Younger adolescents’ perceptions of physical activity, exergaming, and virtual reality:qualitative intervention development study

Background. Novel strategies to promote physical activity (PA) in adolescence are required. The vEngage study aims to test whether a virtual reality (VR) exergaming intervention can engage younger adolescents (13-15 year old) with physical activity. Objective: This study aimed to gather adolescents’ views of using VR to encourage PA and identify the key features they would like to see in a VR exergaming intervention via interviews. Methods: Participants were recruited through two schools in London, UK. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescents about their views on PA and what might work to increase PA, technology, knowledge and experience of VR, and desired features in a VR exergaming intervention. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis. Results: 31 13-15 year olds (58% female, 62% from non-white ethnicities) participated in this interview study. The vast majority had no awareness of government PA recommendations, but felt they should be more thoroughly informed. All participants were positive about the use of VR in PA promotion. Rewards, increasing challenges and a social/multiplayer aspect were identified by participants as crucial aspects to include in a VR exercise game. Barriers were related to cost of high-end systems. Being able to exercise at home was very appealing. VR exergaming was viewed as a way to overcome multiple perceived social and cultural barriers to PA, particularly for girls. Conclusions: Key elements that should be incorporated into a VR for health intervention were identified and described. These also included the use of rewards, novelty and enjoyment in immersive game play, multi-player options, real-world elements, as well as continual updates and new challenge levels. The use of VR to promote PA in adolescents is promising, but some barriers were raised

NPC AI System Based on Gameplay Recordings

Hästi optimeeritud mitte-mängija tegelased (MMT) on vastaste või meeskonna kaaslastena üheks peamiseks osaks mitme mängija mängudes. Enamus mänguroboteid on ehitatud jäikade süsteemide peal, mis võimaldavad vaid loetud arvu otsuseid ja animatsioone. Kogenud mängijad suudavad eristada mänguroboteid inimmängijatest ning ette ennustada nende liigutusi ja strateegiaid. See alandab mängukogemuse kvaliteeti. Seetõttu, eelistavad mitme mängijaga mängude mängijad mängida pigem inimmängijate kui MMTde vastu. Virtuaalreaalsuse (VR) mängud ja VR mängijad on siiani veel väike osa mängutööstusest ja mitme mängija VR mängud kannatavad mängijabaasi kaotusest, kui mänguomanikud ei suuda leida teisi mängijaid, kellega mängida. See uurimus demonstreerib mängulindistustel põhineva tehisintellekt (TI) süsteemi rakendatavust VR esimese isiku vaates tulistamismängule Vrena. Teemamäng kasutab ebatavalist liikumisesüsteemi, milles mängijad liiguvad otsiankrute abil. VR mängijate liigutuste imiteerimiseks loodi AI süsteem, mis kasutab mängulindistusi navigeerimisandmetena. Süsteem koosneb kolmest peamisest funktsionaalsusest. Need funktsionaalsused on mängutegevuse lindistamine, andmete töötlemine ja navigeerimine. Mängu keskkond on tükeldatud kuubikujulisteks sektoriteks, et vähendada erinevate asukohal põhinevate olekute arvu ning mängutegevus on lindistatud ajaintervallide ja tegevuste põhjal. Loodud mängulogid on segmenteeritud logilõikudeks ning logilõikude abil on loodud otsingutabel. Otsingutabelit kasutatakse MMT agentide navigeerimiseks ning MMTde otsuste langetamise mehanism jäljendab olek-tegevus-tasu kontseptsiooni. Loodud töövahendi kvaliteeti hinnati uuringu põhjal, millest saadi märkimisväärset tagasisidet süsteemi täiustamiseks.A well optimized Non-Player Character (NPC) as an opponent or a teammate is a major part of the multiplayer games. Most of the game bots are built upon a rigid system with numbered decisions and animations. Experienced players can distinguish bots from hu-man players and they can predict bot movements and strategies. This reduces the quality of the gameplay experience. Therefore, multiplayer game players favour playing against human players rather than NPCs. VR game market and VR gamers are still a small frac-tion of the game industry and multiplayer VR games suffer from loss of their player base if the game owners cannot find other players to play with. This study demonstrates the applicability of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system based on gameplay recordings for a Virtual Reality (VR) First-person Shooter (FPS) game called Vrena. The subject game has an uncommon way of movement, in which the players use grappling hooks to navigate. To imitate VR players’ movements and gestures an AI system is developed which uses gameplay recordings as navigation data. The system contains three major functionality. These functionalities are gameplay recording, data refinement, and navigation. The game environment is sliced into cubic sectors to reduce the number of positional states and gameplay is recorded by time intervals and actions. Produced game logs are segmented into log sections and these log sections are used for creating a look-up table. The lookup table is used for navigating the NPC agent and the decision mechanism followed a way similar to the state-action-reward concept. The success of the developed tool is tested via a survey, which provided substantial feedback for improving the system

Using Virtual Reality to increase technical performance during rowing workouts

Technology is advancing rapidly in virtual reality (VR) and sensors, gathering feedback from our body and the environment we are interacting in. Combining the two technologies gives us the opportunity to create personalized and reactive immersive environments. These environments can be used e.g. for training in dangerous situations (e.g. fire, crashes, etc), or to improve skills with less distraction than regular natural environments would have. The pilot study described in this thesis puts an athlete who is rowing on a stationary rowing machine into a virtual environment. The VR takes movement from several sensors of the ergo-meter and displays those in VR. In addition, metrics on technique are being derived from the sensor data and physiological data. All this is used to investigate if, and to which extent, VR may improve the technical skills of the athlete during the complex sport of rowing. Furthermore, athletes are giving subjective feedback about their experience comparing a standard rowing workout, with the workout using VR. First results indicate better performance and an enhanced experience by the athlete

Beyond cute: exploring user types and design opportunities of virtual reality pet games

Virtual pet games, such as handheld games like Tamagotchi or video games like Petz, provide players with artificial pet companions or entertaining pet-raising simulations. Prior research has found that virtual pets have the potential to promote learning, collaboration, and empathy among users. While virtual reality (VR) has become an increasingly popular game medium, litle is known about users' expectations regarding game avatars, gameplay, and environments for VR-enabled pet games. We surveyed 780 respondents in an online survey and interviewed 30 participants to understand users' motivation, preferences, and game behavior in pet games played on various medium, and their expectations for VR pet games. Based on our findings, we generated three user types that reflect users' preferences and gameplay styles in VR pet games. We use these types to highlight key design opportunities and recommendations for VR pet games

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Exploring movement and enjoyment in VR games

Physical activity and health is declining globally as more and more people adopt increasingly sedentary lifestyles. This decline comes with many health-related risks in people of all ages and demographics. Video games are often seen as a large cause of this, which is why many game developers and companies have attempted to combat this stigma by creating games and systems that provide means of exercise while gaming. These types of games are commonly known as exergames, and Virtual Reality is the newest technology that is attempting to make use of exergaming with immersive and engaging games. Performing physical activity that has a high potential to be effective, engaging, and enjoyable for users, from the comfort of their own homes, is a proposition that VR gaming has the potential to fulfill for many. For this purpose, this research seeks to explore the possibilities of enjoyable physical activity in VR exergames and find answers for which design themes are especially effective for enjoyable movement and long-term engagement. The research was done with a basis on phenomenology and phenomenography, which are both studies heavily based on experiences of specific phenomena. Five different VR games were chosen for testing for the study and analyzed based on the provided movement and activity, as well as enjoyment. This data was measured and gathered via heart rate tracking, and a focus on the experiences of flow in VR. Additionally, an open written interview was performed with a participant with years of previous experience in VR gaming to gather more data for an outside experience view. The results of these experiences and feedback were then analyzed and compared to previous research on the subjects of VR enjoyment and exercise. The conclusions gathered from the research were formed into a list detailing beneficial design themes that help improve enjoyability and engaging movement in VR exergames. The provided list can serve as a helpful tool to both developers and future research on the matter of enjoyability and engaging movement in VR games, from a user experience perspective. Furthermore, Virtual Reality games can be said to positively increase engagement and enjoyability for physical activity when designed well. Future research can expand on this study by widening the scope of participants and including a larger variety of VR games to gather more data on user experiences.Fyysinen liikkuvuus ja hyvinvointi on laskusuunnassa maailmanlaajuisesti, sillä yhä useampi henkilö adoptoi elämäntyylejä, joissa liikkuvuus on vähäistä. Tämä tuo mukanaa monia hyvin-vointiin liittyviä riskejä kaikille ikäluokille. Videopelit nimetään usein yhdeksi isoksi syyksi yleiseen liikkuvuuden vähentymiseen maailmalla. Pelintekijät ja pelifirmat ovat pyrkineet taistelemaan tätä vastaan kehittämällä systeemejä ja pelejä, jotka yhdistävät pelaamisen ja liikku-misen. Tämän tyylisiä pelejä kutsutaan yleisesti nimellä exergames, joka tulee englanninkielen sanoista exercise, eli liikunta, ja game, eli peli. Virtuaalinen todellisuus (VR) on uusin teknologia, joka pyrkii hyödyntämään liikkuvuutta peleissä. Idea kotona suoritettavasta tehokkaasta ja nautinnollisesta fyysisestä liikkunnasta, joka viehättää käyttäjän mukaansa on ehdotus, jonka VR pelaaminen mahdollistaa monelle. Tämä tutkinto pyrkii tätä tarkoitusta varten tutkimaan liikkuvuutta ja nautintoa VR-peleissä, ja löytämään pelimekaniikkoja ja teemoja, jotka mahdollistavat suuremman nautinnon ja tehokkaamman liikkumisen näissä peleissä. Tämän tutkimuksen menetelmänä toimii yhdistelmä fenomenologiaa ja fenomenografiaa, jotka ovat laajalti omiin ja muiden suoriin kokemuksiin perustuvia laadullisia menetelmiä. Tutkimukseen on otettu testattavaksi viisi eri VR-peliä, joita tulen itse pelaamaan ja keräämään tietoa ja kokemuksia niiden nautinnollisuudesta ja liikkuvuudesta. Liikkuvuudesta kerätään tieto sykemittarin avulla, ja nautinnollisuuden kokemuksien perustana toimii laajalti tut-kittu flow-malli, joka mittaa erilaisia tuntemuksia aktiviteeteissä. Tämän lisäksi tutkimuksessa suoritetaan kirjallinen haastattelu ulkopuolisen henkilön kanssa, jolla on vuosien kokemuksia VR-peleistä. Näistä tutkimuksista löydetyt tiedot kerätään ja analysoidaan, sekä verrataan aiempiin tutkimuksiin ja löydöksiin VR liikunnan alalla. Tutkimuksen löydöksistä luotiin lista, jossa luetellaan hyödyllisiä teemoja liikkuvuuden ja nau-tinnollisuuden suhteen VR-peleissä. Pelintekijät ja tutkijat voivat hyödyntää tätä listaa vertausarvollisesti pelinkehityksessä ja muissa VR liikuntaan liittyvissä tutkimuksissa. Nämä teemat antavat erityisesti käyttäjäkokemuksellisesti hyödyllistä tietoa VR-pelien liikkuvuudesta ja nautinnollisuudesta. Tämän lisäksi tässä tutkimuksessa voidaan vahvistaa löydöksiä VR liikunnan yleisestä hyödyllisyydestä nautinnollisen ja houkuttelevan liikunnan edistämisessä. Jatkotutkimuksissa voidaan testata useampia VR-pelejä sekä laajentaa osallistujamäärää ja kerätä laajemmin käyttäjäkokemuksia

An Evaluation of Game Usability in Shared Mixed and Virtual Environments

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies are increasingly becoming more pervasive and important in the information technology area. Thanks to the technological improvements, desktop interfaces are being replaced by immersive VR devices that offer a more compelling game experience. AR games have started to draw attention of researchers and companies for their ability to exploit both the real and virtual environments. New fascinating challenges are generated by the possibility of designing hybrid games that allow several users to access shared environments exploiting the features of both AR and VR devices. However, the user experience and usability can be affected by several parameters, such as the field of view (FoV) of the employed devices or the realism of the scene. The work presented in this chapter aims to assess the impact of the FoV on the usability of the interfaces in a first-person shooter game. Two players, interacting with AR (first player) and VR (second player) devices, can fight each other in a large game environment. Although we cannot ascertain that different FoVs have affected the game usability, users considered the narrow FoV interfaces to be less usable, even though they could freely move around the real environment