Exergaming for Health
The relationship between the amount of time spent in front of a computer screen, and level of physical activity would be seemingly inversely related. However, this need not be the case. Exergaming, which promotes exercise while playing videogames, is not a new concept, but it has been drawing increasing attention. Some of the video gaming systems have sophisticated pressure and motion sensors which respond to the players movements in three-dimensional space.
A popular game is Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, where players try to emulate a dance sequence on the screen by stomping on a pressure sensitive dance pad. Nintendo’s Wii is another new gaming system, in which players carry a motion sensitive control and must engage full joint and body range of motion while simulating activities such as playing tennis, golfing, or bowling. Eye toy takes the players movements in real space and reproduces the movements for the video game character. Hence, the player’s real space movements are controlling the video game character’s movements. These video games rely on more physical exertion by the players and hence result in more caloric output. Applications include increasing aerobic activity in both adults and children as a means to combat obesity.
