FPS VR Exergame To Boldly Go

Playing Team Fortress 2 has never been healthier when you combine it with the Omni treadmill and the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. It sort of reminds me of the Virtusphere but obviously for the home user and not a commercial training. I would love to conduct studies on energy expenditure, perceived exertion, and attitudes towards exercise, and playing the games especially with peers.

Click here to explore more of ExerGame Lab's archived posts involving research studies. 

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Speed of Light (Hands-on)

I had a blast finally getting to play Speed of Light arcade exergame at Walt Disney Yacht Club Resort recently. A big thank you again to Dr. Jay Bernhardt, Rebeccah Mercado and staff for the invitation to speak at the 2013 Digital Health Communications Extravaganza. To warm-up for a couple of my workouts I tried these exergames and really got a pretty good sweat going. Check out the video and let me know if you've tried Speed Of Light before and if you have any suggestions to play it differently. 

Exergaming Benefits

• Visual stimulus
• Hand-eye coordination
• Reaction time
• Agility
• Lateral quickness
• Hand speed, decision making
• Peripheral vision
• Pattern recognition impacting decision making / strategy / body positioning / kinesthetic awareness

Exergaming Points to Ponder (P2P)

• Would be neat to consider having foot sensors to increase potential interactions and energy expenditure.
• Would also be neat to consider proximity sensors added to button switches (a la FitLight).
• In single player mode (using all sensors), because I was so close to the lights, it was hard to see the lights in my periphery especially at the extreme edges.I had to keep pulling my head back then scan to the sides.
• I also had a hard time hearing whether or not I hit the right lights. It was a terribly loud arcade with machines pumped up way too high to be safe.
• I also found my hand got sore because the lights were a slightly domed (cupped) and when you're striking several hundred targets over a couple of minutes....you can really feel it. I wonder what a flat target surface would be like like the Touch Wall / T-Wall exergame.

Click here to explore more of ExerGame Lab's archived posts involving Arcade Exergames. 

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Move Fitness lands in US (PS3)

Its been a couple of years since we heard the announcement of Coldwood Interactive's exergame Move Fitness title, but this week we'll see the title actually launch in the US. With 2 years to develop a base and refine the product for the US market, I hope there were some changes to some of the activities (including basketball shooting. Unfortunately, worldwide sales of just 17,000 and a Metacritic score of 61/100 pales in comparison to the behemoth (Wii Fit) in the fitness gaming / exergaming arena.

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AtomicRUSH to Health

I was just in Orlando at the Disney Yacht Club and in their arcade they had the Speed of Light arcade game, but Atomic RUSH seems to amp up the interaction by allowing up to 4 players to play at the same time. In a way the design/array of lights/sensors is more like that of DDR than other games. I would love to try this game out and see how the 4 player game works - especially with people crossing over.

Wouldn't It Be Cool (WIBC)

• If there were also floor sensors to engage the feet - maybe even proximity sensors instead of touch sensors like FitLights to increase the activity and interaction.
• I know the flyers say there is feedback at the end of the game, but it would be great to have a scoreboard above each station or an overall panel to show in-game scores as they progress.
• I wonder if they are thinking about using RFID tags/cards to identify player scores as they move from station to station.

Click here to explore more of ExerGame Lab's archived posts involving research studies. 

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Exergaming Revolution (infographic)

Exergaming has its critics but it also has its believers. I was passed this infographic (via HSN) covering some of the studies that show the benefits and effectiveness if using video games for fitness. Did you see your favorite exergame included?

Click here to explore more of ExerGame Lab's archived posts involving research studies. 

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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.