published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Exergames combine physical activity and entertainment in an effort to increase people’s motivation to exercise. Multiplayer exergames attempt to include the motivating aspects of group activity by allowing two or more people to play together. In most multiplayer exergames, a player’s in-game performance is limited by her physical abilities. Less fit players are demotivated by repeated losses to more fit opponents, while fitter players face a lack of competition from unfit opponents. This situation makes it difficult for people of disparate physical abilities to play exergames together. This research presents heart rate balancing, a novel player balancing technique to better support engaging experiences in multiplayer exergames. Heart rate balancing bases players’ in-game performance on their effort relative to fitness level rather than their raw power. More specifically, heart rate monitoring is used to set in-game performance based on how closely a person adheres to her target heart rate. Experiments with heart rate balancing show that the technique improves competition between players. A strong correlation was found between people’s perceived effort and their in-game performance with heart rate balancing. The degree to which players noticed the balancing mechanism varied depending on game type. However, heart rate balancing did not interfere with people’s ability to play exergames. These results indicate that the heart rate balancing technique is a promising approach for improving enjoyment and engagement in multiplayer exergames. / Thesis (Ph.D, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-26 23:38:57.625

The number of children with complex medical needs has risen in recent years, due to the increase in medical technology and subsequent increased survival rate of premature infants. This has led to an increasing number of children with complex neurological conditions, such as Cerebral Palsy, being seen by speech-language therapists to address their complex feeding and communication needs in schools (Arvedson 2008). Surface electromyography (sEMG) has been successfully used as a tool to facilitate therapy in adult dysphagia rehabilitation (Huckabee & Cannito 1999), and has been used in studies of dysarthric speech in children with Cerebral Palsy (Marchant, Mc Auliffe & Huckabee 2007). This case series report examines the effect of oral motor control therapy with sEMG biofeedback to increase motor control and inhibit increased muscle tone. Three participants aged 6, 16, and 18 were selected from the population of Kimi Ora Special School. Each of the three participants were offered sixty, twice daily treatment sessions of 30 minutes each focusing on active relaxation, and reducing duration of return to reset after recruitment of the masseter and submental muscles using sEMG biofeedback. After each session each participant was fed a prescribed amount of thin fluid and a range of food textures to encourage generalization of increased control of the submental and masseter muscles during eating and drinking. One participant was withdrawn after 42 sessions, and two participants completed all 60 sessions. Results showed variable improvement in feeding skills, with a notable improvement in anterior food loss. All participants were able to participate fully in the treatment and made significant gains in their ability to control their muscles during treatment sessions which was reflected in the reduction of sEMG amplitudes. This study demonstrated that oral motor control therapy with sEMG is a viable treatment tool, which warrants further larger scale research into its effectiveness.

This study addressed slowed, paced, diaphragmatic breathing as an adaptive technique for persons in stressful life circumstances. Ninety-six U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve trainees on active duty voluntarily participated over 12 days according to one of three conditions: (1) The treatment group (n=35) was instructed in and given four 10 minute sessions of slowed, diaphragmatic breathing paced to the flashing of two lights (one red and one green) which cued a 4 second inspiration and a 4 second exhalation; (2) The attention control group (n=31) counted flashes on an identical light apparatus for four 10 minute sessions; (3) The no treatment control group (n=30), was given four 10 minute breaks during concurrent periods. All subjects were pretested and posttested with the A-State form of the StateTrait Anxiety Inventory and the Mooney Problem Checklist. These scores were the two dependent variables. Analysis ofvariance of pretest scores indicated no significant differences among group means. Two univariate analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Null hypothesis 1, that there would be no difference among posttest means for A-State Anxiety, was rejected. Null hypothesis 2, that there would be no difference among posttest means for Mooney Total, was upheld. Post hoc comparisons (Sheffe) between groups on the A-State measure revealed that the treatment group reported significantly less anxiety than the attention control group. But no significant difference was found between the treatment group and the no treatment group. Similar findings were reported by Holmes, et al. (1978). Procedural and nonspecific effects on the outcome and implications for future research were discussed.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--California State University, Chico, 2005. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 83-87).

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 1998. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 101 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-60).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-59).

abstract: Beneath the epidermis, the human body contains a vibrant and complex ecology of interwoven rhythms such the heartbeat, the breath, the division of cells, and complex brain activity. By repurposing emergent medical technology into real-time gestural sound controllers of electronic musical instruments, experimental musicians in the 1960s and 1970s – including David Rosenboom – began to realize the expressive potential of these biological sounds. Composers experimented with breath and heartbeat. They also used electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, which register various types of brain waves. Instead of using the sound of brain waves in fixed-media pieces, many composers took diverse approaches to the challenge of presenting this in live performance. Their performance practices suggest different notions of embodiment, a relationship in this music which has not been discussed in detail. Rosenboom reflects extensively on this performance practice. He supports his EEG research with theory about the practice of biofeedback. Rosenboom’s work with EEG sensors spans several decades and continue today, which has allowed him to make use of advancing sensing and computing technologies. For instance, in his 1976 On Being Invisible, the culmination of his work with EEG, he makes use of analyzed EEG data to drive a co-improvising musical system. In this thesis, I parse different notions of embodiment in the performance of EEG music. Through a critical analysis of examples from the discourse surrounding EEG music in its early years, I show that cultural perception of EEG sonification points to imaginative speculations about the practice’s potentials; these fantasies have fascinating ramifications on the role of the body in this music’s performance. Juxtaposing these with Rosenboom, I contend that he cultivated an embodied performance practice of the EEG. To show how this might be manifest in performance, I consider two recordings of On Being Invisible. As few musicologists have investigated this particular strain of musical experimentalism, I hope to contextualize biofeedback musicianship by offering an embodied reading of this milestone work for EEG. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2015