DHCX 2013 Converging Networks

I am honored to have been asked to speak at DHCX 2013 about using Games for Health. Thank you to Dr.Jay Bernhardt, Rebeccah Mercado, Ben Sawyer, and Beth Bryant for the invitation to speak and to all the great speakers and attendees who are helping to improve health.

Exergame Education Workshop at Dupage County Institute 2013

DSC00422 (Photo credit: exergamelab)

I am honoured to be a part of the Exergame Education Workshop at the Pre-Conference Dupage County Institute 2013 on Thursday February 28, 2013 at the Chicago Bulls-Sox Training Academy in Lisle, Illinois. The facility is the Premier Exergame Showroom for Exergame Fitness / Motion Fitness and houses the latest in exergaming and fitness programming for the 21st century. Equipment includes: Trazer, Makoto Sports Arena, Lightspace, Freedom Climber, Neuroactive Brain Bikes, Expresso Bikes, iDance, Motion Surface XG... and much more!

Hope to see you there!

Top Flight Speakers (not including me):

Dan Lawler, Ph.D. - Retired Principal
Stephen P. Yang, Ph.D. - SUNY Cortland College
George Velarde - California Physical Educator of the Year
Sharon Warren - Polar Electro Education
Matt Diskin - Physical Education Specialist

Download Flyer for Exergame Workshop

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Health Moves on iOS

In the ever-crowded arena of physical activity tracking devices and apps, Apple recently released Moves and to my surprise is pretty efficient app both interface, usability, and battery consumption wise. (Moves FAQ on iTUNES)

Simply put, enable the Location feature and this turns on the GPS to locate where you are and thus if you move quickly via car, the GPS will kick in and record it as "transport" time. As I'm typing this blog piece, I believe the accelerometer is detecting my steps b/c the green icon pulses whenever I take a step. The user guide says that whenever the GPS detects very little variations in your location, it cycles down (but I can't be sure of that). Overall battery life is about the same if you have "Location" services enabled already on your device.

Although there is no game function yet, MOVES seems to be the most fluid and intuitive of the other tracking apps I've used and if they open up the API to allow game and app developers - we could really see some nicely integrated games and activities. Of course with some simple tweaking adding simple gamification features like leaderboards, achievememts and challenges, we could see a real competitor to RunKeeper, MapMyRun, and all the other fitness apps.

Stay Active and Be Well!      [Via MakeUseOf, Moves website]

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Dance Magic Saving the World

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There are Games for Health, Games for Change, and now there will be a Game to Save the World: Dance Magic. It's dropping on the PlayStation Network in a few days, and the object is to match the arrows like DDR. Apparently there will be PlayStation Move support but not sure if that means Playstation Eye nor how much movement will actually be required, but at least its another rhythm game  to explore.

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Wii Fit U coming in 2013

Pokewalker (Photo credit: miggslives)

Linking physical activity away from an exergame or other non-mobile connected device has been a scenario that has not been explored but holds plenty of promise. As Zamzee's recent findings, having an accelerometer and access to a social network where rewards are given out based on activity levels showed a significant increase (60%) in PA than the control group that did not have access to the website. Using a new pedometer dubbed the Fit Meter (see Pokewalker for DS), Nintendo will be releasing Wii Fit U in 2013. If the device looks familiar, it should and it appears it will interface with the Wii U controller via infrared sensors like the Pokewalker did with the DS. Will U Buy It?

Related articles

• Wii Fit U out in the first half of 2013
• Nintendo's Wii Fit U to launch early 2013, adds pack-in pedometer for fuller lifestyle tracking

Self-discrepancy and regulatory fit in avatar-based exergames (Study)

Wii Fit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Drawing from Higgins's self-discrepancy theory and regulatory focus theory, this study examined the use of activated selves and regulatory foci in health games. Utilizing the Wii's® avatar-creating and exergaming features, a 2 (activated self: actual self versus ideal self) × 2 (regulatory focus: promotion versus prevention) × 2 (efficacy appeals: self-efficacy versus response-efficacy) between-subjects experiment tested the interactions of activated selves, regulatory foci, and efficacy appeals on low-calorie dieting intentions after health game playing. Results from an experiment with 156 participants demonstrated that a fit between regulatory focus and efficacy appeals induced greater dieting intentions when the actual self was activated while the opposite effect occurred when the ideal self was activated. Theoretical contributions to basic and applied social psychology as well as managerial implications for consumer behavior research are considered.

Read More: http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/06.07.21.PR0.111.6.697-710
Click here to explore more of ExerGame Lab's archived posts involving research studies. 

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• Can a Fit Video Game Avatar Make You Healthier?
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