The Quest for the Perfect ExerGame

This prototype game from my ISAGA 2009 interactive session was focused on a game intended to help people to quit smoking. It required an additional piece of hardware in the form of a portable sensor that could interface with a mobile phone which could measure the “air quality” of the smoker’s breath. (In fact a handheld carbon monoxide meter is routinely used as a easy measure of cigarette usage in a cessation counseling setting).

Regular breath measurements would be taken over time and the data uploaded to a server via a mobile data network. A particular breath reading would be indicative of a certain level of cigarette consumption and can be expressed in terms of number of minutes of life lost (or in case of a reduction) “gained” or added to the player’s life expectancy. It might even be possible to relate it to people around the smoker (e.g. children) who maybe affected by passive smoking.

The game play would be arranged in forms of leagues with the aim of achieving the highest number of minutes gained. Further consideration as to the nature of the process of quitting smoking lead to the idea that the teams would be comprised of individuals at different stages/length of experience in the cessation process and that it was possible to score points by means of offering tips and advice to other “players”. It would also be possible to score points by recruiting new “players” to the game and also by developing a form of “buddy” system whereby a fraction of the points earned by any recruit would also contribute to the score of the person recruiting them.