Design Considerations in Therapeutic Exergaming

In this paper we discuss the importance of feedback in therapeutic exergaming. It is widely believed that exergaming benefits the patient in terms of encouraging adherence and boosting the patient’s confidence of correct execution and feedback is essential in achieving these. However, feedback and in particular visual feedback, may also have potential negative effects on the quality of the exercise. We describe in this paper a prototype single-sensor therapeutic exergame that we have developed and provide some preliminary user feedback regarding enjoyment and perceived competence when using the exergame compared to exercising without the exergame. Our results indicate that all participants found exercising with the game more enjoyable. However, additional work is needed to increase participants’ confidence in their correct execution of the exercise

Potential and effects of personalizing gameful fitness applications using behavior change intentions and Hexad user types

Personalizing gameful applications is essential to account for interpersonal differences in the perception of gameful design elements. Considering that an increasing number of people lead sedentary lifestyles, using personalized gameful applications to encourage physical activity is a particularly relevant domain. In this article, we investigate behavior change intentions and Hexad user types as factors to personalize gameful fitness applications. We first explored the potential of these two factors by analyzing differences in the perceived persuasiveness of gameful design elements using a storyboards-based online study (N=178). Our results show several significant effects regarding both factors and thus support the usefulness of them in explaining perceptual differences. Based on these findings, we implemented “Endless Universe,” a personalized gameful application encouraging physical activity on a treadmill. We used the system in a laboratory study (N=20) to study actual effects of personalization on the users’ performance, enjoyment and affective experiences. While we did not find effects on the immediate performance of users, positive effects on user experience-related measures were found. The results of this study support the relevance of behavior change intentions and Hexad user types for personalizing gameful fitness systems further

Including the Experiences of Physically Disabled Players in Mainstream Guidelines for Movement-Based Games

Movement-based video games can provide engaging play experiences, and also have the potential to encourage physical activity. However, existing design guidelines for such games overwhelmingly focus on non-disabled players. Here, we explore wheelchair users’ perspectives on movement-based games as an enjoyable play activity. We created eight game concepts as discussion points for semi-structured interviews (N=6) with wheelchair users, and used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to understand their perspectives on physical activity and play. Themes focus on independent access, challenges in social settings, and the need for comprehensive adaptation. We also conducted an online survey (N=21) using the same game concepts, and thematic analysis highlighted the importance of adequate challenge, and considerations around multiplayer experiences. Based on these findings, we re-contextualize and expand guidelines for movement-based games previously established by Mueller and Isbister to include disabled players, and suggest design strategies that take into account their perspectives on play

Generating Cross-domain Knowledge about Connecting Work Analysis and Interaction Design

Proceedings of Workshop at INTERACT 2013 – 14th IFIP TC13 Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Cape Town, South Africa, September 201

Proceedings of the 10th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2014)

The proceedings of the conferenc