Sensory Overload (Concept)

Sensory Overload

CONCEPT

When a game throws so many objects at the player that it's difficult or impossible to keep track

Some games make a point of trying to put as many moving objects on the screen at once as possible, overloading one's visual sense to the point where it's difficult or impossible to keep track of what's you, what's the enemy, what's important, and what's not. When you reach that point, it's sensory overload.

The US Air Force found that some pilots would get lost in the immense sea of data afforded to them in modern aircraft, becoming less effective as their mind was overloaded with simply trying to sort out what was important. Projects in these fields have had to scale back the amount and types of data shown so that the pilots wouldn't lose track of what was important at any given moment.