The effects of age group, interface type, and key area of mobile phones on game playing performance, usability, and visual fatigue: A case study of a rhythm game

This study investigated the effects of age group, interface type, and key area on accuracy, usability, the change of critical fusion frequency, and subjective visual fatigue in Taiko no Tatsujin game playing. Four groups divided by age (young adult, adult, middle‐aged adult, and senior citizen), two types of interface (solid and touch), and two types of key areas (approximately 1.1 and 0.6 cm2) were investigated in the experiment. The results showed significant differences for age group on accuracy, especially for young adults and senior citizens. The solid interface demonstrated better accuracy and usability and less subjective visual fatigue than the touch interface. The approximately 1.1 cm2 key indicated better performance than the 0.6 cm2 key in all indexes. It is inferred that the solid interface with the 1.1 cm2 key had better performance. Therefore, mobile phones with a larger key area are more suitable for game playing.