Bubble popper: considering body contact in games

Exertion games, digital games that involve physical effort, are becoming more popular. Although some of these games support social experiences, they rarely consider or support body contact. We believe overlooking body contact as part of social play experiences limits opportunities to design engaging exertion games. To explore this opportunity, we present Bubble Popper, an exertion game that considers and facilitates body contact. Bubble Popper, which uses very simple technology, also demonstrates that considering and facilitating body contact can be achieved without the need to sense body contact. Through reflecting on our design and analyzing observations of play we are able to articulate what impact physical space layout in relation to digital game elements, and physical disparity between input and digital display can have on body contact. Our results aid game designers in creating engaging exertion game experiences by guiding them when considering body contact, ultimately helping players benefiting from more engaging exertion games

Rift Racers - Effect of Balancing and Competition on Exertion, Enjoyment, and Motivation in an Immersive Exergame

By immersing themselves in a game users may exert themselves more than they would in every day life. One important driving factor in games and many forms of exercise is competition, at once engaging socially in the activity and trying to outdo an opponent or oneself. Large differences in fitness levels make competition infeasible between some opponents, but exergaming can remedy this with the use of balancing via exertion.We developed a fully immersive virtual cycling race and balanced the competition between opponents by scaling their speed according to how close they were to their target heart rate. Incorporating a virtual reality headset and a vibrant 3D world, users were exhilarated and pushed themselves to high levels of exertion. Our results suggest that balanced games can reduce the performance gap between opponents, and might increase motivation and enjoyment for users with lower fitness level. However, heart-rate balancing might be demotivating for very fit users. </p

Are We in Flow? Measuring and Supporting Simultaneous Flow in Duos of Elderly Cyclists

Cyclists can experience psychological flow while cycling. Experiencing flow simultaneously is foundational to reaching shared flow in groups, which has unique and highly desirable characteristics. Notably, in research on affective computing and cycling experience, very little is known about flow in duos of cyclists. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigates if and how simultaneous flow (SF) during cycling experiences can be measured via sensor data and supported by personalizing assistance levels of e-bike motors. We collected heartrate, cadence, and position data, as well as self-reports of individual flow, from 10 duos of elderly cyclists, a demographic with increasing e-bike usage. Our XGBoost and Shapley values analysis shows that SF can be identified in heart rate, cadence, and position data. The personalization of motor assistance seemed to disrupt SF in our sample, possibly because our duos were well-adjusted already. Our findings support the development of real-time, objective identification of SF, which helps expert evaluations and biofeedback systems. Altogether, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to offer a valuable and innovative approach for measuring and supporting SF

Towards understanding balancing in exertion games

Playing exertion games with others can be engaging. However, players with different physical skill levels competing against each other can experience reduced engagement because they are either not challenged enough, or challenged too much. Balancing methods can address this; however, there is only limited understanding of balancing in exertion games. In this paper, we identify two distinct dimensional balancing techniques: &quot;internal adjustment&quot; and &quot;external adjustment&quot;. We report results from a study where we measured player engagement after applying these adjustments to a digital table tennis game and the traditional table tennis game, finding two disengagement factors: &quot;unexpected physical challenges&quot; and &quot;unacceptable competitive advantage&quot;. Based on these factors we derived a set of exertion game design considerations. We conclude that applying digital technology to a physical game can change the required skill level to play the game, and this can affect the impact of these adjustments on player engagement. These results enhances our understanding of balancing in exertion games, supporting the benefits of playing exertion games with others

Automated and unobtrusive measurement of physical activity in an interactive playground

© 2019 Promoting physical activity is one of the main goals of interactive playgrounds. To validate whether this goal is met, we need to measure the amount of physical player activity. Traditional methods of measuring activity, such as observations or annotations of game sessions, require time and personnel. Others, such as heart rate monitors and accelerometers, need to be worn by the player. In this paper, we investigate whether physical activity can be measured unobtrusively by tracking players using depth cameras and applying computer vision algorithms. In a user study with 32 players, we measure the players’ speed while playing a game of tag, and demonstrate that our measures correlate well with exertion measured using heart rate sensors. This makes the method an attractive alternative to either manual coding or the use of worn devices. We also compare our approach to other exertion measurement methods. Finally, we demonstrate and discuss its potential for automated, unobtrusive measurements and real-time game adaptation

Designing brutal multiplayer video games

Non-digital forms of play that allow players to direct brute force directly upon each other, such as martial arts, boxing and full contact team sports,are very popular. However, inter-player brutality has largely been unexplored as a feature of digital gaming. In this paper, we describe the design and study of 2 multi-player games that encourage players to use brute force directly against other players. Balance of Poweris a tug-of-war style game implemented with Xbox Kinect, while Bundleis a playground-inspired chasing game implemented with smartphones. Two groups of five participants(n=10) played both games while being filmed, and were subsequently interviewed. A thematic analysis identified five keycomponents ofthe brutalmultiplayer video gameexperience, which informsa set of sevendesign considerations.This work aims to inspire the design of engaging game experiences based on awareness and enjoyment of our own and others’ physicality

Balance ninja: towards the design of digital vertigo games via galvanic vestibular stimulation

Vertigo – the momentary disruption of the stability of perception – is an intriguing game element that underlies many unique play experiences, such as spinning in circles as children to rock climbing as adults, yet vertigo is relatively unexplored when it comes to digital play. In this paper we explore the potential of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) as a game design tool for digital vertigo games. We detail the design and evaluation of a novel two player GVS game, Balance Ninja. From study observations and analysis of Balance Ninja (N=20), we present three design themes and six design strategies that can be used to aid game designers of future digital vertigo games. With this work we aim to highlight that vertigo can be a valuable digital game element that helps to expand the range of games we play

Race Yourselves: A Longitudinal Exploration of Self-Competition Between Past, Present, and Future Performances in a VR Exergame

Participating in competitive races can be a thrilling experience for athletes, involving a rush of excitement and sensations of flow, achievement, and self-fulfilment. However, for non-athletes, the prospect of competition is often a scary one which affects intrinsic motivation negatively, especially for less fit, less competitive individuals. We propose a novel method making the positive racing experience accessible to non-athletes using a high-intensity cycling VR exergame: by recording and replaying all their previous gameplay sessions simultaneously, including a projected future performance, players can race against a crowd of "ghost" avatars representing their individual fitness journey. The experience stays relevant and exciting as every race adds a new competitor. A longitudinal study over four weeks and a cross-sectional study found that the new method improves physical performance, intrinsic motivation, and flow compared to a non-competitive exergame. Additionally, the longitudinal study provides insights into the longer-term effects of VR exergames

Auto-Pa\'izo Games: Towards Understanding the Design of Games that Aim to Unify a Player's Physical Body and the Virtual World

Most digital bodily games focus on the body as they use movement as input. However, they also draw the player's focus away from the body as the output occurs on visual displays, creating a divide between the physical body and the virtual world. We propose a novel approach - the ''Body as a Play Material'' - where a player uses their body as both input and output to unify the physical body and the virtual world. To showcase this approach, we designed three games where a player uses one of their hands (input) to play against the other hand (output) by loaning control over its movements to an Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) system. We conducted a thematic analysis on the data obtained from a field study with 12 participants to articulate four player experience themes. We discuss our results about how participants appreciated the engagement with the variety of bodily movements for play and the ambiguity of using their body as a play material. Ultimately, our work aims to unify the physical body and the virtual world.Comment: This paper will be published at Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY) 202