Lero’s Esports Science Research Lab is the first of its kind in Europe. It brings together academics and researchers in a centre of excellence for esports research.

THE CHALLENGE

What makes an expert gamer?
Gaming and esports is growing rapidly in popularity and is now a multi-billion euro industry. It is played by professional gamers supported by skilled coaches in competitions with viewing figures as big as the Superbowl, the golf majors, Wimbledon and the NBA finals. However, while training principles for players in traditional sports are well-established, less is known about how gamers can improve their performance levels, through best-practice guidelines and optimised gaming equipment. What makes an expert gamer expert? Logitech has a strong presence in the esports marketplace and being able to solve this challenge will further strengthen their product offering.
 

THE GOAL

Identify KPIs
The goal of this partnership was to identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of successful gaming from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
 

THE PROCESS

Research, Testing & Analysis
Researchers recorded behavioural, physiological and performance data during the play and training sessions of professional and amateur gamers. This data comes from video capture of players, instrumentation of games/gaming devices, and obtaining psychophysiological measurements like the electrical impulses occurring in the brain, eye fixation, heart rate, pressure imposed on interaction devices and pupil dilation.

Sophisticated data processing and analysis techniques were employed to identify discriminating features that predict performance.
 

THE RESULT

Licence and IP
KPIs were successfully identified. Logitech engaged with Lero to license the IP generated during this collaboration. This IP relates to the creation and development of software tests that isolate, measure and can train individual gaming skills in video gaming and esports. Logitech launched new software products incorporating this IP.