Immersive Exergaming: Harnessing Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays for Health and Fitness Enhancement Through Case Study
Diogo Branco, Ana Henriques Pereira, Leonor Sardinha, Mónica S. Cameirão, Sergi Bermúdez i Badia, Ana Lúcia Faria · 2024
The world population has overall increased life expectancy. However, more lifetime does not mean healthy aging. One key factor associated with healthy aging is physical activity. The use of Exergames for promoting healthy behaviors is a thriving field, the combination of exercise with gamification features makes it more engaging. Exergames exist in multiple forms such as tablets, screens, projections and Head Mounted Displays. Additionally, some of these systems take advantage of inertial (accelerometers and gyroscopes) and depth sensors (Microsoft Kinect, Intel RealSense and LeapMotion) for gameplay features. In the last decade, HMDs have gained popularity due to their novel iterations including lightweight designs, enhanced processing power and immersiveness. In this work, we seek to gather insights from both health professional and users perspectives regarding the usage of HMD, in a multidimensional intervention, as a low-cost alternative to a projection-based SAR platform for Exergames. Our findings reveal a generally positive user experience with the Exergames implemented through the HMD setup, with users recognizing the positive health benefits of using this technology. Our novel alternative setup for an existing system has shown to be feasible to be used in clinical practices. However, reported usability issues by the health professional underscore the importance of providing adequate training and support for effectively integrating VR technology into health and wellness interventions.