Gemini: A Pervasive Accumulated Context Exergame

Abstract

Abstract. Exergames encourage physical activity, but generally require specialized hardware and prescribed activities; whereas pervasive accumulated context exergames (PACEs) allow players to choose their type of exercise, but have limited depth of play. For mass commercialization of PACEs, facilitating long-term behavioural change, we propose two requirements: that PACEs support large-scale and flexible deployment; and that the design of PACEs support staying power through long-term playability. From these requirements, we motivate six PACE design principles and use these principles to develop a multiplayer roleplaying PACE. Results from a week-long study of our game showed that by satisfying the six design principles, we can create a PACE with scalability and staying power. Our results are the first step toward creating PACEs that promotes long-term game engagement, which is needed for activity-related behaviour change.

Active Gaming as a Mechanism to Promote Physical Activity and Fundamental Movement Skill in Children

“…An interesting development in AVG play are mobile active games that allow game play to become pervasive (through continuous tracking via a personal mobile device) (16), accumulative (encouraging multiple informal physical activities on an ongoing basis) (17), and persistent (through logging and scoring over an extended duration) (18), whilst removing game constraints that limit games to a fixed location. Smartphones are particularly universal devices that can be used to support and facilitate mobile active games, especially as they are well integrated into an individual’s daily activities, have sufficient processing capability to present a personalized experience to the user (19), and can utilize a range of in-built sensors (e.g., WiFi, GPS) and features (e.g., audio, camera).…”

“…Whilst there are benefits to such techniques, limitations do exist. For example, many active mobile games distinguish activities using only thresholds on acceleration variance and device orientation ( 18 , 21 ), or classifiers such as artificial neural networks or hidden Markov models ( 17 ). Misclassification or failing to register valid actions is significantly de-motivational ( 19 ), particularly if the player is erroneously reprimanded.…”

Savouring our mistakes: Learning from the FitQuest project

“…Interaction design researchers have been designing and evaluating innovative exergames for around a decade, creating an admirable range of imaginative and engaging games by exploiting emerging technologies (see [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] for some particularly good examples). These games have often included children as part of the design process, and embody core values of the IDC research community [17] including social interaction, playfulness, exploration and equity of participation.…”

Active Fantasy Sports: Rationale and Feasibility of Leveraging Online Fantasy Sports to Promote Physical Activity

“…While asynchronous AVGs are promising for motivating sustained increases in physical activity, relatively few have been developed (versus synchronous AVGs). Several exceptions include the now defunct Ubifit garden [ 13 ], Pokewalker, and Gemini [ 14 ] games, as well as smartphone integrated game applications like Nike+’s NikeFuel Missions, and Six to Start’s Zombies Run! series; but to the best of our knowledge, no rigorous empirical tests of these asynchronous AVGs have been published.…”