Computer-Aided Exercise
From EQUIS Lab Wiki
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, levels of overweight and obesity in Canadian boys have tripled over the last two decades, and levels for Canadian girls have doubled. This increase is largely attributed to changes in lifestyle, including significant reduction in exercise. Sedentary behaviour is blamed on a wide variety of factors, including increased use of automobiles and increased time spent on television and video games. The goal of this research is to investigate whether it is possible to combine video games, an activity that many children love, with beneficial exercise.
There are two primary components to this work: to ascertain whether it is possible to develop compelling and entertaining computer games with an exercise component, and to determine whether such games are good exercise that will improve the health of children who play them. To test the first hypothesis, we have built a hybrid device combining an exercise bicycle, a computer and a large-screen output device, and are developing a video game based on this platform. This game will be tested using traditional usability testing techniques. Eventually we plan to experimentally evaluate the quality of exercise offered by such a device.
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The Platform
We are building an experimental gaming platform that combines the following I/O devices:
- A Recumbent exercise bicycle
- A gaming steering wheel.
- A rear-projection SmartBOARD large display.
The bicycle is attached to a computer using Tunturi's proprietary protocol. This allows monitoring of the player's cycling speed and heart rate, and control of the bicycle's resistance. The steering wheel is a standard USB device providing steering and button input as well as force feedback output.
What Makes a Good Game?
Our vision is to create games that are so fun to play that children will consider their time as being spent playing rather than exercising. There is no doubting the popularity of video games. The global gaming industry is estimated to have grown to US$30-$35 Billion in 2002, and in the US has revenues that have already surpassed Hollywood's box office. Hit video game titles sell in the millions. There is even concern that some kinds of games may be addictive, leading players to devote unhealthy amounts of time to them.
The popularity of Konami'sDance Dance Revolution (DDR) has shown that video games with an exercise component can be enormously successful. We wish to characterize what kinds of features make games involving exercise fun. While defining what is "fun" in video games is a difficult enough problem in itself, there are certainly some features that are likely to be common in games involving exercise, such as balancing the amount of exercise at a level that is challenging but not exhausting and ensuring that the controls are sufficiently responsive to make the player feel immersed in the game. The problem of game design for exercise-based games is complicated by an apparent gender difference in what computer games children find fun.
The Vision
An obvious form of game is a simulation where the player controls a virtual cyclist involved in a race. The race could be against AI opponents or human opponents whose exercise bicycles are connected to the player's via a network. While such games already built-in to some commercial exercise equipment, there is a potential for vastly more involved games with the hardware that we are using.
The bicycle's controls could be tied to game mechanics in more abstract ways. For example, speed of pedalling could control the rate at which a game character's "hit points" regenerate or the power of a character's magic spells.
What is Good Exercise?
To be successful, computer-aided exercise tools must allow children to obtain exercise that is appropriate to their age and fitness level. Games must be sufficiently gated to ensure that children do not over-exercise. Once prototype games have been developed to a sufficient level, we plan to carry out studies in collaboration with researchers at the School of Physical and Health Education to evaluate the technology.
Read More
- Learn about similar work and products developed elsewhere.
- Read about our first game design.
