Virtual reality gaming in rehabilitation after musculoskeletal injur: user experience pilot study

The purposes of this study were twofold: (1) to describe a new technological solution for the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries based on virtual reality (VR) gaming, and (2) to analyze the variation in rated perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) of the participants when undergoing a rehabilitation session based on different VR games. Thirty-seven participants aged 23.7 ± 7.0 years tested during five customized VR games to provide a complete rehabilitation session after a musculoskeletal injury. The results of the Friedman test indicated a statistically significant difference in RPE scale and HR across the five VR games throughout a complete rehabilitation session (χ2 (4, n = 35) = 75.59; p < 0.001 and χ2 (4, n = 35) = 27.75, p < 0.001, respectively). RPE and HR increased significantly from Game 1 to Game 2 (z = –5.16, p < 0.001), from Game 1 to Game 3 (z = – 5.05, p < 0.001), from Game 1 to Game 4 (z = –4.87, p < 0.001), and from Game 1 to Game 5 (z = –3.61, p < 0.001). Moreover, the results showed a high perceived usability of the system, greater intrinsic motivation to perform the rehabilitation exercises, a high level of immersion, and a good experience in the VR gaming environment. Our study stimulates extended intervention programs following up on this immersive virtual reality rehabilitation system to support soccer players recovering from musculoskeletal injuries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

KinFit: A factual aerobic sport game with stimulation support

Overweight and obesity is a situation where a person has stacked too much fat that might affect negatively his/her health. Many people skip doing exercises due to several facts related to the encouragement, health-awareness, and time arrangement. Diverse aerobic video games have been proposed to help users in doing exercises. However, we observe some limitations in existing games. For instance, they don't give correct scores while wearing Arabic traditional suits, they don't consider showing immersive realistic scenes, and they don't stimulate users to do exercises and keeping them encouraged to play more. We propose in this paper an aerobic video game that displays real scenes of aerobic coaches and keeps the user notified about doing exercises. It is a kind of serious games that allows users to learn aerobic movements and practice with aerobic coaches. It contains several exercises in which each can be played on normal screen or in fully immersive virtual reality (VR). While the user is playing, he/she can see the playing score with the estimated amount of burned calories. It stores the time when the user plays to remind him/her about doing exercises again. The profound user studies demonstrated the usability and effectiveness of the proposed game. 2018 Kassel University Press GmbH.The authors would like to acknowledge that devices and equipment were provided by the Visual Computing Research Center, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, at Qatar University. This publication was supported by Qatar University Collaborative High Impact Grant QUHI-CENG-18/19-1. The content of this article and its quality are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of Qatar University.Scopu

Virtual reality gaming elevates heart rate but not energy expenditure compared to conventional exercise in adult males

Virtual reality using head-mounted displays (HMD) could provide enhanced physical load during active gaming (AG) compared to traditional displays. We aimed to compare the physical load elicited by conventional exercise and AG with an HMD. We measured energy expenditure (EE) and heart rate (HR) in nine healthy men (age: 27 ± 5 years) performing three testing components in a randomised order: walking at 6 km/h (W6), AG, and AG with an additional constraint (AGW; wrist-worn weights). Although we found that HR was not significantly different between W6 and the two modes of AG, actual energy expenditure was consistently lower in AG and AGW compared to W6. We observed that playing AG with wrist-worn weights could be used as a means of increasing energy expenditure only at maximum game level, but ineffective otherwise. Our findings indicate that AG in an HMD may not provide a sufficient stimulus to meet recommended physical activity levels despite increased psychophysiological load. The differential outcomes of measures of HR and EE indicates that HR should not be used as an indicator of EE in AG. Yet, adding a simple constraint (wrist-worn weights) proved to be a simple and effective measure to increase EE during AG

Synthetic worlds, synthetic strategies: attaining creativity in the metaverse

This text will attempt to delineate the underlying theoretical premises and the definition of the output of an immersive learning approach pertaining to the visual arts to be implemented in online, three dimensional synthetic worlds. Deviating from the prevalent practice of the replication of physical art studio teaching strategies within a virtual environment, the author proposes instead to apply the fundamental tenets of Roy Ascott’s “Groundcourse”, in combination with recent educational approaches such as “Transformative Learning” and “Constructionism”. In an amalgamation of these educational approaches with findings drawn from the fields of Metanomics, Ludology, Cyberpsychology and Presence Studies, as well as an examination of creative practices manifest in the metaverse today, the formulation of a learning strategy for creative enablement unique to online, three dimensional synthetic worlds; one which will focus upon “Play” as well as Role Play, virtual Assemblage and the visual identity of the avatar within the pursuits, is being proposed in this chapter

Synthetic worlds, synthetic strategies: attaining creativity in the metaverse

This text will attempt to delineate the underlying theoretical premises and the definition of the output of an immersive learning approach pertaining to the visual arts to be implemented in online, three dimensional synthetic worlds. Deviating from the prevalent practice of the replication of physical art studio teaching strategies within a virtual environment, the author proposes instead to apply the fundamental tenets of Roy Ascott’s “Groundcourse”, in combination with recent educational approaches such as “Transformative Learning” and “Constructionism”. In an amalgamation of these educational approaches with findings drawn from the fields of Metanomics, Ludology, Cyberpsychology and Presence Studies, as well as an examination of creative practices manifest in the metaverse today, the formulation of a learning strategy for creative enablement unique to online, three dimensional synthetic worlds; one which will focus upon “Play” as well as Role Play, virtual Assemblage and the visual identity of the avatar within the pursuits, is being proposed in this chapter

Efficacy of augmented reality-based virtual hiking in cardiorespiratory endurance: a pilot study

Exergames can be used to overcome a sedentary lifestyle. Virtual Reality (VR) has made exergames successful, and they can be used to increase heart rate, but some limitations are found, such as the adaptation of the heart rate in exergames to the player's fitness profile. VR technology has been used to simulate virtual cycling and walking experiences. We designed and developed an exergame' Virtual Levadas' in a cave-based VR environment to simulate the Levadas hiking tracks. They are the main attraction for tourists in Madeira Island, Portugal. This study's main objective was to assess player exertion, usability, participation, and realism of the simulation of the Levadas tracks. We performed this study with 13 participants who played Virtual Levadas for 6 minutes and found a significant increase in player's average physical activity and heart rate. Overall, our results demonstrate that Virtual Levada's exergame provides a higher exertion level, immersion, and realism of the virtual environment than the literature.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Affect and prefrontal hemodynamics during exercise under immersive audiovisual stimulation: improving the experience of exercise for overweight adults

Objective: Affective responses to exercise are increasingly recognized as contributors to participation and adherence. However, research on methods of improving the affective experience of exercise remains limited, especially for low-active overweight or obese adults. Previous research has established that audiovisual stimulation, acting as attentional distractor, can enhance affective responses, even at vigorous intensity levels. We investigated the effectiveness of low-cost technology (virtual-reality headset and headphones) in improving affective responses over conventional audiovisual stimulation (screen and speakers). Methods: Twenty-one low-active and overweight adults (16 women, age: 34.67±9.62 years, body mass index: 28.56±4.95 kg/m²; peak V̇ O2 for men: 29.14±6.56 ml/kg/min; peak V̇ O2 for women: 22.67±4.52 ml/kg/min) completed three 15-min sessions of recumbent cycling at the intensity of the ventilatory threshold: (a) high immersion (HI), (b) low immersion (LI), (c) Control. Oxygenation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) was assessed with near infrared spectroscopy. Results: Higher pleasure was reported during HI than LI and control. Participants who reported a preference for low exercise intensity showed higher right dlPFC oxygenation during Control, but this difference diminished during LI and HI. Conclusion: Compared to conventionally delivered audiovisual stimulation, using a virtual-reality headset and headphones strengthens the dissociative effect, thereby further improving affect in response to exercise at the ventilatory threshold among overweight, low-active adults. Presumably by competing with intensifying interoceptive afferents at the level of sensory input, audiovisual stimulation may lessen the reliance on cognitive efforts to attenuate declining affect, as indicated by lower right dlPFC activity, particularly among participants disinclined toward high exercise intensity

Integration of a Cognitive Assessment Task into Exergame Gameplay Elements

Lack of exercise is related to a variety of health issues, including cognitive decline in older adults. Tools for encouraging regular exercise such as exergames are a useful preventative measure, but regular screening for impairment is still important. However, standard cognitive screening methods can be both time-consuming and tedious. Integrating these screening methods into a frequently played exergame is one way to enable regular screening, but requires that the integration is not obtrusive and does not interfere with the gameplay. We present an exergame in which a standard cognitive screening tool, the AX-Continuous Performance Task, is integrated into the game in a non-obstrusive fashion. As an starting step in assessing this approach, we validate the comparability of the measurement capacity of this integrated tool by assessing user performance in the test with non-impaired adults. Our results indicate that the test is comparable to the traditional form of the test when conducted within the context of a game, and is not clearly perceived as a test rather than a gameplay element by the users. However, increasing task complexity through additional gameplay elements does interfere with task performance