Work Related to Computer-Aided Exercise

From EQUIS Lab Wiki

Exercise Bikes and Gaming

There are a number of commercial products and research experiments combining gaming and exercise bicycles.

• CatEye's GameBike is an add-on for stationary bicycles that allows them to control racing games on the Sony PlayStation 2 console. The GameBike uses the bicycle's speed and handle bars as speed and steering controls. Effectively, this product is similar in function to a gaming steering wheel peripheral, but where pedalling is required to generate speed. The GameBike has been used to set up a popular gym for children in Nova Scotia.
• NeXfit's MOG is a commercial product combining video games and a stationary bicycle in a multiplayer game supporting up to eight players. The MOG connects to a computer via a USB cable. The MOG simulates a joystick, and so can be used in any game supporting a joystick controller. The bike appears to support force-feedback.
• FitCentric produces software for use with exercise equipment, focusing on racing games.
• Fitness Computer Game with a Bodily User Interface: a project using Tunturi hardware.

Other Exercise Games

• By far the best known exercise gaming platform is Konami's Dance Dance Revolution. The West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency has started a study on the effects of DDR in reducing childhood obesity. DDR is also being brought to 765 schools in West Virginia.

• Another popular platform for exercise gaming is the Sony EyeToy. This is a vision based system for the Playstation 2. Some games have been specifically written for the EyeToy, such as AntiGrav.
• PowerGridFitness is a weight-training system that acts as a joy stick for console games. The game control resembles a fighter plane flight stick, and provides significant resistance to player's motions.
• Mueller, Agamanolis and Picard have developed a game allowing two people to play soccer at a distance. They call this an example of an "exertion interface."
• Kick Ass Kung-Fu is a martial arts game in which players physically act out their Kung-Fu moves. Computer vision is used to translate the player's actions into the game world.
• The VirtuSphereis a product in which the user stands inside a large sphere while wearing a head mounted display. The user can then traverse 3d virtual environments by actually walking and moving inside the sphere.
• Nautilus is a cooperative group based game where players jump and move around a room to save a virtual dolphin at the bottom of a lake.
• Human Pacman is an augmented reality game where players take on the roles of Pacman and the ghosts. Using a head mounted display, the real world is overlaid with pellets and virtual objects. Players playing Pacman must walk around the real world collecting the virtual pellets. On the other hand, players playing the ghosts must run around the real world looking for Packman. Ghosts can eat Pacman by tapping him on the shoulder.
• Age Invaders is a different take on the classic game space invaders. Players stand on a large LED grid that displays the game world. They can fire missiles using a hand held gun, as well as dodge missiles by walking to another tile.
• Paranoia Syndrome is a cooperative game where players move about a series of rooms. The goal of the game is to eliminate the alien presence while staying alive. The aliens are invisible and can only be detected using a hand held PDA that all users carry around.
• FlyGuy is a hang gliding simulator where players are placed in a harness. Using the frame as a support, players twist, turn, and pivot their bodies to control their in game avatar.
• The objective of Push N'Pull is to move a ball to collect a number of items in a virtual environment. To do this, two players must push and pull on their respective powergrid fitness joysticks. It is easier to move the ball around if the players push and pull in the same direction.

What the Media Says

FoxNEWS.com has an interesting report on "exertainment" games.

This work is somewhat ironic in that video games can potentially help relieve a problem, obesity, for which they have been blamed for in the past. Jared Fogle, the Subway spokesman who lost over 200 lbs. eating Subway sandwiches and exercising, has implicated his Nintendo in the cause of his weight gain.