This thesis presents the design and development of an innovative exergame aimed atcombating the adverse effects of sedentary lifestyles, particularly prevalent among officeworkers and gamers. The game, built using the open-source Godot game engine andGoogle's MediaPipe machine learning framework, utilizes motion capture technology totranslate real-world player movements into in-game actions. Designed as a 2D miningadventure, the game encourages the player to physically move, promoting physical activityand improved blood flow. In addition to exploring the technical aspects of gamedevelopment, this thesis examines the broader context of sedentary lifestyles, the healthrisks associated, and the potential of exergames as a solution. The research question drivingthis project asks, "How to develop a 2d mining exergame where skill correlates with a highdegree of movement?" Through game development, user testing, and data evaluation, thiswork seeks to contribute to the growing field of exergames and their role in promotinghealthier lifestyles

Aim The purpose of this study is to compare the level of activity between playing wii Sports Tennis and wii Sports boxing, and the usual sports, and to see how the two variants are perceived.Issues:- How much strain ratio and energy consumption it gives to exercise wii sports compared with the playing of sport for real?- How do the test participants experience the different tests?- How are the two wii sports games against each other in terms of activity and fitness in the school environment? Method This is an experimental study in which 10 test participants (5 men and 5 women) have carried out four different physical tests. The tests consisted of either playing an exergame or playing a sport for 25 minutes. Physical activity was measured during the test using a heart rate monitor. All test participants completed all tests in the same order. After each test, all test participants filled out a questionnaire concerning their immediate subjective experiences of the test. The results from the questionnaire where later compiled with the results from the physical tests. Results The results showed that the physical activity of the tennis and wii tennis differed. Tennis generated in 30% higher average heart rate and 88% higher average energy expenditure. The comparison between boxing and wii boxing, gave no significant results. Wii boxing generated 32% higher average heart rate and 81% higher average energy expenditure compared to wii tennis. Test Study participants also considered wii boxing to be more suitable in physical education than wii tennis. They also felt that both wii boxing and tennis was more enjoyable than wii tennis. Conclusion Wii tennis generated the lowest physical activity as compared to the three other forms of exercise. The real sports were most suitable for school sports, however, wii boxing was more suitable than wii tennis. Test participants also considered the wii boxing as more enjoyable than wii tennis and tennis / Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra aktivitetsgraden mellan att spela wii sports tennis och wii sports boxning och, de vanliga idrotterna, samt att se hur de båda varianterna upplevs. Frågeställningar: - Hur stor ansträngsningsgrad och energiförbrukning innebär utövande av wii sports jämfört med att utöva idrotterna på riktigt? - Hur upplever testdeltagarna de olika testerna? - Hur skiljer sig de två wii sportspelen beträffande aktivitet och lämplighet i skolmiljö? Metod Detta är en experimentell studie där 10 testdeltagare (5 män och 5 kvinnor) har genomfört 4 olika fysiska tester. Testerna bestod av att antingen spela ett träningsspel eller utöva en idrott i 25 minuter. Den fysiska aktiviteten mättes under testet med hjälp av pulsklocka. Alla testdeltagare genomförde alla tester i samma ordning. Efter varje avslutat test fick alla testdeltagare fylla i en enkät om deras omedelbara subjektiva upplevelser kring testet. Dessa sammanställdes sedan tillsammans med de fysiska resultaten. Resultat Resultaten visade att tennis och wii tennis skiljde sig åt. Tennis genererade 30% högre genomsnittlig arbetspuls och 88% högre genomsnittlig energiförbrukning. I jämförelsen mellan boxning och wii boxning fanns inga signifikanta resultat. Wii boxning genererade 32% högre genomsnittlig arbetspuls och 81% högre genomsnittlig energiförbrukning jämfört med wii tennis. Testdeltagarna i studien ansåg även att wii boxning passar bättre i skolidrotten jämfört med wii tennis. De upplevde även att både wii boxning och tennis var roligare än wii tennis. Slutsats Wii tennis genererade lägst fysisk aktivitet jämfört med de övriga tre motionsformer. De riktiga idrotterna ansågs mest appliceringsbara till skolidrotten, dock ansågs wii boxning lättare att applicera än wii tennis. Testdeltagarna ansåg också wii boxning som roligare än wii tennis och tennis.

As technology progresses, people start engaging in sedentary behaviour more and could raise the risk of getting health deficits such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and type-2 diabetes. Recent studies on how to prevent sedentary behaviour is to incorporate physical activity through exergaming. While many exergames have been on health aspects and how to design exergames, not much has been on the impact of certain game designs and game rules. Our paper will research how to design and create a fun 2Dplatform exergame and keep or increase the total movement as the player gets better at the game. The exergame used some normal game design and some known design strategies from experienced exergame designers. The data were then taken from the authors playing the exergame and the results showed a positive increase in total movement when they had a higher score. In-game components such as durational power ups had some higher and lower total movement per second than without, but in general the total movement increased the more power ups were picked up. We believe picking up power ups and power ups that motivates the player to move more, yields in more total movement

The traditional way to coordinate multiple clients in a multiplayer based game on multiple platforms is to create an implementation on a per-platform basis - resulting in often four different implementations, one for each major platform - ie. iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux based operating systems. This report examines the possibility of replacing multiple so called “native apps” with a single web based implementation - granting users access on all devices that supports modern browsers, and discusses what tools were used in the development of the application and why. / Det vanliga sättet att hantera multipla klienter i spel med flerspelarlägen är att utveckla unika implementationer på en per-plattform basis - alltså att samma applikation kräver en unik implementation för var plattform som skall stödjas. Vanligtvis görs en unik implementation för iOS, Android, Windows och Unix-baserade operativsystem vardera. Denna rapport undersöker möjligheten att ersätta dessa implementationer med en unison webbaserad implementation som tillåter alla enheter ​med stöd för moderna webbläsare att använda applikationen och diskuterar vilka verktyg som använts och varför.

Obesity has become a worldwide problem that most countries are trying to fight. It affects many people, irrespective of age, race, gender, or religion; anyone can suffer from obesity, which leads to serious problems, both for individuals and for society as a whole. In this study we have selected two groups of people: the basic people who do not exercise on a weekly basis, and the average people who exercise regularly, every week. We have explored the attitude of the two groups in regards to mixing exercises with games, in order to motivate the people with basic activity levels to exercise more frequently. We have used a qualitative standard online questionnaire from AttrakDiff, which evaluates user experience through four important aspects: a) quality; b) subjective understanding of quality and subjective evaluation of quality; c) pragmatic and hedonic features; and d) emotional and behavioural effects. We also did a qualitative study and a quantitative study of some of the important factors present during exercise. The results of the qualitative and quantitative studies were very encouraging as they revealed that mixing games with exercise can transform boring exercises into entertaining ones. It can also motivate players to continue and repeat the exercises. The ANOVA test was applied and it shows that combining games with a stationary bike has a significant effect on the speed and the average rotation per minute of the participants.

Obesity has become a worldwide problem that most countries are trying to fight. It affects many people, irrespective of age, race, gender, or religion; anyone can suffer from obesity, which leads to serious problems, both for individuals and for society as a whole. In this study we have selected two groups of people: the basic people who do not exercise on a weekly basis, and the average people who exercise regularly, every week. We have explored the attitude of the two groups in regards to mixing exercises with games, in order to motivate the people with basic activity levels to exercise more frequently. We have used a qualitative standard online questionnaire from AttrakDiff, which evaluates user experience through four important aspects: a) quality; b) subjective understanding of quality and subjective evaluation of quality; c) pragmatic and hedonic features; and d) emotional and behavioural effects. We also did a qualitative study and a quantitative study of some of the important factors present during exercise. The results of the qualitative and quantitative studies were very encouraging as they revealed that mixing games with exercise can transform boring exercises into entertaining ones. It can also motivate players to continue and repeat the exercises. The ANOVA test was applied and it shows that combining games with a stationary bike has a significant effect on the speed and the average rotation per minute of the participants.

Most people today spend a large part of their days doing sedentary activities, such as working in front of a computer. Long hours of inactivity have a negative effect on the body, even in people who report an active lifestyle outside of their sedentary work environment. This negative effect can be counteracted by taking short pauses of activity with regular intervals during the day. However, despite the fact that the time and level of activity needed to gain these positive effects are small, most people still have a hard time taking these breaks, even when they know it is good for them. To help break this sedentary behavior the project therefore aimed to develop an exergame that increases the motivation to actually engage in active pauses on a regular basis, and to examine how such a game should be designed for an enjoyable experience. The developed game prototype was an explorative game with a set play time of two minutes per round, controlled by the player moving in front of a web camera. Evaluation with playtesters showed that the game did not lead to a particularly enjoyable experience, but possible improvements in terms of challenge, feedback, level design and immersion were identified.

Background: Adherence to recommendations for physical activity is low in patients with heart failure (HF). It is essential to explore to what extent and why patients with HF are physically active. Self-efficacy and motivation for physical activity are important in becoming more physically active, but the role of self-efficacy in the relationship between motivation and physical activity in patients with HF is unknown. Alternative approaches to motivate and increase self-efficacy to exercise are needed. One of these alternatives might be using exergames (games to improve physical exercise). Therefore, it is important to obtain more knowledge on the potential of exergaming to increase physical activity. The overall aim was to describe the physical activity in patients with HF, with special focus on motivations and self-efficacy in physical activity, and to describe the potential of exergaming to improve exercise capacity. Methods: Study I (n = 154) and II (n = 101) in this thesis had a cross-sectional survey design. Study III (n = 32) was a 12-week pilot intervention study, including an exergame platform at home, with a pretest-posttest design. Study IV (n = 14) described the experiences of exergaming in patients who participated in the intervention group of a randomized controlled study in which they had access to an exergame platform at home. Results: In total, 34% of the patients with HF had a low level of physical activity, 46% had a moderate level, 23% reported a high level. Higher education, higher selfefficacy, and higher motivation were significantly associated with a higher amount of physical activity. Barriers to exercise were reported to be difficult to overcome and psychological motivations were the most important motivations to be physically active. Women had significantly higher total motivation to be physically active. Self-efficacy mediated the relationship between exercise motivation and physical activity; motivation leads to a higher self-efficacy towards physical activity. More than half of the patients significantly increased their exercise capacity after 12 weeks of using an exergame platform at home. Lower NYHA-class and shorter time since diagnosis were factors significantly related to the increase in exercise capacity. The mean time spent exergaming was 28 minutes per day. Having grandchildren and being male were related to more time spent exergaming. The analysis of the qualitative data resulted in three categories describing patients’ experience of exergaming: (i) making exergaming work, (ii) added value of exergaming, (iii) no appeal of exergaming. Conclusion: One-third of the patients with HF had a low level of physical activity in their daily life. Level of education, exercise self-efficacy, and motivation were important factors to take into account when advising patients with HF about physical activity. In addition to a high level of motivation to be physically active, it is important that patients with HF have a high degree of exercise self-efficacy. Exergaming has the potential to increase exercise capacity in patients with HF. The results also showed that this technology might be suitable for some patients while others may prefer other kinds of physical activity. / Achtergrond: Het aantal patiënten met hartfalen (HF) dat zich kan houden aan de aanbevolen lichamelijke activiteit is over het algemeen klein. Het is essentieel om te onderzoeken in hoeverre en waarom patiënten met HF lichamelijk actief zijn. Het hebben van self-efficacy (een persoonlijke overtuiging dat hij/zij capabel is om te doen wat nodig is om een taak te volbrengen op een bepaald kwaliteitsniveau) en motivatie voor lichamelijke activiteit is belangrijk om meer lichamelijk actief te worden. Het is echter niet duidelijk wat de rol van self-efficacy is in relatie tot motivatie en lichamelijke activiteit bij patiënten met HF. Alternatieve benaderingen zijn nodig om patiënten te motiveren lichamelijk actiever te zijn en de self-efficacy te verhogen. Een van de mogelijke alternatieven om patiënten met HF te helpen lichamelijk actiever te zijn is de inzet van exergames: computerspellen om fysieke activiteit te bevorderen. Er is tot nu toe geen onderzoek is gedaan naar de inzet van exergaming bij patiënten met hartfalen en de mogelijkheden van exergaming om patiënten te stimuleren tot meer lichamelijke activiteit. Het doel van dit proefschrift is het beschrijven van de lichamelijke activiteit van patiënten met HF met extra aandacht voor de motivatie en self-efficacy ten opzichte van lichamelijke activiteit. Een tweede doel is om inzicht te krijgen in de mogelijkheid om exergaming te gebruiken om de lichamelijke activiteit van patiënten met HF te verhogen. Methode: In dit proefschrift worden gegevens van 4 studies beschreven (studie I-IV). Studie I (n = 154) en II (n = 101) hebben een crosssectioneel survey design. Studie III (n = 32) is een 12 weken durende pilot-interventie studie met een pretest-posttest design waarbij patiënten 12 weken lang een exergame platform thuis konden gebruiken. Studie IV (n = 14) beschrijft de ervaringen van patiënten die deelnamen aan de interventiegroep van een gerandomiseerde studie waarin zij een exergame platform thuis kregen. Resultaten: In totaal hebben 34% van alle patiënten met hartfalen een laag niveau van lichamelijke activiteit, 46% had een matig niveau, en 23% een hoog niveau. Een hoger opleidingsniveau, self-efficacy en motivatie significant werd geassocieerd met een hogere hoeveelheid lichamelijke activiteit. Het bleek dat barrières voor fysieke activiteit moeilijk te overbruggen waren. Met betrekking tot motivatie, bleek dat psychologische motivatie de belangrijkste drijfveer was om fysiek actief te zijn. Verder bleek dat vrouwen een significant hogere motivatie voor fysieke activiteit hebben dan mannen. Een ander belangrijk resultaat was dat self-efficacy de relatie tussen motivatie en lichamelijke activiteit beïnvloedt; motivatie leidt tot een hogere self-efficacy wat leidt tot hogere fysieke activiteit. Met betrekking tot de resultaten van exergaming bleek dat de inspanningscapaciteit van meer dan de helft van de patiënten aanzienlijk was toegenomen na 12 weken gebruik gemaakt te hebben van een exergame platform thuis. Patiënten met een lager NYHA-klasse en een kortere tijd na de diagnose verhogen significant meer hun inspanningscapaciteit. Ook bleek dat het hebben van een partner en kleinkinderen gerelateerd is aan meer tijd besteden aan exergaming. De analyse van de ervaringen van patiënten in de kwalitatieve studie resulteerde in drie categorieën: (i) zorgen dat exergaming werkt, (ii) toegevoegde waarde van exergaming, (iii) geen aantrekking tot exergaming. Conclusie: Een derde van de patiënten met HF heeft een laag niveau van lichamelijke activiteit in hun dagelijks leven. Opleidingsniveau, self-efficacy en motivatie zijn belangrijke factoren om rekening mee te houden bij het geven van advies aan patiënten met HF betreffende fysieke activiteit. Naast een hoge motivatie tot bewegen is het belangrijk dat patiënten met HF een hoog niveau van self-efficacy hebben om fysiek actief te zijn. Exergaming heeft potentie om inspanningscapaciteit bij patiënten met HF te verhogen. Uit de resultaten blijkt ook dat deze techniek geschikt is voor een deel van de patiënten, terwijl een deel van de patiënten wellicht liever andere vormen van lichamelijke activiteit beoefenen.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:23:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Lucia Nakamura.pdf: 10013747 bytes, checksum: 83e633eb993bd3de603aff1d99d34234 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-28 / This bibliographic research aims to identify the exergames contributions in physical, emotional and cognitive aspects. It is based on two main themes: the aging process and the games. The study also identify the elderly preferences about the games and their motivations to play. It describes the aging process and how the elderly use technology, especifically relating to the exergames. The games go beyond the fun when its characteristics are combined with physical exercises. Thus, they can be alternatives for rehabilitation of motor functions, cognitive and improvements in emotional aspects. Through case studies about exergames in reabilitations with Parkinson Disease, Alzheimer, subsyndromic depression, stroke and postural balance, the exergames contributions to the elderly (men and women about 60 to 94 years old from different countries) are shown in this research. This research is based on the games publications of Johan Huizinga, Roger Caillois, Sergio Nesteriuk Gallo, Vicente Mastrcolla and Jenova Chen. The aging process studies are based on publications of Simone de Beauvoir, Beltrina Côrte and Elisabeth F. Mercadante / Esta pesquisa bibliográfica objetiva identificar as contribuições dos exergames para um longeviver melhor, em seus aspectos físicos, emocionais e cognitivos. Para tanto, os estudos foram baseados em dois temais centrais: o processo de envelhecimento e os games. Investiga-se o que os indivíduos com mais de 60 anos jogam, suas preferências e motivações para jogar. A partir das ideias de longeviver e cuidadania busca-se compreender como ocorre o processo de envelhecimento, abordando como as pessoas de 60 anos mais interagem com a tecnologia, em especial com os exergames que vão além da essencial diversão dos jogos digitais, oferecendo possibilidades na reabilitação de funções motoras, cognitivas e melhorias em aspectos emocionais a partir da atividade física proposta em seus jogos. As contribuições dos exergames às pessoas idosas (homens, mulheres com faixa etária entre 60 e 94 anos, de países diversos) são identificadas a partir de estudos de caso sobre pessoas que sofreram um Acidente Vascular Encefálico, indivíduos idosos com Doença de Parkinson, Alzheimer, quadros de depressão leve e disfunções de equilíbrio postural. As contribuições dos exergames descritas são apresentadas também na forma de três mapas mentais, que permitem uma rápida compreensão das informações descritas no capítulo 3. Os estudos de jogos são fundamentados nas obras de Johan Huizinga, Roger Caillois e dos pesquisadores Sergio Nesteriuk Gallo, Vicente Mastrocolla, Jenova Chen. Já os estudos sobre o processo de envelhecimento foram baseados nos trabalhos de Simone de Beauvoir e das pesquisadoras Beltrina Côrte e Elisabeth F. Mercadante

O panorama populacional do Brasil mostra um quadro de crescimento significativo nas taxas de sobrepeso e obesidade na infância e juventude. Essa realidade deve levar ao aumento da incidência de casos de doenças e, por consequência, ao aumento dos gastos públicos com saúde nos próximos anos. Diante dessa perspectiva, exergames - classe de jogos que buscam unir a diversão de jogos eletrônicos à promoção da saúde através da prática de atividades físicas - podem trazer uma contribuição significativa à sociedade. Entretanto, é necessário identificar a melhor forma de motivar as pessoas e definir as funcionalidades que favorecem o estímulo no ambiente do jogo. Este trabalho introduz o Running Wheel, um exergame de caminhada ou corrida em esteira ergométrica, com modos de jogo single player e multiplayer, nas versões competitivo (contra um adversário) e colaborativo (corrida em grupo cooperativo). O mjogo captura a velocidade da esteira e o ritmo cardíaco do jogador. A exibição é feita em um monitor instalado à frente da esteira. O sistema descrito foi implementado e uma metodologia desenvolvida para avaliação de duas hipóteses: a) existe diferença de desempenho entre os participantes que utilizam o Running Wheel no modo competitivo daqueles que experimentam o modo single player; e b) diferentes tipos de parceiros virtuais influenciam o desempenho, ou seja, correr contra si mesmo, contra alguém melhor, ou a livre escolha de um adversário de uma lista, pode levar a resultados distintos. Foram realizados experimentos com 12 voluntários ao longo de seis sessões de corrida, com 12 minutos de duração cada uma. As avaliações revelaram preferência dos participantes pelo modo multiplayer competitivo (10 usuários) sendo que a principal característica motivacional apontada foi o avatar (5 participantes), seguido do ambiente virtual (4 participantes). Os usuários do modo competitivo demonstraram um nível de esforço significativamente superior ao daqueles do modo single player, também confirmado por um ritmo cardíaco em média 5,9% maior, indicando que o modo competitivo teve uma capacidade de estímulo maior. As diferenças de distância e tipos de avatares, no entanto, não foram estatisticamente significantes, o que deverá ser investigado em pesquisas futuras. Os resultados evidenciaram a capacidade do exergame mudar a percepção dos usuário. Mesmo pessoas que inicialmente afirmaram não serem competitivas mudaram seu comportamento após a intervenção. Trabalhos futuros devem investigar o modo colaborativo em comparação com os outros modos, levando-se em conta aspectos de personalização do jogo como escolha das mensagens, e uso de avatares mais realistas. Outras áreas de interesse incluem métodos de geração de cenários baseados em locais públicos, e renderização de múltiplos avatares, simulando uma maratona virtual com mais competidores. / Developing countries like Brazil are witnessing important changes on demographics with increasing rates of overweight and obese children and young adults. These trends may lead to an increase of diseases, which in turn can cause an impact on public funds of health and social security. Considering this picture, exergames - class of games that combine health promotion to video games and thus fun - may bring an important contribution to change society. However, it’s necessary to acknowledge the main ways and features of stimulus that can be leveraged in this class of application, to promote a better incentive on the virtual gaming environment. In this work we introduce Running Wheel, an exergame with single player and multiplayer (competitive or collaborative) modes with real time capture of heartbeat rhythm and speed of a treadmill. The Running Wheel system is described and a methodology for its evaluation is presented, investigating two hypotheses: (a) there is difference between users that ran with the competitive mode versus the single player mode; and (b) there is difference in performance depending on the kind of competitor picked (three virtual competitors were tested: against oneself, against a better player or free selection from a list). We evaluated Running Wheel with 12 volunteers which performed at least 6 jogging sessions of 12 minutes each, following Cooper’s Fitness Test. Ten users preferred the competitive mode over the single player and reported the main source of motivation being the avatar (5 participants) followed by the virtual environment (4 participants). Volunteers of the competitive mode showed a superior level of effort with a heart beat rhythm 5.9% above when compared to those exercising on single player. However we did not find statistically significant differences of distance or among the different kinds of participants which should be addressed on a future research. Results confirmed that this exergame could change users’ behavior on competitiveness. Even volunteers that initially reported not being competitive at all had this perception changed after experimenting Running Wheel. Future works should investigate the collaborative mode against other modes and personalization features such as customized goals and incentive messages, more realistic avatars based on player’s physical appearance and scenarios modeled from real locations.