103
Chapter 6
Does Computer Game
Experience Influence Visual
Scenario Assessment of
Urban Recreational Paths?
A Case Study Using 3-D
Computer Animation
Arne Arnberger
University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Austria
Thomas Reichhart
University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Austria
ABSTRACT
During the past decades, computer visualizations have been frequently used in urban e-Planning and
research. The question arises of whether the degree of experience with the computer during leisure time
can have an influence on the assessment of computer-visualized outdoor environment scenarios using
visualizations comparable to computer games. We used a computer-animated choice model to investigate the influence of computer game experience on respondents’ preferences for an urban recreational
trail. Static and animated representations of use scenarios were produced with 3-D computer animation
techniques. Three social factors were investigated: number of trail users, user composition, and direction of movement: The scenarios were presented to respondents (N = 149), segmented into groups with
different computer game experience. The results indicate that the individual experience with computer
gaming and the presentation mode influences the evaluation of trail scenarios. Animated trail scenarios
seem to be more useful than static ones.
INTRODUCTION
Research on preferences for urban planning issues, such as the design of public green spaces,
has become an important scientific field driven by
the rapid changes in urban and social structures of
recent decades. At the same time, the systems of
governance for planning and managing urban public
space have changed, with a shift towards governance
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-929-3.ch006
Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
Computer Game Experience Influence Visual Scenario Assessment
at the local and regional level (Silva & Syrett, 2006)
and increased public participation. Several tools
for participatory planning have been developed.
The newest approaches use 3-D computer graphics
or 3-D computer animations for presenting urban
and rural developments and recreational scenarios
(Karjalainen & Tyrväinen, 2002; Lange, 2001;
Reichhart, Arnberger, & Muhar, 2007; Rohrmann
& Bishop, 2002; Vallerie, Park, Hallo, Stanfield,
& Manning, 2006). In particular, the capability
of these methodologies to assess the acceptance
of hypothetical and future scenarios is of great
value for urban planners. Therefore, computer
simulated environments are now widely used
in environmental planning (Lange, 2005; Chen,
Bishop, & Hamid, 2002).
Nowadays, Western urban societies are often
familiar with computer generated graphics. This
familiarity can be gained by work with the computer and/or video games. For example, 76% of
Austrian households have at least one computer
(Statistik Austria, 2008), and a high share of the
population play computer games more or less regularly. Only 24% of the 11-18 year olds do not play
computer games (Großegger & Zentner, 2008).
The question of whether this familiarity with
computer generated graphics can have an impact
on the individual assessment of virtual environments that are increasingly used in e-Planning of
urban environments arises. This topic is receiving
added attention because research on video games
has found that there are interconnections between
real and virtual environments (Fischer, Kubitzki,
Guter, & Frey, 2007).
BACKGROUND
Methods Used In Perception
Research on Outdoor Environments
Environmental perception research predominantly
relies on the human perception-based approach
which derives from the psychophysical tradition
104
in psychology (Daniel & Meitner, 2001; Zube,
Sell, & Taylor, 1982). Most of the approaches
used the concept of preferences (Aoki, 1999).
Early methods applied in environment preference
research, such as text-based descriptions or onsite visits, were limited in assessing the complex
dependences and interactions between a wide
range of social and physical factors (Tahvanainen,
Tyrväinen, Ihalainen, Vuorela, & Kolehmainen,
2001; Manning & Freimund, 2004). Thus photographs were used as a visual stimulus and have a
long history in the context of preference research
on natural and man-made environments (Aoki,
1983; Daniel & Meitner, 2001; Nasar, 1983). In
particular, the aesthetic evaluation of natural and
urban landscapes in the field of environmental
psychology has relied on photographs (Daniel &
Meitner, 2001; Van den Berg, Vlek, & Coeterier,
1998). These studies have shown that humans
prefer natural environments to built environments.
During the last two decades, digital photomontages have become relevant. Photomontages
were often used for the assessment of hypothetical planning scenarios and landscape changes,
and most research findings indicate that these
computer supported approaches brought more
consolidated results. These studies investigated
a range of topics such as recreational scenarios
(Manning, 2007; Manning & Freimund, 2004;
Needham & Rollins, 2005), impact of recreation
use on the natural resource (Manning, 2007), landscape changes (Arnberger, Eder, Brandenburg,
& Reichhart, 2007), forest management (Tahvanainen et al., 2001), and water-bodies (Junker &
Buchecker, 2008). For example, studies in urban
and suburban environments using manipulated
photos investigated recreational trail scenarios
(Arnberger & Haider, 2007) and the design of
urban park settings (Jorgensen, Hitchmough, &
Calvert, 2002).
However, photographs and photomontages
have several limitations, specifically when presenting motion related elements such as water flow
or walking or bicycling behavior on multi-use trails
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