Comparison of Multiple Object Tracking Performance Between Professional and Amateur eSport Players as Well as Traditional Sportsmen

Konstantin Wechsler,Peter Bickmann,Christopher Grieben,Ingo Froböse,Chuck Tholl,Kevin Rudolf

doi:10.4018/ijer.20210101.oa2

Konstantin Wechsler, Peter Bickmann + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4018/ijer.20210101.oa2

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Abstract

High performance in multiple object tracking paradigms is associated with well-trained visuo-spatial abilities, visual memory and divided attention. These abilities are essential for both traditional sport and esport. The present study compared the tracking performance of professional as well as amateur esport players and traditional sportsmen. Professional esport players outperformed amateurs, while no other group differences were found. Positive association of esport playtime and tracking performance as well as elevated tracking scores of the entire study cohort compared to normal population indicate a connection of esport and sport activity and tracking performance.

Highlights

Electronic Sport is a widespread and increasingly growing economic, cultural, and scientific phenomenon
Positive association of eSport playtime and tracking performance as well as elevated tracking scores of the entire study cohort compared to normal population indicate a connection of eSport and sport activity and tracking performance
Positive association of esport playtime and MOT performance as well as elevated MOT-scores of the entire study cohort compared to normal population indicate a connection of esport and sport activity and tracking performance

Summary

Introduction

Electronic Sport (esport) is a widespread and increasingly growing economic, cultural, and scientific phenomenon. The main distinction between amateurs and professionals in esport is not clearly or officially defined, mostly it is based on the presence of relevant income (Lipovaya et al, 2018) earned by competition in tournaments. This classification is applied identically in many traditional sports, such as soccer or tennis, where players are defined as professionals if they are above a certain income limit or play in a certain. One is given by multiple studies which have shown that playing video games can have positive effects on attentional and visuo-spatial cognition such as MOT (Bejianki et al, 2014; Ding et al, 2018; Trisolini et al, 2018). Another possible explanation for the differences between gaming experts and novices is, that people with a better initial ability of MOT might be more successful in esport competitions and engage more regularly and tend to be more successful

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