The acute cognitive benefits of casual exergame play

Acute cognitive benefits, such as temporary improvements in concentration, can result from as few as ten minutes of exercise; however, most people do not take exercise breaks throughout the day. To motivate people to receive the cognitive benefits of exercising in short bursts multiple times per day, we designed an engaging casual exergame. To determine whether there are cognitive benefits after playing our game, we conducted two studies to compare playing ten minutes of our casual exergame to a sedentary version of the game or exercise on a treadmill. We found acute cognitive benefits of the casual exergame over the sedentary version (but not treadmill exercise), demonstrated by significantly improved performance on two cognitive tests that require focus and concentration. Significant improvements were also found in participants' affective states after playing the casual exergame. Finally, our casual exergame produces similar exertion levels to treadmill exercise, but is perceived as more fun.Ye

KINECTWheels: wheelchair-accessible motion-based game interaction

The increasing popularity of full-body motion-based video games creates new challenges for game accessibility research. Many games strongly focus on able-bodied persons and require players to move around freely. To address this problem, we introduce KINECTWheels, a toolkit that facilitates the integration of wheelchair-based game input. Our library can help game designers to integrate wheelchair input at the development stage, and it can be configured to trigger keystroke events to make off-the-shelf PC games wheelchair-accessible

VirusBoxing: A HIIT-based VR boxing game

Physical activity or exercise can improve people's health and reduce their risk of developing several diseases; most importantly, regular activity can improve the quality of life. However, lack of time is one of the major barriers for people doing exercise. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can reduce the time required for a healthy exercise regime but also bring similar benefits of regular exercise. We present a boxing-based VR exergame called VirusBoxing to promote physical activity for players. VirusBoxing provides players with a platform for HIIT and empowers them with additional abilities to jab a distant object without the need to aim at it precisely. In this paper, we discuss how we adapted the HIIT protocol and gameplay features to empower players in a VR exergame to give players an efficient, effective, and enjoyable exercise experience.Comment: Corresponding author: [email protected]

Custom-designed motion-based games for older adults: a review of literature in human-computer interaction

Many older adults, particularly persons living in senior residences and care homes, lead sedentary lifestyles, which reduces their life expectancy. Motion-based video games encourage physical activity and might be an opportunity for these adults to remain active and engaged; however, research efforts in the field have frequently focused on younger audiences and little is known about the requirements and benefits of motion-based games for elderly players. In this paper, we present an overview of motion-based video games and other interactive technologies for older adults. First, we summarize existing approaches towards the definition of motion-based video games – often referred to as exergames – and suggest a categorization of motion-based applications into active video games, exergames, and augmented sports. Second, we use this scheme to classify case studies addressing design efforts particularly directed towards older adults. Third, we analyze these case studies with a focus on potential target audiences, benefits, challenges in their deployment, and future design opportunities to investigate whether motion-based video games can be applied to encourage physical activity among older adults. In this context, special attention is paid to evaluation routines and their implications regarding the deployment of such games in the daily lives of older adults. The results show that many case studies examine isolated aspects of motion-based game design for older adults, and despite the broad range of issues in motion-based interaction for older adults covered by the sum of all research projects, there appears to be a disconnect between laboratory-based research and the deployment of motion-based video games in the daily lives of senior citizens. Our literature review suggests that despite research results suggesting various benefits of motion-based play for older adults, most work in the field of game design for senior citizens has focused on the implementation of accessible user interfaces, and that little is known about the long-term deployment of video games for this audience, which is a crucial step if these games are to be implemented in activity programs of senior residences, care homes, or in therapy

The physical and cognitive benefits of casual exergame play

Exercise can provide both physical and cognitive benefits to overall health, including long-term and short-term effects on wellness. In order to get these benefits, it is recommended that people perform at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a day; however, many people do not get the recommended amount of exercise per day, which can result in health problems such as obesity and chronic disease. In this thesis, we propose a new genre of games called casual exergames, which we define as exergames that are designed to motivate people to exercise in small chunks of time multiple times throughout the day. Casual exergames have three advantages. First, games have been shown to have a strong motivation pull to play (i.e., people enjoy playing games), and casual games – those designed to be played in small chunks of time – have seen huge market success. Thus, we feel that applying casual game design to exergames will provide players with an enjoyable experience while performing physical activity. Second, research supports the approach of breaking exercise into small chunks, as the physical benefits of three moderate-intensity short bouts of physical activity (each lasting about 10 minutes) are similar to those of one continuous 30-minute bout. Thus, there should be physical benefits of casual exergame play. Third, short bouts of exercise have been shown to yield acute cognitive benefits. Thus a well-designed casual exergame should also produce measurable benefits to cognition. Following this approach, we designed and implemented a causal exergame called GrabApple, using the Microsoft Kinect sensor to detect body movement. Through the evaluation of GrabApple (carried out in three research studies), we show that a well-designed casual exergame can: 1) yield physical activity levels (similar to exercise on a treadmill) that meet the guidelines for moderate-intensity physical activity; 2) produce significant acute benefits to cognition over playing a sedentary version of the game; and 3) be integrated into a school setting with the potential of helping kids achieve physical activity thresholds, while also helping them to refocus throughout the day. In general, our game may encourage adults and school-aged children to get the recommended levels of exercise throughout the day and also obtain the acute cognitive benefits provided by physical activity

Designing video games for older adults and caregivers

Providing care for older adults is a challenging task, particularly when close family members are involved: instead of spending quality time with the other person, caregiving relationships often focus on daily needs of the older adult, leaving little room for persons to communicate outside the caregiving context. In this paper, we examine the design of interactive technologies to support caregiving relationships through play. We present an exploratory study where ten caregiving dyads played cooperative motion-based video games, and follow up with two case studies to analyze how video game play affects older adults and family caregivers. Our results show that playing games generally represents an enjoyable activity for older adults and caregivers that can be integrated into the caregiving context. Based on our findings, we highlight design opportunities, and outline core challenges that need to be addressed to design accessible games that provide positive shared experiences for a wide range of caregiving dyads

Misrepresentation of health research in exertion games literature

HCI often requires scholars to build upon research from fields outside their expertise, creating the risk that foundational work is misunderstood and misrepresented. The prevailing goal of “exergames” research towards ameliorating obesity appears to be built on just such a misunderstanding of health research. In this paper, we analyse all citations to a single influential study, which has been extensively cited to justify research on exergames. We categorise the 375 citations based on whether they represent the findings of that study accurately or inaccurately. Our findings suggest that 69% of exergames papers citing this study misrepresent the findings, demonstrating a systematic failure of scholarship in exergames research. We argue that exergaming research should cease focusing on games as treatment for obesity, and that HCI publications should demand more critical and scholarly engagement with research from outside HCI

How to present game difficulty choices? Exploring the impact on player experience

Matching game difficulty to player ability is a crucial step toward a rewarding player experience, yet making difficulty adjustments that are effective yet unobtrusive can be challenging. This paper examines the impact of automatic and player-initiated difficulty adjustment on player experience through two studies. In the first study, 40 participants played the casual game THYFTHYF either in motion-based or sedentary mode, using menu-based, embedded, or automatic difficulty adjustment. In the second study, we created an adapted version of the commercially available game fl0w to allow us to carry out a more focused study of sedentary casual play. Results from both studies demonstrate that the type of difficulty adjustment has an impact on perceived autonomy, but other player experience measures were not affected as expected. Our findings suggest that most players express a preference for manual difficulty choices, but that overall game experience was not notably impacted by automated difficulty adjustments

Creating a treadmill running video game with smartwatch interaction

In recent years, indoor or at-home sports have experienced signifcant growth. However, monotony is a common challenge in these static physical activities. Exergames, a genre of video games that combines physical activity and entertainment, have emerged as an attractive solution. Nevertheless, running on a treadmill and engaging in other activities simultaneously presents additional challenges. The balance and concentration required during running while interacting with a video game demand a special focus on the design of the Exergame. This paper presents a mobile Exergame designed specifcally for treadmill running, utilizing interaction with a smartwatch. The game ofers natural environments where, through smartwatch technology, it interprets the player’s movements, transforming them into running speed and interactive actions by detecting gestures within the game. The main objective is to provide users with a satisfying gaming experience tailored to the characteristics of treadmill running. Particular emphasis has been placed on prioritizing the playful component of this Exergame, recognizing its relevance in the context of treadmill running. To evaluate the achievement of objectives and the proposed hypothesis, a comparative study was conducted between the proposed Exergame and a treadmill running simulator. Participants experienced both experiences and subsequently completed the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ), specifcally the In-game GEQ version. The results obtained indicate that participants had a better gaming experience in the Exergame than in the simulator. These fndings highlight the importance of prioritizing the playful component in Exergames and provide guidelines for future improvements and developments in the feld.Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Jaume