Learning Racing Emotions: Empowerment of risk perception while playing racing videogames

The present study explores how drivers and non-drivers interact with racing videogames. Subjects were asked to play two type of racing videogames while their driving behavior, arousal activation and facial expressions were rec-orded. Representations about driving, risk perception, and user evaluation of videogames were also collected. Results showed significant differences be-tween drivers and non-drivers in: heart rate activation and negative emotions for the two different types of racing videogames. In particular the drivers seemed to be more aware of the risky driving situations they were facing in the game, while non-drivers didn’t seem to have the same emotional activations towards risk. It should be questioned how and at what condition a ludic driving simula-tion could interact in a constructive way with young non-drivers that haven’t yet developed a complex hazard system to explore the road