or pay attention to it; and in games with social elements, volunteers agree that it is interesting to use VGEs in order to help to deal with the pain of death, or even homage the dead. With this article we aim to highlight and encourage discussion on the ways VR and games are allowing users empathic experiences to better understand sensitive topics, and how they can be a viable medium for exploring such difficult subjects.

Keywords: Death, Virtual Reality, Video Games, Digital Memorial