Physical inactivity is a growing concern in the world. Exergames, which are physically demanding games, offer a solution to motivate individuals to participate in regular physical activity, and virtual reality (VR) is the latest addition to this field. Visual physical activity data through wearable trackers has also shown promising results to motivate individuals to stay active. This thesis researched the possibility to increase VR players physical activity levels, beneficial movements, and immersion, by involving their physical activity data in the form of a physical activity bar in the gameplay, with a reward being granted upon completion. This was explored through a within-subject user study with 20 participants where they first played a VR game without the physical activity bar and then again with it. The results showed an increase for all activity levels and immersion, however, the conclusion was that players are more likely to perform beneficial movements that fit the gameplay. / Fysisk inaktivitet är ett växande bekymmer i världen. Exergames, som är fysiskt krävande spel, erbjuder en lösning för att motivera individer att delta i regelbunden fysisk aktivitet, och virtuell verklighet (VR) är det senaste tillskottet på detta område. Visuell fysisk aktivitetsdata genom bärbara spårare har också visat lovande resultat för att motivera individer att hålla sig aktiva. Det här examensarbetet undersökte möjligheten att öka VR-spelares fysiska aktivitetsnivåer, speciella rörelser och immersion, genom att involvera deras fysiska aktivitetsdata i form av fysisk aktivitetsdata i spelet, med en belöning som delas ut när de är klara. Detta undersöktes genom en användarstudie inom ämnet med 20 deltagare där de först spelade ett VR-spel utan fältet för fysisk aktivitet och sedan igen med det. Resultaten visade en ökning för alla aktivitetsnivåer och immersion, men kom till slutsatsen att spelare är mer benägna att utföra speciella rörelser som passar spelet.

Title Sensorimotor response to the audiovisual impulse of young school age children. The aim of the work The aim of the work was quantification of sensorimotor response to the audiovisual impulse of young school age girls. Method Pilot study - experimental research, indirect measurement. Results Investigation showed that the group of girls who do coordination-aesthetic sports reached better results of sensorimotor response to the audiovisual impulse in the tests of gross and fine coordination than the group of girls who do not or have not been doing coordination-aesthetic sports in the past. Key words Sensomotor, Coordination-aesthetic sports, Dance mat, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), Exergames

Few studies have focused on how learning takes place in physical education and health (PEH) practices, and even more so in relation to artifact use. Dance is a core content in the Swedish curriculum, but according to previous research it nevertheless rarely occurs in practice due to many teachers’ lack of knowledge. Movement qualities are something that students are supposed to develop in the subject, where dance can be used as a form of activity. The aim of the licentiate thesis is to examine students’ use and development of different movement qualities in a learning process where dance exergames are used as teaching aids in the PEH practice in upper secondary school. The research questions in the study are: (1) what kind of movement qualities do students use when they interact with each other and with dance exergames, and (2) how does the learning of movement qualities occur when dance exergames are used as teaching aids? A series of seven PEH-lessons were designed. Four of the lesson had a spe-cific purpose, such as working with rhythm and coordination where the exergames Nintendo Wii Just Dance 3 and 4 were used as teaching aids. In two other lessons the students worked in groups to create their own dances, and as a final goal, at lesson seven, the groups presented their dances. All the lessons were video recorded. A framework inspired by Laban’s movement analysis was used to analyze the students’ movement qualities, based on four aspects: body, space, effort and relationship. To be able to analyze the students, the dance exergames and the context as a whole, the study involved a socio-cultural ap-proach to learning. Learning situations in the ongoing practice were also ana-lyzed, where learning was investigated as something that occurs through inter-actions between students and between students and artifacts. The results show a way to describe students’ movement qualities, which con-tribute to PEH-teachers language of knowledge in movement. The results also demonstrate that learning occurred through imitation, repetition, communica-tion, negotiation, practice, modeling, instruction and using metaphors. A con-clusion is that students’ use and development of movement qualities do not depend on the use of the dance exergames per se, instead it depends on how the dance exergames are used in PEH practice. / Forskningslinjen Utbildning

Teknik med spelmekanik används allt mer i sportmiljöer, men både fördelar och utmaningar finns med denna typ av teknik. Nyligen har ett kommersiellt intresse riktats mot golf driving ranges och installation av spelsystem i dessa områden, men lite forskning har utförts om hur dessa installationer påverkar golfare under deras träning och hur spelare interagerar med dem. I denna studie observerades och filmades grupper av golfare medan de interagerade med en uppsättning spel och intervjuades senare om deras upplevelse. Resultaten argumenterar för att spela golfspel i virtuella miljöer kan hjälpa till med att öva på olika strategier och stödja gruppsamarbete. Det är dock viktigt att ta hänsyn till sportens fysiska egenskaper och att tekniken och spelen stödjer olika typer av svingtekniker, korrekt feedback och pricksäkerhetsövning. Studien ger en diskussion kring betydelsen av golfträning och hur spel kan stödja det, varför golfare samarbetar trots att de är varandras motståndare och hur man ska spela på teknikens styrkor. Dessutom ger den direktiv för hur spelmekanik skulle kunna användas i fysiska miljöer och för framtida forskning. / Technology with game mechanics is becoming increasingly used in sports environments, but both benefits and challenges exist with this type of technology. Recently, a commercial interest has been directed towards golf driving ranges and installing game systems in those areas, but little research has been conducted on how these installations affect golfers during their practice and how players interact with them. In this study, three groups of golfers were observed and recorded while they interacted with a set of games and were later interviewed about their experience. The results argue that playing golf games in virtual environments can help with practicing on different strategies and support group collaboration. However, it is essential to take into account the physical characteristics of the sport and that the technology and games support different types of swing techniques, correct feedback and accuracy practice. The study provides a discussion around the meaning of golf practice and how games can support it, why golfers collaborate despite being each others’ opponents, and how to play on the strengths of the technology. In addition, it provides directions both for how game mechanics could be utilized in physical environments and for future research.

The modern office environment requires employees to perform stationary work. This can cause them several health issues due to being sedentary for long periods of time. An exergame was developed with the aim to remedy these issues by encouraging short motion controlled game sessions during breaks. The game was a farming game developed using the Godot game engine and the ML based skeletal tracking software Mediapipe. The game was played for 86 two-minute sessions where data was collected to evaluate how to use farming game tropes within the design for more movement to yield better results. It was also used to evaluate how the game mechanics could be distributed throughout the game session to promote sustained exertion during an average session. It was concluded that for farming exergames, if the goal is to reward players who exert themselves more, the in-game rewards should not make the game easier to play effectively as they generally do in typical farming games. Furthermore, it was also concluded that interactions happening in a sporadic order help with keeping the average exertion consistent, in addition to the aspect that players always have something to do during the allotted game session time.

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Kurzfassung: Sport im Sinne eines regelmäßigen körperlichen Trainings sollte aus gesundheitlichen Gründen nach einer Schwangerschaft empfohlen werden. Jedoch müssen an diese Aktivitäten besondere Ansprüche gestellt werden. Die Beanspruchung sollte moderat und mit geringem Risiko sein. Weiters muss die körperliche Aktivität in den Tagesablauf einer jungen Mutter integrierbar sein. Hierzu könnten digitale Spiele mit Ganzkörperaktivitäten sinnvoll eingesetzt werden. Ziel dieser Trainingsstudie war es, möglichen Einsatz und mögliche Wirkung ausgewählter Übungen der Nintendo Wii Fit Plus bei postnatalen Frauen zu überprüfen. Dabei wurden subjektive Eindrücke wie das Spielerleben und wahrgenommene Beanspruchung erhoben. Die Wirkung auf die aerobe Ausdauerleistungsfähigkeit wurde durch eine 6-wöchige Intervention überprüft. An der Studie nahmen 8 Probandinnen (Alter 29,0 ± 4,6 Jahre, Größe 1,7 ± 0,1 m, Body-Mass-Index [BMI] 25,1 ± 3,1 kg/m², postnatal 6,3 ± 1,9 Wochen) teil. Ergebnisse: Die Probandinnen zeigten nach einmaligem Spielen eine hohe bis sehr hohe Motivation, dieses Spiel noch mal zu spielen. Es wurde als nicht stressig mit mittlerer Spielgeschwindigkeit bei einfacher und übersichtlicher Bedienung bewertet. Über den Beobachtungszeitraum nahmen die Frauen eine moderate (etwas anstrengende) Beanspruchung mit hohem Spaßempfinden wahr. Signifikante Gewichtsreduktionen sowie eine Verbesserung der aeroben Leistungsfähigkeit konnten nicht festgestellt werden. Schlussfolgernd bleibt festzuhalten, dass trotz nicht-signifikanter metabolischer und morphologischer Adaptionen eine hohe Motivation zu erwarten ist, was unter gegebenen Übungsvariationen der Nintendo Wii Fit Plus zu regelmäßigem Training führen kann. Da diese Studie nur Pilotcharakter hatte, wäre unter randomisierten kontrollierten Bedingungen eine Untersuchung mit größerem Probandenumfang durchzuführen. / Exercise after pregnancy should be recommended for health reasons. However, special considerations are necessary in the context of physical training. The intensity should be moderate and the activity itself lowrisk. In addition, the exercise has to be capable of being integrated in the daily routine of a young mother. This could also include digital games that involve whole body movements. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible use and the effects of selected exercises of the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus in postnatal women. Data on the subjective impressions of the game experience was collected as well as the perceived exertion during the activity. Furthermore, the effect on the aerobic performance after 6 weeks intervention was investigated. The study involved 8 female subjects (age 29.0 ± 4.6 years, height 1.7 ± 0.1 m, Body Mass Index 25.1 ± 3.1 kg/m², postnatal 6.3 ± 1.9 weeks). Results: The subjects showed a high to very high motivation to play the Wii Fit Plus again after the first game session. The game was assessed as causing no stress at medium speed with a simple and clear operation. During the observation period, the women showed a moderate (somewhat hard physical exertion) with a high sensation of fun. Significant weight reductions and improvements in aerobic capacity could not be proven. Summing up, using the Wii Fit Plus, a high level of motivation can be expected despite any significant metabolic and morphological adaptations, which may lead to a regular participation in exercise activities. Since this study only had pilot-character, it would be advisable to conduct further research using a larger number of subjects under randomized controlled conditions.

"Sitting is the new smoking" and is one of the major causes of human health problems today. Swedes train the most in the world but are also among those who work  mostsedentary. Proper movement while taking 1 minute of active short breaks helps to preventfurther health problems. Cameras can detect body movements and this information can beused to do motion analysis and skeletal estimation. Furthermore, this can be used to create games that can use this detected movement and force the user to be more active whiledoing something fun.This thesis is about designing and implementing two mini-games in Godot for particular body movements using MediaPipe. Game designers for the mini-games use heuristicsfor motion-based control in games presented by Hara and Ovaska. This thesis focuses ondeveloping game control using motion control for the mini-games. The game controls areevaluated by calculating the sensitivity of how well the controls work for the games.

Ein gesundes Alter(n) ist sowohl auf individueller Ebene als auch auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene von großer Relevanz. So wächst die Bedeutung von Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung bis ins hohe Alter – einerseits, um die Autonomie, Selbstbestimmtheit, soziale Teilhabe und Lebensqualität des älteren Menschen aufrecht zu erhalten und andererseits, um den durch den demografischen Wandel bedingten gesundheitspolitischen Herausforderungen begegnen zu können. Dabei weist der gesundheitliche Status im Alter neben hoher Vulnerabilität eine Vielzahl an Ressourcen und somit Ansatzpunkte für präventive und gesundheitsförderliche Interventionen auf. Technische Innovationen bieten hier ein wachsendes Potenzial, um Maßnahmen dieser Art zu stützen. Zur Erschließung des neuartigen Themenfeldes werden die Ergebnisse dreier Einzeluntersuchungen berichtet, in welchen sowohl qualitative als auch quantitative Methoden angewandt werden. Mit Hilfe der Durchführung von Expertinneninterviews werden Bedarf und Potenzial innovativer Technik in Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung für Ältere und erste Anforderungen an eine solche Technik erfasst. Eine innovative Möglichkeit zur Umsetzung präventiver und gesundheitsförderlicher Interventionen bieten digitale Bewegungsspiele. So werden darauffolgend im Rahmen einer quasi-experimentellen Kohortenstudie gesundheitsbezogene Veränderungen durch das Spielen sog. Serious Games im Setting (teil-)stationäres Pflegewohnen evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen erste gesundheitsförderliche Tendenzen. Innerhalb einer Fokusgruppe werden abschließend drei digitale Bewegungsspielsysteme unter Beachtung zielgruppenspezifischer Bedarfe bewertet und notwendige Ressourcen für den erfolgreichen Einsatz im Anwendungskontext erarbeitet. Um die neugewonnenen Erkenntnisse in nachhaltiger Form nutzbar zu machen, werden diese in einem Anforderungskatalog für die erfolgreiche Implementierung eines digitalen Bewegungsspiels im Kontext der Pflege zusammengefasst. / Being healthy in old age and aging healthily is of great relevance at both the individual and societal level. Thus, the importance of prevention and health promotion even in an old age is growing - on the one hand, to maintain the autonomy, self-determination, social participation and quality of life of the elderly and, on the other hand, to be able to meet the health policy challenges caused by demographic change. Health in old age is not only highly vulnerable but also offers a multitude of resources and starting points for preventive and health-promoting interventions. Technical innovations offer a growing potential to support measures of this kind. In order to open up this new field of research, the results of three individual studies are reported, in which both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied. By conducting expert interviews, the need and potential of innovative technology in prevention and health promotion for the elderly as well as first requirements for such a technology are identified. Digital exercise games offer an innovative possibility for the implementation of preventive and health-promoting interventions. Subsequently, health-related changes caused by playing digital exercise games, so-called serious games, in the setting of nursing care are evaluated within the framework of a quasi-experimental cohort study. The results show first health-promoting tendencies through playing serious games. Last, three digital exercise game systems will be evaluated in a focus group on the basis of the needs of the target group. Additionally, the necessary resources for successful use of such systems in a real application context are developed in a participatory way. In order to make the newly gained knowledge usable in a way that is sustainable and relevant for practical use, it is then summarized in a catalogue of requirements for the successful implementation of a digital exercise game in the nursing environment.