HybridPLAY: A New Technology to Foster Outdoors Physical Activity, Verbal Communication and Teamwork

Abstract

This paper presents HybridPLAY, a novel technology composed of a sensor and mobile-based video games that transforms urban playgrounds into game scenarios. With this technology we aim to stimulate physical activity and playful learning by creating an entertaining environment in which users can actively participate and collaborate. HybridPLAY is different from other existing technologies that enhance playgrounds, as it is not integrated in them but can be attached to the different elements of the playgrounds, making its use more ubiquitous (i.e., not restricted to the playgrounds). HybridPLAY was born in 2007 as an artistic concept, and evolved after different phases of research and testing by almost 2000 users around the world (in workshops, artistic events, conferences, etc.). Here, we present the temporal evolution of HybridPLAY with the different versions of the sensors and the video games, and a detailed technical description of the sensors and the way interactions are produced. We also present the outcomes after the evaluation by users at different events and workshops. We believe that HybridPLAY has great potential to contribute to increased physical activity in kids, and also to improve the learning process and monitoring at school centres by letting users create the content of the apps, leading to new narratives and fostering creativity.

On a First Evaluation of ROMOT—A RObotic 3D MOvie Theatre—For Driving Safety Awareness

“…These kind of tests are commonly used to derive quantitative evaluation of technological systems regarding to usability, and SUS has become a standard. Some recent works using these tests can be found in [28][29][30]. .…”

Video Games and Outdoor Physical Activity for the Elderly: Applications of the HybridPLAY Technology

“…Differently from some of the aforementioned platforms, it is worth pointing out that the research here presented is based on a non-commercial solution, as HybridPLAY is a self-developed technology initially designed to facilitate outdoor physical activity, verbal communication and teamwork [9]. In addition, the concept provided by HybridPLAY does not involve the use of a controller to play the games.…”

“…Within this context of active videogames, in this paper we bring a proof of concept in that it is feasible for the elderly to use HybridPLAY, a technology that involves active gaming, and that has previously been evaluated for other group of ages with satisfactory results [9] However, it is important to emphasize again that the aim of this work is not to evaluate HybridPLAY in terms of health/exercise improvement.…”

“…This technology was initially developed for children and has been previously introduced and evaluated in Reference [9] for the group of ages of children and young adults. In this paper, we aim at laying the foundations to apply the tools, strategies and methodologies of HybridPLAY for the elderly.…”

On the Use of ROMOT—A RObotized 3D-MOvie Theatre—To Enhance Romantic Movie Scenes

“…For the first case, the System Usability Scale (SUS) [24] was chosen whereas, for the second case, a total of 12 questions were composed, which were related to the user satisfaction of diverse characteristics of ROMOT (e.g., the 3D movies, multimodal content, etc.). Some recent works using these tests can be found in [25][26][27].…”