The Quest for the Perfect ExerGame

Go for the Burn: Designing Body-Movement Controlled Video Games to Maximize Energy Expenditure is the title of Dr Alasdair Thin’s presentation at the Games for Health 2008 conference in Baltimore, Maryland, US.

In addition to his originally scheduled material, Dr Thin is will also be presenting some preliminary research on the new Wii Fit balance board (conducted on the Europe release date of April 25 and due to be released in North America on May 19).

Speaking in advance of his talk this afternoon (Thursday 8 May) 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?”

Dr Thin will be presenting 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 highlighting 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.

Commenting on his work today, Dr Thin said,

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

Dr Thin has recently launched his new blog “GamerSizeScience – The Quest for the “Perfect” ExerGame. (Available at http://www.gamersizescience.org).

As an indication of just how far he is willing to go in his quest for the “Perfect” ExerGame, unable to get hold of a review copy of the Wii Fit balance board, he reserved two of them at a local toy store a month before the launch date. A month of careful planning then followed for the ExerGaming Arcade he was going to set up in the exercise physiology teaching lab for the day. He was lecturing an undergraduate course on Physical Activity and Health Promotion and wanted to incorporate some of his ExerGaming research into a practical class.

A date was set for April 25, the European launch date of the Wii Fit. “It was the last possible date for the class. I knew the timing was going to be very tight, but I just had to go for it. Sure it was high risk, but I like a challenge” Dr Thin explained. “Everything was in place in the ExerGaming Arcade the day before, except the Wii Fit balance boards!”

Dr Thin paid for and collected the boards at 9 am on April 25, as soon as the toy store opened. He then drove 10 miles to the exercise physiology laboratory, unpacked them and set them up, and started the experiment at 10:40 am. He said, “The students were great. I told them this 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 it as a pretty easy, they also indicated that it was great fun. ”

After the Games for Health conference, Dr Thin’s quest continues with a number of research visits around the US before heading to Banff, Alberta, Canada to present at a research symposium as part  of the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity’s 2008 annual conference (May 21-24).

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 has a strong interest in “ExerGaming” and first got into the field at the beginning of 2004 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