The Quest for the Perfect ExerGame

My coast to coast journey across the US started in Baltimore in the east and finished in Santa Monica in the west. I completed the last three miles west, on foot of course, to reach the Pacific. It was a beautiful evening and as the sun was setting in the east, the air was heavy with sweet floral scents.

My goal was Santa Monica pier. It was almost 10 years to the day I had stood on the very same pier on route to a conference in San Diego. As a teenager in the 80’s (might explain a lot), Santa Monica resonates strongly with me for a number of different reasons. As I walked past an arcade, one of Bruce Springsteen’s hits blasted out into the night air and the memories came flooding back.

Yet I was even more struck by the fact that 10 years previously, I would never in my wildest dreams believed things would have worked out the way they have. There in front of me were a couple of DDR’s set up at the entrance to the arcade. Some people stopped to look, others passed by, but for me it was a whole lot more.

I continued on to the end of the pier and took some photos of the setting sun and looked out to sea. I had arrived at my destination and completed the level…

I returned back along the pier as it was beginning to get dark. It appeared as if the setting sun was the signal for the performance to begin. A small crowd began to congregate round the DDR stages as the performers took to the floor. They moved with skill and vigor worthy of any athletic performance. Clearly they were physically exerting themselves, but it was more than just exercise, it was at another level entirely.

Today I had the privilege of having lunch with Jenova Chen, Video Game Designer extraordinaire. Jenova’s MFA Thesis was entitled “Flow in Games“. Why I hadn’t thought of being “in the zone” in relation to active video games I’ll never know. However, Lisa Hansen very helpfully prompted me to explore this area. Indeed, it was when I was playing a Snowboarding ExerGame that I experienced a period of “flow”. As I shifted my weight side-to-side over the board, the immersive graphics of the game responded to my every move as I sped gracefully down the mountain. Suddenly I was totally and utterly in the game. My most vivid memory from my own sporting experience of the flow is a slow motion action replay of 1 hour 8 minutes and 21 seconds running round a forest in northern Sweden in 1990. Quite a long time to be in “the zone”!

I was keen to meet Jenova because his work provides pointers as to how to increase the likelihood of the player reaching the “flow state”. One key issue is that the game needs to be able to adapt to the skill and ability of the player. I had been considering exactly the same issue from the direction of physical exertion. 

So we talked and we ate and we discovered common issues and themes. Our desire to bring video games/ “ExerGames” to a wider audience and make them a richer experience was very much to the fore. Jenova impressed upon me more than ever to not loose sight of the fact that they are all fundamentally “Games”. I shared a variety of applications including rehabilitation therapy, all with the intention of making physical exertion more accessible to more people.

We parted, having both having learnt much form our encounter and very much intending to continue the conversation.

Right at the start of the first live radio interview that I did, the journalist put it to me that “It wasn’t a bad job playing video games all day”. Well I had to put her right and say that it is not the only thing that I do. There are the not so small matters of teaching and administration. Anyway, enough of that, today was all about playing video games. Unfortunately, I had grossly under-estimated the degree of traffic congestion in Los Angeles, so I didn’t arrive at my destination on schedule. I was traveling from Santa Monica to Redlands, home of XRtainment Zone. After a scenic train journey I arrived at San Bernardino station in the searing heat and I began to feel that the visit was becoming more like a pilgrimage.

XRtainment Zone is a commercial facility that offers a wide range of “ExerGames” in a health club type format. For a good overview, visit their website. My arrival coincided with that of a preview copy of the Wii Fit balance board. I was able to help Ernie Medina (ExerGaming Evangelist) set it up and give him a quick demo. I wasn’t at my best and could go down in history as the first (ExerGaming) winter-sports ski-jumper to be affected by heat exhaustion!

Anyway, it was great to see round the facility, try out some of the games I hadn’t seen before, and get a real feel for the place. Being Friday afternoon, it wasn’t too busy, but there was certainly plenty going on. I got a real sense that the kids present were involved in some form of spontaneous play, kind of like a 21st century adventure playground. They could pick and choose ExerGames as they wished. Some were right into a game controlled by cycling and appeared to be really exerting themselves. In such a setting, I found it hard to define it as simply exercise. The sheer sponteneity and playfulness of it all suggested something more like “Active Game Play”.

I had the opportunity yesterday to view the MFA Interactive Media Thesis Exhibition at the University of Southern California. There were a wide range of interactive installations including a wall mural designed by Marc Tuters that responded to subtle movements in the viewer seated in front of it, making the mural respond to the observer’s contemplation.

What really gave me a glimpse of the “Perfect” ExerGame was an immersive interactive bank heist simulation. The designer and “Performance Director” Scott Gillies not only briefed my partner and I on our “misssion” but also dynamically adjusted the difficulty of the various obstacles we had to overcome. For example there were motion sensors that permitted movement for a short period before the players had to be completely still until the next cycle or else the alarm would go off. The “Performance Director” was able to dynamically alter parameters such as the length time movement was possible and the degree of stillness required to not trigger the alarm, so that the game adapted to the physical ability of the players. Kind of neat don’t you think?

I just spent a great day yesterday in sunny Phoenix with Biray Alsac discussing all manner of things including health, exercise, education, technology, social networking, personal training, the fitness industry and of course where “ExerGaming” fits in. She has amazing insight and experience in all these areas and is very much a trailblazer. To get an idea of what she’s up to, check out her blog Be Fit With Biray.

So what is the social context of “ExerGaming”? Clearly, public perception is very important and we both expressed concern that it does not become institutionalized to point that it no longer appealed to sedentary gamers. Also, when the novelty and excitement of a particular game wears off, then what? Is there a way that technology can be used in a creative and enabling way so that “ExerGamers” can take their play histories with them wherever they go and whatever they play and allow them to progress their activity from one game to another?

I have just been looking at and playing some really neat “ExerGames”. One of the them was based on snowboarding game, where the controller had been modified to incorporate a large skate board. So instead of twiddling your thumbs, you had to move your body from side to side to play the game. I must say that I found it totally immersive in the way that the on screen movements responded to my physical movement.

So what makes an “ExerGame”? Is it the hardware designed to incorporate body movement? Is it the software that makes the game? Is it when the  player steps up and starts playing? Is something more in a fusion of the hardware, software and the player’s movement that brings the “ExerGame” into existence?

Whilst this may seem quite a philosophical question, I think it points towards the essence of what “ExerGaming” is about. What do you think?

I have it on good authority from my Mii friend on Wii Fit, that it has been asking after me, having noted that my own Mii has not exercised for a while (I make it a week). It’s nice to know Wii Fit cares. I had a very long list of things I had to do before I went and I guess I forgot to tell it I was going to be away. Still, it’s the thought that counts. 

Here is a cut down flash version of the slides from my presentation at Games for Health 2008 entitled “Go for the Burn – Designing Body-Movement Controlled Video Games to Maximize Energy Expenditure”.

Link to Slides.

On of the appeals of indoor ExerGaming is that it provides a means to be physically active when the weather is inclement or it is dark outside. This occurs quite frequently in Scotland, especially during the winter. However, it never occurred to me that indoor ExerGames might help when it is too hot. I went for a 7:30 am run round downtown Tampa, Florida this morning. Not only was it very hot, it was also very humid. It felt as if I was running in a sauna.

I have been away from the Wii Fit balance board for a week now. It will be wondering way I have got too. Somehow, I don’t think “Just run 45 minutes in a sauna” figures in any of the choices if your weight drops overnight by several pounds.

Scottish academic, Dr Alasdair Thin, from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh is a man on a gaming mission with one important difference, in that it is being played out in real life across the US.

Dr Thin  was in Baltimore, Maryland yesterday to give a research presentation entitled “Going for the Burn” yesterday afternoon at the Games for Health Conference 2008. In his talk he presented a summary of a number of laboratory studies he has conducted into the factors that affect the level of energy expenditure required to play an number of different genres of “ExerGames”.

Speaking after giving his presentation, Dr Thin said “I am delighted to be here in Baltimore at the Games for Health conference and share my work. There are some really creative people here with some great ideas.”  

Dr Thin’s quest started in earnest a couple of weeks ago (April 25), when he collected two reserved Wii Fit balance boards from a local toy store on the morning of the Europe-wide launch. He took them into his exercise physiology teaching laboratory and by 10:40 am he had started an experiment to collect some data on the physical exertion required to play two of the aerobic games (Step Aerobic and Hula Hoop). The Wii Fit games were two in a series of 7 activities in an ExerGaming Arcade he had set up for his students.

In describing his motivation for setting the experiment, Dr Thin said “This term I was teaching a short course in Physical Activity and Health Promotion to some final year undergraduate students. In planning the session, I thought that there was no way that they should graduate in a couple of months without seeing the latest developments in the field of ExerGaming. For them, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

There was no time for any familiarization sessions and the students had around 6 minutes actual play time on each game as they moved round them in a randomized order. Treadmill walking and a traditional video game were included for comparison. The students wore recording heart rate belts throughout the session and the highest 30 second average heart rate was used to compare the games.

The Wii Fit Hula Hoop game came out the highest with a mean peak heart rate of 134 beats per minute, which would put it towards the upper end of moderate intensity exercise. 

Commenting on the results Dr Thin said, “The results for the Hula Hoop game were surprising for such a relatively simple game. With a bit of practice you would expect players to reach the hard exercise category. Whilst the students rated the skill level required to play it as pretty low, they also indicated that it was great fun.”

Dr Thin’s quest for the “Perfect” ExerGame now starts in earnest and for the next 12 days, he will be traveling across the US to via Florida, Phoenix and the Greater Los Angeles area to meet with people in the working in the field of ExerGaming.

The aim of his visits are to get a snapshot of the wide range of activities that are going on under the heading of “Health Promoting Active Video Games.” He is supported in this travels by a grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.

Asked about the motivation for his work, Dr Thin said,

“In order to maximize the potential health benefits of ExerGaming, there is a clear need to understand how to elicit an exercise intensity towards the upper rather than the lower end of the aerobic training zone. Or to put it another way. What makes a “Good” Exergame?”

he continued,

“It is my great hope that appropriately designed ExerGames can be a stepping stone to helping people become regularly physically active.” 

Finally, before returning to Scotland, Dr Thin will be speaking at an “ExerGaming” research symposium at the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity’s 2008 annual conference (May 21-24) in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Background

In order to maximize the potential health benefits of ExerGaming, there is a clear need to understand how to elicit an exercise intensity towards the upper rather than the lower end of the aerobic training zone. Or to put it another way. What makes a “Good” Exergame?

Dr Thin’s talk at the Games for Health conference included a review of a series of experiments conducted in his laboratory over several years into a number of different body-movement controlled video games from a variety of different genres (martial arts, dance, fitness/aerobic, boxing and fitness/combat).

Primary measures included heart rate and oxygen consumption and were intended to assess the level of physical exertion required to play the games. In addition to the cardiorespiratory measurements, a range of other factors that were considered to affect the level of exertion were also assessed including hand-eye coordination, postural stability, training in martial arts and level of aerobic fitness.

The results indicated that the physical exertion required to play the games varied from moderate through to vigorous exercise and provide experimental support for active video games having a role in helping to promote and maintain a physically active lifestyle.

When comparing the results between the various genres of games, a bigger picture emerged in terms of the key factors determining energy expenditure. Dr Thin very much hopes that by having highlighted these factors in his talk, it will help guide future ExerGame game development with the health benefits very much to the fore of the design process.

Biography

Dr Alasdair G Thin BSc, PhD is an Exercise Physiologist at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. After completing his undergraduate degree in Physiology and Sports Science at Glasgow University, he worked for a time in Health Promotion before moving into lecturing. He studied for his doctorate in Clinical Exercise Physiology at University College Dublin prior to taking up his current post. Alasdair first got into the field of “ExerGaming” after a chance encounter with the EyeToy Play games that left him somewhat breathless!

His blog GamerSizeScience – The Quest for the “Perfect” ExerGame is available at:  http://www.gamersizescience.org

He has been described as “wonderfully named” (for someone doing research in the field of ExerGames) by Time Magazine in an article last Fall which included his research in an article entitled “ Video Games That Keep Kids Fit”.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1661688,00.html

His research features in the opening chapter of recently published book “Powering Up – Are Computer Game Changing Our Lives?” by Rebecca Mileham.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470723106.html

pdf Except of Opening Chapter available on publishers website:

http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/06/04707231/0470723106.pdf