Overall description

This dataset contains the actions of a group of users who participated in an experiment conducted by the Faculty of Computer Science of the Complutense University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain) during the period April 23–30, 2024. This study sought to understand which device, standard virtual reality controllers or haptic gloves, experienced video game players prefer in order to interact with objects in a virtual reality environment. To this end, comparisons were made between the two types of interactive device:

• Standard controllers (MN): Meta Quest 3 controllers (official website: https://www.meta.com/es/quest/quest-3/).
• Haptic gloves (SG): SenseGlove Nova (official website: https://www.senseglove.com).

This dataset was used in the article Experienced Video Game Player Interaction Preferences with Game Controllers and Haptic Gloves, presented at 24th International Federation for Information Processing – International Conference on Entertainment Computing (August 27-30, 2025, Tokyo, Japan) (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-025-01240-y). This article also details the virtual reality tool used, the procedure followed in the experiment, and the final results. The conclusions of the study were as follows:

1. The results indicate that participants generally prefer traditional controllers over current haptic gloves. Players adapted to controllers more quickly due to their familiarity with the technology. While participants found haptic gloves novel and engaging, they also described them as bulky and uncomfortable.
2. Each device, however, offers distinct advantages: controllers provide greater precision, making interactions with small or portable objects easier, while haptic gloves are more suitable for manipulating larger, non-portable objects that do not require fine precision.
3. Haptic gloves encourage the interchangeable use of both hands, which may affect task efficiency.

These conclusions and the results presented in the aforementioned article were obtained using the provided dataset. This dataset includes the following files:

• dataset/: Events related to users’ direct actions in the virtual environment and their questionnaire responses:
  • controllers_gameplay.xlsx and gloves_gameplay.xlsx: Events related to the objectives/tasks proposed to and completed by the user.
  • controllers_input.xlsx and gloves_input.xlsx: Controller button presses performed by the user.
  • controllers_item_interaction.xlsx and gloves_item_interaction.xlsx: Interactions with virtual objects.
  • questionnaire.csv: Users’ responses to the proposed questionnaires. The questionnaires used are as follows:
    • Personal user information such as age, gender, level of education, or familiarity with virtual reality technology, among others.
    • Questions related to the user experience using standard controllers or haptic gloves. For example, did the interaction with objects feel natural.
    • Questions related to the user preferences of with device they prefer to perform some actions/interactions. For example, which device do you prefer to interact with doors.
• processed/: Files containing users’ data processed to enable the analysis presented in the aforementioned article.
• docs/: Documents providing a detailed description of the variables stored in each dataset, the data collection methodology, and a description to reproduce the results shown in the aforementioned research article.

Keywords

Haptic gloves, virtual reality, video games, controllers, Human-Computer Interaction, entertainment, performance

Methodology

The data presented here were collected in a controlled environment. These data were collected in two ways:

1. Data related to users’ actions within the virtual reality environment were stored in real time in .xlsx files.
2. Data related to questionnaires were collected through Google Forms.

The document methodology.md details how the data were collected.

Funding

This publication is part of the R&D &I projects DARK NITE, PID2023-146308OB-I00, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and ERDF, EU “A way of making Europe”; ADARVE (SUBV20/2021), funded by the Spanish Council of Nuclear Security; CANTOR (PID2019-108927RB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; and EA-DIGIFOLK: An European and Ibero-American approach for the digital collection, analysis and dissemination of folk music project (grant agreement no. 101086338), funded by the European Commission.

Related works

2025: Experienced Video Game Player Interaction Preferences with Game Controllers and Haptic Gloves. Alejandro Villar, Sergio Baña, Juan Diego Mendoza, Laura Gómez, Javier Muñoz y Carlos León. 24th International Federation for Information Processing – International Conference on Entertainment Computing, Tokyo, Japan (August 27-30, 2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02555-5_26. 

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International