Multi-user virtual environments for physical education and sport training

For effective learning and training, virtual environments may provide lifelike opportunities, and researchers are actively investigating their potential for educational purposes. Minimal research attention has been paid to the integration of multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) technology for teaching and practicing real sports. In this chapter, the authors reviewed the justifications, possibilities, challenges, and future directions of using MUVE systems. The authors addressed issues such as informal learning, design, engagement, collaboration, learning style, learning evaluation, motivation, and gender, followed by the identification of required elements for successful implementations. In the second part, the authors talked about exergames, the necessity of evaluation, and examples on exploring the behavior of players during playing. Finally, insights on the application of sports exergames in teaching, practicing, and encouraging real sports were discussed

Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health

Based on a literature review and interviews with digital learning experts, explores how digital games can foster skills and knowledge for better academic performance and health. Makes recommendations for government research, partnerships, and media

Augmenting the Task of Exercise Gamification: An Expert View on the Adoption of a New Technology for Deploying Existing Virtual Environments in Virtual Urban Exergames

Exergames commonly denote serious games and gamified systems that were developed for the sake of improving health and exercise adherence. One of the recent trends in exergaming are urban games. They are defined as “highly interdisciplinary digital games which root in such diverse fields as architecture and urban planning, healthcare sciences, and serious games research” (Knoell et al., 2014). Besides having various ‘physical benefits’, such as promoting movement patterns, urban exergames have the core task of psychologically motivating players to exercise more and inspire them to be physically active. While offering an innovative and an immersive way to exercise, urban games come also with the typical drawbacks which outdoor exercising generally has (e.g. being dependent on good weather and intimidation problems for obese people). A possible solution would be simulating urban games for indoor exercise. On top of augmenting the sedentary game input to a motion-based one, designing and developing 3D environments for virtual urban games is not an obvious task and it takes a vast amount of knowledge, time and budget to create a realistic world with a “tremendous appeal and a powerful attraction”. To bypass this challenge, we introduce in this work a new technology for accessing and gamifying existing game environments. Furthermore, we validate our approach by presenting the results of a qualitative research that we have conducted with the help of gamification experts and exergame designers

Sport Exergames for Physical Education

Sports active video games (exergames) are accessible forms of physical activity which might also be used in physical education (PE) curriculum. The purpose of this book chapter is to firstly, review some of the relevant applications of sports exergames for inclusion in PE and secondly, to characterize one of these games (swimming) from different aspects of biomechanics, physiology, and psychology. We compared movement patterns, muscle activation, energy expenditure, enjoyment, usability, and game experience in participants with different performing levels (real-swimmers vs. non-swimmers, experienced vs. novice) and gender. Understanding these parameters may help in the development of more realistic sports exergames and meaningful gameplay and may give PE teachers a better idea of the inclusion of such games in their practice

Motivation to Move with Exergaming in Online Physical Education

Motivation to move is critical in online physical education (OLPE). This study looked at the motivational aspect of remote exergaming versus another student versus proximally against a console generated non-player character (NPC). Research shows that students in grades 4-12 are motivated to play exergames because they are native gamers. The entertainment value of the exergame garners more effort from the students than they realize they are expending. This research showed that exergames are motivating for students (N=124) aged 11-18 in grades 6-12. The subjects reported high motivation to participate while playing both a computer-generated NPC and a remote human opponent over the internet. Scores for motivation were highest when subjects played another student over the internet but were also high for proximal NPC play. This research positions exergaming as a potential piece of OLPE curriculum that can help students access the emotional aspect of physical education curriculum

Exergames and motor learning: Systematic review

Distance learning has led to a reflection on the role of physical activity even with children in nursery and primary schools. The traditional physical space combined with online suggests a rethinking of places and teaching-learning processes. Objective: to understand if and in what way active video games were considered and studied before the pandemic and if exergames can represent a useful teaching strategy to reclaim the priority role of physical activity in the education of the student and a tool for combating overweight, obesity, and sedentary lifestyle. Fixed point: exergames must not replace the physical exercise and movement inherent in the physical and motor education curriculum but integrate them

Desktop vs. Headset: A Comparative Study of User Experience and Engagement for Flexibility Exercise in Virtual Reality

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) technology for flexibility exercise and compare the physical outcomes, user experience, and engagement of VR desktops and VR headsets. The VR exercise application was designed using motion capture technology and exported to different VR devices. Each of the devices was used by 30 participants to perform a flexibility exercise in VR. Physical outcomes were measured using the sit-and-reach test, and user experience and engagement were evaluated using questionnaires and group discussions. The results showed that VR desktop participants had higher sit-and-reach scores. However, VR headset participants reported a more immersive experience (reality judgment) and motivation (value and usefulness). They also had higher engagement (focused attention and reward) levels than VR desktop participants. There were no significant differences between the two approaches in terms of enjoyment, effort, pressure, choice, correspondence, absorption, perceived usability, and aesthetic appeal. The study highlights the importance of considering physical outcomes, user experience, and engagement by comparing two different VR approaches for flexibility exercise. Further research is needed to explore the limitations and potential benefits of VR technology for physical activity. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-03 Full Text: PD

Who's Watching Me?: Exploring the Impact of Audience Familiarity on Player Performance, Experience, and Exertion in Virtual Reality Exergames

Familiarity with audiences plays a significant role in shaping individual performance and experience across various activities in everyday life. This study delves into the impact of familiarity with non-playable character (NPC) audiences on player performance and experience in virtual reality (VR) exergames. By manipulating of NPC appearance (face and body shape) and voice familiarity, we explored their effect on game performance, experience, and exertion. The findings reveal that familiar NPC audiences have a positive impact on performance, creating a more enjoyable gaming experience, and leading players to perceive less exertion. Moreover, individuals with higher levels of self-consciousness exhibit heightened sensitivity to the familiarity with NPC audiences. Our results shed light on the role of familiar NPC audiences in enhancing player experiences and provide insights for designing more engaging and personalized VR exergame environments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 202

How Effective Is “Exergamification”? A Systematic Review on the Effectiveness of Gamification Features in Exergames

Physical activity is very important to public health and exergames represent one potential way to enact it. The promotion of physical activity through gamification and enhanced anticipated affect also holds promise to aid in exercise adherence beyond more traditional educational and social cognitive approaches. This paper reviews empirical studies on gamified systems and serious games for exercising. In order to gain a better understanding of these systems, this review examines the types and aims (e.g. controlling body weight, enjoying indoor jogging…) of the corresponding studies as well as their psychological and physical outcomes. This paper particularly reviews the deployed motivational affordances and the effectiveness of incorporating gamification features in exergames. The review shows overall positive psychological outcomes (e.g. enjoying exercise) as well as behavioral ones (e.g. decreasing sedentariness) about exergames. Its findings inform about the current state of the research on the topic, based on which, suggestions for further research are outlined